I first started taking CoQ10, 200 mg in morning, and 200mg at dinner, about 3 weeks ago. I've had extreme muscle/body pain and fatigue for a few months now, due I think to Lipitor 40 mg daily, and Tricor 145 mg once daily. I stopped the Tricor about a week ago, and the Lipitor was down to half until last nite. I stopped it completely then.
My question, (forgive me if its been asked before, I'm new here) is how long before, IF EVER, can I expect to see any improvement in my muscle/body pain and fatigue?
PS I was only on Lipitor about a month, and prior to that, Vytorin for a week or so, and then Zocor for several years.
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How long after first taking CoQ10 before it takes effect?
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How long after first taking CoQ10 before it takes effect?
by shadoww » Tue May 30, 2006 10:16 am
- shadoww
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How long?
by Darrell » Tue May 30, 2006 12:16 pm
I was deteriorating rapidly on Zocor. I felt significantly better a few days after stopping Zocor (the fatigue lifted), and better still shortly after starting Q10. I had a relapse when my doctor put me on Zetia. But even with Q10 I was still quite affected in my right leg muscles (aches and exercise intolerance and weakness, especially in the calf) for about 16 months until I started taking L-Carnitine. The L-Carnitine sent my calf into euphoria 45 minutes after I took it. Euphoria is the only way I can describe it -- feeling good (i.e., normal) for the first time in almost a year and a half.
You may see the fatigue lift in the next couple of days now that you've stopped the Lipitor completely. I sure hope so. After that, you may find that some muscles start to ache after a short period of activity (maybe an hour) and are then very slow to recover even with rest. That's "exercise intolerance". If so, consider trying the L-Carnitine. I'm rooting for you!
You may see the fatigue lift in the next couple of days now that you've stopped the Lipitor completely. I sure hope so. After that, you may find that some muscles start to ache after a short period of activity (maybe an hour) and are then very slow to recover even with rest. That's "exercise intolerance". If so, consider trying the L-Carnitine. I'm rooting for you!
- Darrell
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Re: How long?
by shadoww » Tue May 30, 2006 2:22 pm
[quote="Darrell"]I was deteriorating rapidly on Zocor. I felt significantly better a few days after stopping Zocor (the fatigue lifted), and better still shortly after starting Q10. I had a relapse when my doctor put me on Zetia. But even with Q10 I was still quite affected in my right leg muscles (aches and exercise intolerance and weakness, especially in the calf) for about 16 months until I started taking L-Carnitine. The L-Carnitine sent my calf into euphoria 45 minutes after I took it. Euphoria is the only way I can describe it -- feeling good (i.e., normal) for the first time in almost a year and a half.
You may see the fatigue lift in the next couple of days now that you've stopped the Lipitor completely. I sure hope so. After that, you may find that some muscles start to ache after a short period of activity (maybe an hour) and are then very slow to recover even with rest. That's "exercise intolerance". If so, consider trying the L-Carnitine. I'm rooting for you![/quote]
Darrell, thanks for the reply. How much in the dosage dept. should I take to start? I'll have my husband pick some up but I don't know what mg it comes in or how much to take. Thanks again.
You may see the fatigue lift in the next couple of days now that you've stopped the Lipitor completely. I sure hope so. After that, you may find that some muscles start to ache after a short period of activity (maybe an hour) and are then very slow to recover even with rest. That's "exercise intolerance". If so, consider trying the L-Carnitine. I'm rooting for you![/quote]
Darrell, thanks for the reply. How much in the dosage dept. should I take to start? I'll have my husband pick some up but I don't know what mg it comes in or how much to take. Thanks again.
- shadoww
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- Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 6:37 pm
by tex62 » Tue May 30, 2006 2:36 pm
Shadoww,
My husband was on medication similar to yours. He took Zocor (20 mg/day) and Tricor 145. The pain in his legs was so severe that he was unable to sleep/stay in bed for more than 2 hours at a time. After doing our own research, we determined that the pain was the result of the drugs. Within two weeks of stopping the drugs, there was noticeable improvement; however, any kind of exercise or exertion caused set backs. In addition, the pain that had developed in his shoulders, arms, and hands during the last weeks of taking the drugs got worse rather than better. He had been taking 100 mg of COQ10 since the first day he started taking Zocor. Per Dr. Graveline’s suggestion, he increased the dosage of COQ10 to about 1400 mg / day, and improvements came rapidly, with the leg pain being the first to get better. It took a couple of months longer for the arms and hands to improve, but the pain in the shoulders was still a problem at times, and numbness still continued in two of his fingers. When information about L-carnitine appeared on Dr. Graveline’s message board, my husband started taking it. By this time, he had cut back on the COQ10 to 300 mg/day. The next week after starting L-carnitine, the numbness in his fingers was gone as well as the pain in his shoulders.
Recently my husband spoke with his cousin. The cousin had been taking Lipitor and had most of the same side effects my husband had experienced. He had already stopped taking Lipitor, but had seen minimal improvement. His cousin doesn’t have internet access, so we mailed him some information, including information about COQ10 and L-carnitine. He started taking both the day after he got the information and within two weeks was almost completely back to normal. With both my husband and his cousin, the combination of these two supplements seems to have been responsible for their recovery.
Recovery time seems to vary, but I do think that the combination of COQ10 and L-carnitine is critical to recovery. Also minimizing physical activity during recovery seemed to be important to my husband’s recovery. For him it took about a month for the muscle pain in his legs to recover and another 3-4 months for the peripheral nerve damage to recover. His cousin recovered in a few weeks.
You might need to look at increasing your CoQ10. See Dr. Graveline’s recommendation for Q10 dosage during the “recovery phase” at http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm
I think you’ll see improvements if you take both CoQ10 and L-carnitine and minimize exercise until you’ve recovered. Best wishes and let us know how you do.
My husband was on medication similar to yours. He took Zocor (20 mg/day) and Tricor 145. The pain in his legs was so severe that he was unable to sleep/stay in bed for more than 2 hours at a time. After doing our own research, we determined that the pain was the result of the drugs. Within two weeks of stopping the drugs, there was noticeable improvement; however, any kind of exercise or exertion caused set backs. In addition, the pain that had developed in his shoulders, arms, and hands during the last weeks of taking the drugs got worse rather than better. He had been taking 100 mg of COQ10 since the first day he started taking Zocor. Per Dr. Graveline’s suggestion, he increased the dosage of COQ10 to about 1400 mg / day, and improvements came rapidly, with the leg pain being the first to get better. It took a couple of months longer for the arms and hands to improve, but the pain in the shoulders was still a problem at times, and numbness still continued in two of his fingers. When information about L-carnitine appeared on Dr. Graveline’s message board, my husband started taking it. By this time, he had cut back on the COQ10 to 300 mg/day. The next week after starting L-carnitine, the numbness in his fingers was gone as well as the pain in his shoulders.
Recently my husband spoke with his cousin. The cousin had been taking Lipitor and had most of the same side effects my husband had experienced. He had already stopped taking Lipitor, but had seen minimal improvement. His cousin doesn’t have internet access, so we mailed him some information, including information about COQ10 and L-carnitine. He started taking both the day after he got the information and within two weeks was almost completely back to normal. With both my husband and his cousin, the combination of these two supplements seems to have been responsible for their recovery.
Recovery time seems to vary, but I do think that the combination of COQ10 and L-carnitine is critical to recovery. Also minimizing physical activity during recovery seemed to be important to my husband’s recovery. For him it took about a month for the muscle pain in his legs to recover and another 3-4 months for the peripheral nerve damage to recover. His cousin recovered in a few weeks.
You might need to look at increasing your CoQ10. See Dr. Graveline’s recommendation for Q10 dosage during the “recovery phase” at http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm
I think you’ll see improvements if you take both CoQ10 and L-carnitine and minimize exercise until you’ve recovered. Best wishes and let us know how you do.
- tex62
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:13 pm
by Darrell » Tue May 30, 2006 2:52 pm
Thanks, tex62. I just love success stories.
Shadoww, consider raising Q10 as tex62 suggests. As for the L-Carnitine, I started with 250 mg capsules, taking three or four spread over the day. A few days later I raised it to 500 mg capsules, again taking about four per day. I've tried both L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine and both seem the same. I've also tried Acetyl-L-Carnitine paired with Alpha-Lipoic Acid, but not noticed any particular advantage to that either. Ray Holder in England is very particular to supply details, but so far every Carnitine I've used has worked, both capsules and tablets. I have never taken more than 2,000 mg per day, nor have I ever taken more than 500 mg at a time. Ray has posted warnings regarding dose, body odor at high dose, and possible gastrointestinal problems at high dose.
Shadoww, consider raising Q10 as tex62 suggests. As for the L-Carnitine, I started with 250 mg capsules, taking three or four spread over the day. A few days later I raised it to 500 mg capsules, again taking about four per day. I've tried both L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine and both seem the same. I've also tried Acetyl-L-Carnitine paired with Alpha-Lipoic Acid, but not noticed any particular advantage to that either. Ray Holder in England is very particular to supply details, but so far every Carnitine I've used has worked, both capsules and tablets. I have never taken more than 2,000 mg per day, nor have I ever taken more than 500 mg at a time. Ray has posted warnings regarding dose, body odor at high dose, and possible gastrointestinal problems at high dose.
- Darrell
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:25 pm
- Location: USA
by shadoww » Tue May 30, 2006 3:00 pm
[quote="tex62"]Shadoww,
My husband was on medication similar to yours. He took Zocor (20 mg/day) and Tricor 145. The pain in his legs was so severe that he was unable to sleep/stay in bed for more than 2 hours at a time. After doing our own research, we determined that the pain was the result of the drugs. Within two weeks of stopping the drugs, there was noticeable improvement; however, any kind of exercise or exertion caused set backs. In addition, the pain that had developed in his shoulders, arms, and hands during the last weeks of taking the drugs got worse rather than better. He had been taking 100 mg of COQ10 since the first day he started taking Zocor. Per Dr. Graveline’s suggestion, he increased the dosage of COQ10 to about 1400 mg / day, and improvements came rapidly, with the leg pain being the first to get better. It took a couple of months longer for the arms and hands to improve, but the pain in the shoulders was still a problem at times, and numbness still continued in two of his fingers. When information about L-carnitine appeared on Dr. Graveline’s message board, my husband started taking it. By this time, he had cut back on the COQ10 to 300 mg/day. The next week after starting L-carnitine, the numbness in his fingers was gone as well as the pain in his shoulders.
Recently my husband spoke with his cousin. The cousin had been taking Lipitor and had most of the same side effects my husband had experienced. He had already stopped taking Lipitor, but had seen minimal improvement. His cousin doesn’t have internet access, so we mailed him some information, including information about COQ10 and L-carnitine. He started taking both the day after he got the information and within two weeks was almost completely back to normal. With both my husband and his cousin, the combination of these two supplements seems to have been responsible for their recovery.
Recovery time seems to vary, but I do think that the combination of COQ10 and L-carnitine is critical to recovery. Also minimizing physical activity during recovery seemed to be important to my husband’s recovery. For him it took about a month for the muscle pain in his legs to recover and another 3-4 months for the peripheral nerve damage to recover. His cousin recovered in a few weeks.
You might need to look at increasing your CoQ10. See Dr. Graveline’s recommendation for Q10 dosage during the “recovery phase” at http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm
I think you’ll see improvements if you take both CoQ10 and L-carnitine and minimize exercise until you’ve recovered. Best wishes and let us know how you do.[/quote]
thanks tex. We went to the movies and dinner last nite, it was my birthday and I really didn't even feel like going. Didn't think I was going to make it back to the car. Legs felt like 2 blocks of wood and I was almost in tears when we got to the car. I've always been active and never had much trouble with my health. Am a borderline diabetic but its well controlled. Except for the cholesterol, I've been fine. Been on Zocor for several years and just thought it was b/c I was getting older and was naturally slowing down and aching. But when they changed my medicine, then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I've also been a lifelong smoker and finally quit in Jan. I told my dr. that I was under the impression a person felt BETTER when they quit, not worse. I told him if I didn't feel better soon, I might as well go back to smoking again. LOL Wasn't really serious but at the time thats how I felt.
Going to tell my husband to get the L-Carnitine and up my CoQ10 and see if it helps. Thanks for you all being here. I thought this was just something that was unique to me. I told my dr. it might be those side effects, but he just sort of sloughed it off. Now I know. Thanks again.
My husband was on medication similar to yours. He took Zocor (20 mg/day) and Tricor 145. The pain in his legs was so severe that he was unable to sleep/stay in bed for more than 2 hours at a time. After doing our own research, we determined that the pain was the result of the drugs. Within two weeks of stopping the drugs, there was noticeable improvement; however, any kind of exercise or exertion caused set backs. In addition, the pain that had developed in his shoulders, arms, and hands during the last weeks of taking the drugs got worse rather than better. He had been taking 100 mg of COQ10 since the first day he started taking Zocor. Per Dr. Graveline’s suggestion, he increased the dosage of COQ10 to about 1400 mg / day, and improvements came rapidly, with the leg pain being the first to get better. It took a couple of months longer for the arms and hands to improve, but the pain in the shoulders was still a problem at times, and numbness still continued in two of his fingers. When information about L-carnitine appeared on Dr. Graveline’s message board, my husband started taking it. By this time, he had cut back on the COQ10 to 300 mg/day. The next week after starting L-carnitine, the numbness in his fingers was gone as well as the pain in his shoulders.
Recently my husband spoke with his cousin. The cousin had been taking Lipitor and had most of the same side effects my husband had experienced. He had already stopped taking Lipitor, but had seen minimal improvement. His cousin doesn’t have internet access, so we mailed him some information, including information about COQ10 and L-carnitine. He started taking both the day after he got the information and within two weeks was almost completely back to normal. With both my husband and his cousin, the combination of these two supplements seems to have been responsible for their recovery.
Recovery time seems to vary, but I do think that the combination of COQ10 and L-carnitine is critical to recovery. Also minimizing physical activity during recovery seemed to be important to my husband’s recovery. For him it took about a month for the muscle pain in his legs to recover and another 3-4 months for the peripheral nerve damage to recover. His cousin recovered in a few weeks.
You might need to look at increasing your CoQ10. See Dr. Graveline’s recommendation for Q10 dosage during the “recovery phase” at http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm
I think you’ll see improvements if you take both CoQ10 and L-carnitine and minimize exercise until you’ve recovered. Best wishes and let us know how you do.[/quote]
thanks tex. We went to the movies and dinner last nite, it was my birthday and I really didn't even feel like going. Didn't think I was going to make it back to the car. Legs felt like 2 blocks of wood and I was almost in tears when we got to the car. I've always been active and never had much trouble with my health. Am a borderline diabetic but its well controlled. Except for the cholesterol, I've been fine. Been on Zocor for several years and just thought it was b/c I was getting older and was naturally slowing down and aching. But when they changed my medicine, then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I've also been a lifelong smoker and finally quit in Jan. I told my dr. that I was under the impression a person felt BETTER when they quit, not worse. I told him if I didn't feel better soon, I might as well go back to smoking again. LOL Wasn't really serious but at the time thats how I felt.
Going to tell my husband to get the L-Carnitine and up my CoQ10 and see if it helps. Thanks for you all being here. I thought this was just something that was unique to me. I told my dr. it might be those side effects, but he just sort of sloughed it off. Now I know. Thanks again.
- shadoww
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 6:37 pm
Recover?
by Darrell » Tue May 30, 2006 3:04 pm
Tex62, did your husband and/or his cousin "recover" to the point of not needing L-Carnitine anymore? I have this perception that my L-Carnitine isn't "wearing off" like it originally did in about four hours, but I'm not keen on skipping any doses right now to find out how much progress I've made, if any.
- Darrell
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:25 pm
- Location: USA
by tex62 » Tue May 30, 2006 5:29 pm
Darrell,
They are still taking the L-carnitine. My husband has only been taking it for 6 weeks and his cousin for 4 weeks. My husband takes one capsule a day, first thing in the morning. The results have been so positive that I don't think he will stop taking it.
They are still taking the L-carnitine. My husband has only been taking it for 6 weeks and his cousin for 4 weeks. My husband takes one capsule a day, first thing in the morning. The results have been so positive that I don't think he will stop taking it.
- tex62
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:13 pm
by tex62 » Tue May 30, 2006 5:52 pm
Shadoww,
Congratulations for stopping smoking. That's one health risk out of the way. You mentioned that your doctor didn't didn't take you seriously when you told him/her that you thought your pain was a side effects of the drugs. That seems to be pretty standard. The drug companies have done a wonderful job of selling their drugs to folks in the medical profession and minimizing the side effects. Even if your doctor agreed with you, it would have been unlikely that he/she would have known how to treat the side effects.
Congratulations for stopping smoking. That's one health risk out of the way. You mentioned that your doctor didn't didn't take you seriously when you told him/her that you thought your pain was a side effects of the drugs. That seems to be pretty standard. The drug companies have done a wonderful job of selling their drugs to folks in the medical profession and minimizing the side effects. Even if your doctor agreed with you, it would have been unlikely that he/she would have known how to treat the side effects.
- tex62
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:13 pm
by shadoww » Wed May 31, 2006 10:19 am
My husband picked me up some more CoQ10 with 1000mg per pill, and the 500 mg L-Carnitine last nite. This morning I took the CoQ10 and one of the 500mg L-Carnitine. Am wondering how soon I can expect to see some improvement if any. I plan to take one more 500 mg L-Carnitine with my supper later this evening. That will make a total of 1000 mg of CoQ10 and 1000mg of L-Carnitine. I hope thats enough of a dosage, I don't want to overdo it, but I'm just so sick and tired of being sick and tired and having my feet and ankles baloon up, then take water pills to get rid of it.
- shadoww
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 6:37 pm
by shadoww » Wed May 31, 2006 10:24 am
[quote="tex62"]Shadoww,
Congratulations for stopping smoking. That's one health risk out of the way. You mentioned that your doctor didn't didn't take you seriously when you told him/her that you thought your pain was a side effects of the drugs. That seems to be pretty standard. The drug companies have done a wonderful job of selling their drugs to folks in the medical profession and minimizing the side effects. Even if your doctor agreed with you, it would have been unlikely that he/she would have known how to treat the side effects.[/quote]
________________________________________________________
Thanks tex62. It was a hard thing to do but something that I HAD to do. I got a real bad bout of bronchitis and had antibiotics for it. Thought I was over it, no more coughing my braines out but then one day I was just doing some little things around here, making the bed, running the vacuum, and I flat out could not breathe! It scared me and I panicked and then started to hyperventilate. I was alone, all I could do was go next door and have my neighbor take me to the ER room.
I was able to accomplish it by using "cold laser therapy" which works on the principals of accupressure or accupuncture, by way of making your endorphins kick in and take most of your withdrawal symptoms. If it will work for me, it will work for anyone. LOL. Not literally I guess, its like anything else. You really HAVE to want to stop too. But its the closest thing to a majic pill I've seen.
Congratulations for stopping smoking. That's one health risk out of the way. You mentioned that your doctor didn't didn't take you seriously when you told him/her that you thought your pain was a side effects of the drugs. That seems to be pretty standard. The drug companies have done a wonderful job of selling their drugs to folks in the medical profession and minimizing the side effects. Even if your doctor agreed with you, it would have been unlikely that he/she would have known how to treat the side effects.[/quote]
________________________________________________________
Thanks tex62. It was a hard thing to do but something that I HAD to do. I got a real bad bout of bronchitis and had antibiotics for it. Thought I was over it, no more coughing my braines out but then one day I was just doing some little things around here, making the bed, running the vacuum, and I flat out could not breathe! It scared me and I panicked and then started to hyperventilate. I was alone, all I could do was go next door and have my neighbor take me to the ER room.
I was able to accomplish it by using "cold laser therapy" which works on the principals of accupressure or accupuncture, by way of making your endorphins kick in and take most of your withdrawal symptoms. If it will work for me, it will work for anyone. LOL. Not literally I guess, its like anything else. You really HAVE to want to stop too. But its the closest thing to a majic pill I've seen.
- shadoww
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 6:37 pm
by tex62 » Wed May 31, 2006 8:36 pm
Shadoww,
You have probably seen the posts by Ray Holder on this web site regarding L-carnitine. If not, find one of his posts and then click on “profile” at the bottom of his post. Once on his profile, you can click on “Find all posts by Ray Holder” and you can review all the posts that he has made to this web site. Here is a link to his post that discusses how much L-carnitine to take and the best time of day to take it. I personally don’t know the answer to how quickly to expect results. Best wishes and keep us posted.
http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=960&highlight=#960
You have probably seen the posts by Ray Holder on this web site regarding L-carnitine. If not, find one of his posts and then click on “profile” at the bottom of his post. Once on his profile, you can click on “Find all posts by Ray Holder” and you can review all the posts that he has made to this web site. Here is a link to his post that discusses how much L-carnitine to take and the best time of day to take it. I personally don’t know the answer to how quickly to expect results. Best wishes and keep us posted.
http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=960&highlight=#960
- tex62
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:13 pm
6 weeks and am recovering
by bunnylady » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:53 pm
More than 20 months on the stains
6 weeks- I can stay up all day- still a few headaches and knee pain
dealing with those
Patty
6 weeks- I can stay up all day- still a few headaches and knee pain
dealing with those
Patty
- bunnylady
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:49 pm
by starfish » Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:28 pm
tex62 and others,
Hi everyone. I'm sorry so many of you are in pain too. I'm glad some people are improving.
tex, what brand of CoQ10 did your husband take to show rapid improvement? I have tried 2 brands at daily doses of 600mg per day for 3 months, but I haven't had any improvement yet. I still have severe daily muscle and nerve pain in my back, arms, and both legs, even after stopping Crestor 6 months ago.
I've also increased my Acetyl-L-Carnitine from 1000mg to 4000mg daily. It gives me some relief, but I still have pain throughout the day. What brand have you found to be effective?
Thanks for your help.
Hi everyone. I'm sorry so many of you are in pain too. I'm glad some people are improving.
tex, what brand of CoQ10 did your husband take to show rapid improvement? I have tried 2 brands at daily doses of 600mg per day for 3 months, but I haven't had any improvement yet. I still have severe daily muscle and nerve pain in my back, arms, and both legs, even after stopping Crestor 6 months ago.
I've also increased my Acetyl-L-Carnitine from 1000mg to 4000mg daily. It gives me some relief, but I still have pain throughout the day. What brand have you found to be effective?
Thanks for your help.
- starfish
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:23 pm
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