unable to walk neuropathy?

[dmiller]

My father was taken to the emergency room unable to walk. the doctor uped his Lipitor from 20mg to 40mg. He was on this dosage for about 2 1/2 weeks when he got sick. nausea, vomiting some pain in elbow, hips and sholders. he stopped taking it the day after symptoms started. His legs and feet started to go numb and feel like sand paper. they kept getting worse until he could not stand or walk. He says it feels like they are asleep. both thighs and his left calf and feet. He is now walking with a walker and nurses assiting him with a belt so he does not callapse. his right leg seems to regaining some stength and his left leg a little. he says that his feet are starting to feel more normal. He can kick and move his legs just fine but is umable to support any weight. the phisical theapist say he has muscle tone but it is like the muscles are not getting the message from the brain. i guess my question is has anybode else experieced not being able to walk completely. Can the neuropathy be so bad that it can do this? Everybody else seems to complain about the pain being so bad that they have trouble walking. This is not the case with my father. He is not feeling hardly any pain, just numbness and some tingling.
Should he see a neurologist? Any information will be welcomed

dMiller

[bucho]

dmiller,
I have noticed a good many folks in this forum have an experience similar to your father. Typically these folks lost the ability to walk without assistance after just a short period on a statin. Although many report pain as well, a loss of muscle control or muscle response is a separate issue and seems to be a common thread. Most of these reports include a worsening of the problem even after stopping the statin. Recovery is slow and can be incomplete even after a long time off the statin.

As a starter I recommend spending some time reading in this forum. You will find a lot of posts dealing with precisely the types of problems your father has experienced due to lipitor. Keep an eye out for discussion of supplements in this forum. Your father should start robust doses of coenzyme Q-10 (as Dr. Graveline advises, as much as you can afford, perhaps 600 mg per day or more) and acetyl-L-carnitine immediately. Even the medical establishment advises these supplements (especially Q10) when on a statin. They are available in any drugstore.

You came to the right place. Hopefully someone else in this forum with an experience like your father's will weigh in shortly. Good luck.

[dmiller]

bucho, thanks for the reply,

i went to see my father in the hospital today and he is walking quite a bit better, still with assistance and with a gate( lifting his left foot high off the floor) He says he feels like he is dragging his toe when in reality he is lifting it about 4-5 inches off the floor. I did share the information I have found from this forum and other information I have found on the internet with my mother and I asked her to find out if they have tested for Q10 and carnitine levels and if not to ask them to do so. I will try to talk her into letting my father try the suppliments because I do not see where they will do any harm. They decided to do a echo bubble test today on the heart and will do a doppler tomarrow just to rule out a possible mild stroke and they are setting up an appointment to see a nuerologist. i know they may not find anything conclusive but I guess this way they can rule out other possibilities. Anyway he is improving a little each day and hopefully will be able to come home soon if he can just get a little more steady on his feet. He can not walk very far without getting really tired or weak, but at least he is starting to walk again. i think we all have accepted the fact that it will be a slow process and may not be a complete recovery to what it was.

DMiller

[AnneW]

To dmiller: I have been off the statins for 17 months and still need a walker to get around. I got the symtoms your father did and worse - 24/7 muscle pain. I take 600 mg Q10 and 2000 mg L-Carnitine every day and it has helped. It's been a long slow process with some severe setbacks but recently there are more improvements. If it is possible for your father to get a walker for at home, I would recommend it. I found that it gave me more mobility, and when you get too weak and tired, you can sit for 5 mins. and then carry on!

AnneW

[dmiller]

Annw

We already have a walker lined up to be able to use. I really appreciate all the information this forum and other sites have given me and intend to get my parents to start using the suppliments to see if they will help. I was also reminded this morning that the best healing for all of us comes from applying love, faith and speaking the word of God! Ann, was there a period where you could not walk at all and was it because of pain or muscle weakness?

DMiller

[AnneW]

to dmiller: It was a combination of muscle pain and weakness. There were several points in time where I needed two hands to lift a cup of tea and that was iffy! Simple things like turning a door knob even with two hands to open a door or taking a lid off of a jar were impossible for me. We put lever handles so I could open the bathroom door. Without the walker I would not have been able to move.

AnneW