swollen ankles

[queenphoton]

My father in law was suffering from swollen ankles, he too, a user of Lipitor. After he learned of my Mother's problems while being on Lipitor, he took himself off of it. Since being off of Lipitor, his ankles have been normal in size. Something we haven't seen in years.
My question, anyone else noticed swollen ankles and did they get better after being off of Lipitor?
Thanks

[shadoww]

Hi, I'm a VERY newbie here, my first post infact and yours caught my eye. The swollen ankles and feet have been bothering me now for about a couple or 3 months. And every muscle in my body aches! Here's my story.

I was on Zocor for years, then dr. said it wasn't doing the job and switched me to Vytorin. Then I noticed my ankles and feet swelling and my legs felt as hard as wood. No give to them at all. It almost ruined my 7th wedding anniversary trip to Jamaica, but I guess I'm too stubborn and refused to let it. Then I decided on my own that since I didnt have that problem with the Zocor that the Vytorin was doing it and talked to my dr. She switched me to Lipitor and I'm still swelling, unless I live on water pills and my legs feel like they're made of lead and hurt all the time. I've got no energy and feel like I've hit rock bottom.

My dr. did a heart echo and a doppler on my leg arteries and veins, which showed some cholesterol but not bad. The echo showed that my heart wasn't relaxing between beats and now I've got to have a stress test and a CT angiogram in the next couple of weeks.

I've decided on my own to cut down my Lipitor, in half then cut it out all together and will have to decide what to do about my cholesterol later. I can't keep on feeling like I'm a horse thats been ridden to death. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[CatMom]

I have had and still have a real odd swelling in my feet, just in spots and those spots hurt! Have seen 3 doctors and been brushed off with fluid pills that don't touch the swelling. I too, am on lipitor.

[shadoww]

I stopped my lipitor about a month ago. Still have the swelling almost on a daily basis, even up the front of the lower part of my legs. And yep they brush you off with Demodex or Lasix or some other such diahurhetic which does very little good. Mine is also painful. Dr. went punching and pinching and just about killed me, testing for the water......duh.......its there, I just told him. LOL I get so tired of being sick and tired, its pathetic.

[bunnylady]

My feet were going to pop- I take all the CoQ10 and L Carnitine in dosages recommended on this board along with the other vitaimins recommended- the swelling has subsided

still working on the headaches and fatique

[CatMom]

I am going to be VERY upset if all this don't go away after I quit it and I can gurantee you I will not be so quick to take anything anymore.

[vicki]

My leg and ankles did swell.. I thought I was having heart problems because sometimes that is a sign.

Anyway mine got so bad I had an ankle brace on and knee braces and a full leg brace. I can't believe the same things we all have.

Amazing and doctors didn't talk to each other about other patients having all these same problems and think maybe once maybe statins were more of a big problem then a help. I just can't believe this all.

[vicki]

yes I had the ankle swelling, had a ankle brace.. helped a little with the pain. My ankles doubled in size. Dr. insisted I must of bumped it or something. I knew I didn't hurt it in any way. After months of physical therapy the swellling went down. I do get in my legs after 15 yrs. and doctors still down't know what it is spot swelling and if I touch the spot it is like it is inflamed, the sopts swell. I believe this is from the lymphatic system or called Lymphedema. Part of the immune system is the lymphatic system whick is made up pf a network of conduits that carry a clear fluid called lymph water. I think maybe these areas fill or get stuck in various areas and maybe infected, inflamation. Funny thing not one of my 23 doctors are sure what it was and is.
I can't help but wonder once again lymphatic system, lymph edema and I have CLL cancer where the lymphacytes go up. Just a reminder my lympacytes started going up while on Lipitor way back in 2002. My constant breathing problems (I'm getting a CT scan) may have somethig to do with lymphs in my lungs. I guess CT scans tell if lymps are enlarged in lungs. I aslo had severe brathing problems that started 1 or 2 weeks after starting Statin drugs.

[lars999]

I had most swelling in right calf and ankle and foot, with much less in left, while on Lipitor. I also had dry, flaky skin in these areas and large loss of feeling and sensitive soles of feet (made walking painful, especially barefoot). One can start to suspect diabetic condition, which was not supported by blood test results, or falling arch in right foot (which had been previous condition, but fixed). All this largely but not completely went away shortly after I quit Lipitor, but then I got pains severe enough in right calf to limit my walking to about 200 meters before I had to use a cane to walk another 200 meters, then it was sit down for 15 minites or so.

Went to cardiologist as quickest way to get some objective measurements of what was going on. Cardiologist thought pain in right calf was because of deep thrombosis (blood clot -- rather serious condition), I thought it was residual muscle problem from Lipitor. A leg study was done -- this consisted of a series of blood pressure cuff measurements from crouch to big toe on both legs and a series of ultrasound doppler measurements on femoral artery in both upper legs and of subsequent arteries in calf muscles and ankel of both legs. Result was no thrombosis (blood clot) and very mild plaque in only one area of arteries in both calves (near where arteries branched, a very common place for this to happen) and excellent blood flow and pressures everywhere. Cardiologist was surprised, I was quite pleased.

I also requested and received CD with all the untrasound doppler data and did my own analysis, conferming that my leg arteries are in excellent conditions. I also came to suspect that the report of "very mild plaque" is as much a CYA as an actual observation.

After weeks and weeks on treadmill daily, I still have some muscles in right calf especially that put end to using treadmill each day. Slowly, these have decreased in number and now are only a few more complaining small muscles than in left calf. The remaining small muscles in right calf that pain me, but not same small muscles as in left, are where I consider that I have remaining residual muscle pain from Lipitor.

About a month after leg study, I had full treadmill cardio stress test and passed easily, up to 105% of my age-related heart rate (160 beats per minute). Cardiologist was surprised. I was very pleased.

Cardiologist congratulated me on excellent recovery -- I had strong symptoms of congestive heart failure before I finally hurt so much I quit Lipitor. However, my capacity for physical endurance activities remains quite less than just two years ago, about 1/2 or so. This may be as much because of age-related decreases in aerobic capacity as Liptor caused. However, only now, 6-months later, this past week am I able to get my physical strength up to lower end of my performance only 2 years ago.

I am someone that has been doing strength and aerobic workouts for decades, so have excellent understanding of my performance over these decades. Still, I am shocked at how much Lipitor dragged me down and how much the symptoms mimiced those of common ailments.

I am really glad that I relied on Drs. Duane Graveline, Uffe Ravenskov, Beatrice Golumb, and others (this board, especially) for understanding of what was happening to me, NOT on my General Practioner or the Cardiologist -- both were/are quite wrong/limited in their understanding and knowledge of statin adverse effects, and both are strong proponents of Lipitor and other statin drugs. They prescribe statins even for folks that have only slightly eleveted cholesterol, based on latest, drastically and dangerously lowered guidelines for cholesterol!! They both know I hold a VERY LOW opinion of that practice. I fired the GP for ignorance and will only use the Cardiologist as easy means of obtaining any additional objective tests I might consider needed.

Lars

[vicki]

I too use info from Drs. Duane Graveline, , Beatrice Golumb too. I was in the study for Beatrice Golumb. I don't believe Medical doctors any more. I am goig to a cardiologist to see if I have any heart dmage from the statins.

Did you say you DID have a blood clot? or was it something else?

[lars999]

Vicki,

I DID NOT have a blood clot in my right calf muscle, or any where else. A friend of mine did have one many years ago, which the doctors ignored for much too long, so now he has one less foot and ankle -- he could just as well have died. I only had our nasty friend-in-common, plenty of statin-induced muscle pain in right calf muscle.

Don't be surprised if any cardiologist you visit is really gung ho about ALL statin drugs. Expect that you will have to do same as I did, that is, insist that objective evidence be collected that can clearly show if your heart muscles have been damaged by statin. For me that was a full-up treadmill cardio stress test, which I insisted on and which cardiologist concurred in.

Another non-invasive test for congestive heart failure is an echo-cardiogram, which uses ultra sound techniques to learn about how well hearts pump blood -- a Google search will get you a lot of information about this technique. Had my treadmill stress test results not been perfect, we might have discussed using echo-cardiogram method.

Cardiologist I visited tried to tell me that statins do not cause damage to heart muscles or cause congestive heart failure. I had taken along a copy of an article from a fellow cardiologist, Dr. Peter Langsjoen (Dr. Per Langsjoen's son -- a father and son team) at Midland, TX, USA. The Langsjoens have long specialized in treating congestive heart failure. Once statins became commonlu prescribed, they found that previous doctors had put patients on a statin, which accelerated the congestive heart failure. They had to take patients off statins and give them plenty of CoQ10 as Ubiquinol to get patients back to stage of heart failure where they could treat them further. And no, that cardiologist did not want to hear about that!!!!

There is an article or three on this site about or by Peter Langsjoen. Peter and his wife Alena have been/were long associated with the CoQ10 Association in Italy.

I hope to meet Beatrice Golumb should I ever get to San Diego, CA again.

Lars

[vicki]

I would love to meet Beatrice Golumb.

I go to La jolla every year now and she is right in the building beside my CLL speicalist, Dr. Kipps. I travel from the state of WA. to CA. because if I don't get a CLL specialist doctor, the other doctors could give me the wrong treatment for my CLL.

I'm going to contact Beatrice befoe I go down in June of next yr. and hopefully talk with her and try and show her all my medical lab work and records that I believe can prove I got CLL from Statin drugs.

My hope is to beat this cancer and heal myself from those terrible statins.

With all the medical expenses I have now and the travel every yr. I am also hoping I can get some kind of a settlement later on to pay ALL these medical expenses. I like others saved all my working days, did without a lot of stuff just so I could enjoy my retirement years, and lok what happens.

vicki

[vicki]

Boy I don't type so good... hope you all understand what I was trying to say above.

[lars999]

Recently I was surprised to find that a seldom worn pair of shoes now fit me quite well, again, apparently because my feet have continued to shrink because of reduced swelling. Is this simply because I am now off Lipitor for 6-months or because I have been taking Omega-3 rich fish oil, CoQ10, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Vitamin-D3, Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid, Vitamin-C?? Or something else? I doubt that I will ever know.

Lars

[David Staup]

Lars

one of the side effects of statins is congestive heart desease which can cause ankle swelling.....certainly stopping the statin and taking the coQ10 were the main factors...the rest, well couldn't hurt

[lars999]

Hi David!!

One of first websites I found once I went looking for explanations of what I now know to be statin adverse effects, was that of the father and son cardiologist team Per and Peter Långsjöen in Midland, TX. They specialize in treating congestive heart failure and found that they had to take patients off statins some previous doctor had prescribed BEFORE they could begin successful treatment. They used CoQ10, especially the ubiquinol form in sicker individuals, to reverse the congestive heart failure.

My primary reason for requesting a treatmill cardio stress test was to test for any residual effects of what I percived as clear evidence of early congestive heart failure. Cardiologist agreed, at least with the onset of congestive heart failure, but really did not want to agree that Lipitor caused it.

FYI, I have now found a second pair of footware, my previously very well fitting cross country and backcountry ski boots, that are now also too loose. I keep hoping this process will proceed upward to my waist-line.

How much of my foot and ankel and calf muscle swelling was purely Lipitor and how much because of tarsal tunnel problems is hard to say for sure. I clearly had tarsal tunnel problems, worst in right ankel, but I also had additional swelling, etc. AFTER major improvement in tarsal tunnel issues -- that I ascribe to Lipitor.

I also had major problems with very sensitive soles of feet and very dry skin on feet and ankels and lower calfs, which went away a month or two after quiting Lipitor.

I even suspect that Lipitor weakened ligaments in right ankel enough that tarsal tunnel problems started there.

I continue to be a bit amazed at the ongoing series of improvements in my body parts, now that I am off Lipitor for 6 months.

Lars