Greetings, everyone. I'm glad to hear that I am not alone, and that I am not losing my mind. I am a 38 year old male, and was put on Vytorin over a year ago to manage my high cholesterol. It has turned me into someone else, and I hope I can get back.

A couple of weeks after starting, I got spontaneous, stabbing pain in my left thigh. I have a rather high tolerance for pain, but this was intense and debilitating. My doctor said that it was probably not related to Vytorin and after another couple of weeks, this pain went away.

Next came confusion. I could not absorb or remember things at work or at home. I found it was extremely exhausting being confused all the time. Tasks started to take longer and longer to complete because I could not wrap my head around what I needed to do. I have ended up working 12 to 16 hour days as a result, which takes on additional pressures at home as well as on the job. I found I was becoming more prone to mood shifts and anger, lashing out when situations did not warrant it. Unlike the physical pain, this did not go away, but only intensified.

Next came the panic attacks. I started having panic attacks, primarily at work. I would hyperventilate, my chest would tighten I would be consumed with fear. My anxiety and panic were way out of proportion to the situations before me. Once, while hosting a conference call with several attendees, I started blabbering incoherent sentences over the phone. I thought," My God, what is happening here?" But I just kept spewing out nonsense. It was like when that news anchor, Jessica Savitch, had that meltdown on the air. Crazy.

Lastly, I recently had two complete crying breakdowns. Another poster called them "crying jags." I was convinced that I was having a complete mental/nervous breakdown. I spontaneously broke down in tears, sobbing and wailing while at the office. I had to run out the door, get into my car and drive away. I was in absolute emotional agony, tears flowing down my face, completely lost and feeling hopeless. This is not me. Not at all.
I had to admit to my doctor that have thought about hurting myself, and even checked on my life insurance policy to see if my family would be covered if I suicided. I have been in a really dark place, no question.

My doctor first made the connection that perhaps Vytorin has something to do with this for, in retrospect, I first started feeling these symptoms about 12 months ago - which is when I started taking Vytorin. I never put the two together, as this has been a year-long build up and I never could have thought that a cholesterol medicine could have these kinds of psychological effects. They do indicate that is one of the possible side effects - but say it is rare.

I am now on Wellbutrin to manage anxiety and stopped taking Vytorin about five days ago. I have also seen a cognitive therapist on a couple of occasions, which has helped my approach to anxiety and triggers. So far, so good, and I no longer take things hour-by-hour, but day-by-day. I just want to get the residual out of my system. I don't know what I will do about the cholesterol. Judging from some of the other posts, maybe nothing. I just need to get better emotionally and psychologically, then figure out if I need to even worry about my cholesterol.

If you are new to Vytorin or are considering it, run for your life! There are people that are truly suffering with real, powerful side-effects that do not make it to the label.

I hear you loud and clear, as I'm sure do many members of this forum. After 3+ years on zocor I, like you, experienced the mood swings, confusion, anxiety, depression, and a myriad other things related to mind and body and their intersection (tremors, pulsing vision, ringing ears, exhaustion, ....). The psychological effects were particularly disconcerting, as I felt myself being "separated from life" and sealed up in a private "bell jar" (I'm groping for terms) that insulated me from life's vitality.

There may good news for you if my experience is an indicator: When I stopped the statin the psychological problems remitted faster than most of the physical problems. So you may be much better off in a matter of a few months. (Sorry to say, there may also be delayed-reaction problems, perhaps exhaustion, that come on in the meantime, then subsequently subside, due to the "momentum" of statin damage not yet fully manifested.)

My latest notion is that many of the psychological effects are simply the result of lacking mental energy. Fundamentally, the zocor robbed my mental energy, so ordinary life became too great a stressor. In my case the reaction to extreme stress was primarily a hot temper, and a depression caused by feelings that getting on top of it all had become for me a hopeless quest.

You are blessed to be stopping your particular "arsenic" program at only one year in. Thus, there's great potential for a recovery. Let us know how it goes.

bucho,

Thanks for the heads-up and info. As I said, I am glad that I am not alone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I no longer feel as helpless, and that is a major hurdle that I am crossing.

I forgot to mention that in the past year, I have also had racing and complex dreams that I believe other submitters have mentioned. They are stressful, complex, problem-solving type dreams that typically cause me to wake up confused and anxious. All these side effects are just not worth it!

Also, chronic nosebleeds! Which I have never had before.

I knew I had bouts of depression and anxiety after starting Vytorin but I did not realize they were that bad or that it was the Vytorin. But after I seriously thought about killing myself and plotting the how's, and whys ... I realized it is worse than I first recognized. My husband has been commenting for a while on my need to see a doctor about the depression and always feeling down. I even went as far as writing out letters to my family, friends, and work to try and explain why I wanted to end it all.

I hardly ever get out of the house anymore... my work is suffering, my social life is suffering. All I want to do is sleep and lay around the house.

My hubby thinks I reallyneed to see a doctor but I do not want to be on anymore drugs!!!

pduval, I experienced sleep problems too, in the form of sudden high-adrenaline awakenings, heart racing, and utter confusion, i.e., amnesia. For one to two minutes I would be unable to remember where I was, the layout of the room, etc. Then I would get up (to use the bathroom) and walk into walls, still confused. To see my full zocor story, which has a lot of similarity to your story, click on my "profile" button below, select "find all posts" and go to my first post.

poohhel, your being off the statin just 4 months now, after a 16-month program, puts you in the midst of that long dark tunnel where little progress is seen and devastating relapses are the rule. At about the same point in my recovery, exhaustion -- particularly brought on by exercise -- became the dominant problem, as well as a general lack of energy. It sounds like you're in that boat now. My two cents: Just give it more time, sleep and lay around the house as much as you can get away with, as your body probably needs this rest to help achieve a recovery. The depression may not completely lift until the energy comes back. It's gonna take more time. For me the exhaustion problem didn't set in until I was off the zocor a couple of months, and it didn't really begin to improve until I approached a full year off the zocor. It's hard to have faith in a recovery that can take that long, but I'm here to say that it can take that long, but the good news is that it can be a good solid recovery when it happens. Set next Spring as a recovery target, but since you were on statins only half as long as me, maybe the year-end holiday season will shape up nicely.

poohhel,

I absolutely know the feelings about wanting to hurt yourself (that is not YOU thinking that, it is the effects of the medicine!) as well as not wanting to be on anything. I think you should definitely see a doctor about your depression. Even if you have to be on something in the short term to help you get back into the light. Wellbutrin can help with anxiety and Paxil can help with both anxiety and depression, but you should talk with your doctor. Please do. I think I am already starting to feel to a release from the Vytorin after about a week, and I am now hopeful about my prospects and my life ahead. I have been on Wellbutrin for two weeks, and am most likely feeling the effects of that as well. I have no intention on being Wellbutrin for the rest of my life, but am using it as a crutch until I can get my head on straight. I would recommend cognitive therapy, as I have recently seen a cognitive therapist, and it can really help you analyze and re-evaluate those elements in your life that are causing you anxiety or depression as well as how to handle them going forward. I think you will be surprised how simple it can be and how much it can help very quickly.

bucho,

I have read your previous posts and wow, eeerily similar. For the last several weeks I also had severe muscle pains under my shoulder blades and neck, and also had loss of tactile sensation in my left fingertips! I thought I just pinched a nerve, but for the life of me, could not figure out how I did it. Funny, after being of Vytorin for just about a week, all of that is improving.

Also, my teeth did not chatter, but I was grinding them constantly this past year and could not stop.


"Trapped in a bell jar" is a good analogy. The crazy dreams, mood swings, the inability to absorb, remember or convey things, or handle minor events; the physical fatigue and pain and the detachment from yourself and others. It all builds on top of each other and it really takes it's toll on your psyche and your work and your family. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten what I am doing, what I need to be doing, where my car was, what my wife just told me. I used to have an excellent memory for even the smallest of details.

Bucho and pduval: Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I am currently going to a Physical Therapist for pinched nerves in my neck and back causing perpherial neuropathy in my shoulders, arms, hands, butt, legs, and feet. I honestly don't think it is doing anything to help. But I am also been tested for a multiple of things from claudication to vasculitis. All my test keep coming out normal other than the pinched nerves. Doctors say I need to lose weight but being exercise intolerant right now makes that a bit difficult. On August 3rd, I will get my results from a CT w/contrast done on my legs to try and explain vasculitis. This was done after doppler study and ABI came out normal but I still have excruiating pain and burning in my calves when I workout.

Well the doctor visit was 1/2 what I expected ... the CT Scan w/ contrast came out normal. No blockage, no obstruction what so ever in any artery or vein... Yes this is good news... in fact all the test are good news... I mean come on I am healthy and I have nothing wrong with me -- at least this is what the test say.

So why do I feel so freaking miserable? The depression is getting really bad. I told the doctor I have been very depressed and all he said was that it was probably because of my weight gain... and then he gave me the other flip of the coin... "good news is that you haven't any blockage, etc, BUT your cholestrol is too high and I think you need to go back on a statin" I told him no way no how and then he asked me to try Zetia... Now I do not know what to do. I am so confused, frustrated, and angry.

I am not quite sure I understand all this, but here were my results from my blood work:

LDL-C Direct 185
HDL-C Direct 46
Total VLDL-C Direct 32
Total Cholesterol 261
Triglycerides- Direct 180 (of course I had not been fasting prior to test)
Total APOB100 - CALC. 137
Total Non-HDL-C (LDL+VLDL) 217