Crestor & severe pain

[EffieH]

I just wanted to share my story here -- on June 26, 2006 my doctor started me on Crestor, only 5 mg., the "grandma dose" she called it. I am so thankful that she warned me, in no uncertain terms, that if I felt any unusual or increased muscle or joint pain to stop taking the Crestor immediately and call her. She was going on maternity leave in two weeks, but she told me to be extra watchful for any pain at all for the next two weeks & let her know if I experienced any. So for the week or so, I paid close attention to my body, and did not experience any unusual pains, other than some very mild upper arm, shoulder, and elbow pain that I normally had quite often, so I decided that I wouldn't have a problem with the Crestor and continued to take it, promptly forgetting her warning, which was a BIG mistake.

By July 10th I was starting to have increasing pain in my upper arm, with tingling and numbness in my ring and pinky fingers, plus an increase in the burning pain in my elbow. Having completely forgotten my doctor's warning by this time, I wasn't too concerned at this point, but I made an appointment with an orthopedist to have the pain checked out. However, by July 20th the pain was increasing to the point where I could barely stand it any more, it was moving randomly all over my shoulder, back, arm, elbow, and hand, I never knew where it would hurt next -- and it felt like something was digging at my entire ulnar nerve from my neck down to my fingers and I felt nauseous most of the time. I had an EMG and was diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome. I've never been in such severe pain in my entire life.

Finally on August 2nd, I remembered the warning my regular doctor had given me concerning the CRESTOR and promptly stopped taking it! I couldn't believe I had forgotten her warning about severe muscle and joint pain . . . in just a few days the pain started to subside, although it still comes and goes in intensity, now it's August 19th and I'm finally mostly experiencing mild pain, with only occasional bouts of randomly occurring severe pain once or twice a day -- although I'm still taking 1200 mgs. of Ibuprofen every four hours to keep it under control.

Now I'm seeing a physical therapist and a massage therapist, and they both feel that I have thoracic outlet syndrome -- I think this is something that I was probably on the way to developing anyway due to the mild shoulder & arm pain that I had been ignoring combined with a whiplash injury I sustained in an auto accident in January of this year -- but I really believe the Crestor exacerbated the condition to the extreme. I'm just so grateful that my doctor warned me about it in advance, I only wish I had remembered her warning sooner -- but at least I remembered.

Now I'm trying the CoQ10 and L-Carnitine dosages that everyone is recommending here and hoping that combined with physical therapy will help me get back to some semblance of normality again. Thanks for all the good advice here on getting over this -- I'll never take statins again!! Instead - I've joined weight watchers & lost 7 pounds so far, and I'm taking the fish oil pills that my doctor recommended. This whole experience has really increased my motivation to get my cholesterol down NATURALLY!

[bunnylady]

May 24, 2005 | Study Finds More Side Effects From Crestor Than Other Statins
The widely used cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor has at least twice the incidence of side effects as other drugs in the statin family.The findings suggest that Crestor, manufactured by AstraZeneca, should probably be reserved for patients who have had a hard time lowering their overall cholesterol...

my doctor told me it was the mildest statin but I keep reading statements like the one above- and the nurse at my new doctors office agreed it was the mildest- they are dead wrong!

[sos_group_owner]

Hi Effie and Welcome to the Forum,

Please read some of Dr Graveline's articles. The problem is NOT cholesterol,
it's inflammation. Excellent that you are taking fish oil (both fish oil and
cod liver oil are good sources of omega 3) as omega 3 is one of the
anti-inflammatory supplements recommended in "Statin Alternatives".

Statin Alternatives reduce and prevent inflammation, are anti-oxidants,
reduce platelet stickiness, control (toxic) homocysteine and have the
same anti-inflammatory affect as 20 mg's of Lipitor, without side effects.

* Buffered Aspirin - 81 mg (contains beneficial magnesium)
* CoQ10 - 100 to 150 mg (gelcaps - NOT powdered) with Vitamin E
* Folic Acid - 400-800 mcg (all 3 of these B Vitamins control Homocysteine)
* B6 - 80-100mg
* B12 - 200-250mcg
Omega 3 (Fish Oil or Cod Liver Oil) - There is no upper limit

Source: http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm

Note: Vitamin E should be d-Alpha (natural) and NOT dl-Alpha (synthetic).

Also read:
"The Great Cholesterol Scam"...
http://www.spacedoc.net/cholesterol_scam.html

"Women and Statins"...
http://www.spacedoc.net/women_statins.htm

Out of curiosity, what were you cholesterol levels before you started
taking Crestor?

Fran

[EffieH]

Thank you, Fran!

I've been wanting some good advice on supplements to take - I'm going to run to the pharmacy and pick these up today!

My doctor actually did tell me that I have inflammation, she did a C-Reactive protein test along with my last cholesterol test and she said it was high (if I remember correctly she said it was "3"), and she had started me on 81 mgs. of aspirin per day -- but I've been taking so much Ibuprofen I stopped taking the aspirin for fear of upsetting or damaging my stomach.

She had been checking my cholesterol about every six months for a couple of years now as it had been steadily creeping up, but on my last test in June it had suddenly jumped from 216 up to 252, my HDL went up a little from 50 to 55 (I was exercising more per her advice) but my LDL also went up from 131 to 148. My triglycerides jumped from 176 to 247. She writes the results down for me, and I see she's also written that something else went from a 4.6 to 6.6, but she didn't write down what it was and I don't remember what she said it was.

Since I also have high blood pressure, presently controlled with 5 mgs. of Lisinopril, she felt all my risk factors were just getting too high and although she's given me a quite a long time to get the cholesterol down myself, she started me on the Crestor. I asked her at that time if I lost weight would it help, and she said definitely "yes." I'm supposed to have more labwork in November, so now that I have a renewed determination to get healthy without the statin drugs, I'm hoping to lose more weight by then, plus I'm hoping the fish oil and supplements will help.

I bought Dr. Sears' book "the inflammation zone" and have been taking his OmegaRX fish oil pills, I usually have a bad reaction to fish oil pills but I've been taking his along with some immodium with very good results.

Thanks again for the very useful advice!

[sos_group_owner]

Hi again Effie,

The regular C-Reactive protein test would indicate inflammation that
might be present from (as an example) arthritis or chronic infection.
The test to check for "coronary" inflammation is "hs-CRP" - (high
sensitivity C-Reactive Protein). Just wanted you to be aware there are
2 different tests.

Re: your cholesterol
LDL also went up from 131 to 148
My triglycerides jumped from 176 to 247
HDL went up a little from 50 to 55
TC - suddenly jumped from 216 up to 252

Re: LDL
Elevated LDL is not the issue. It's when LDL is oxidized. Smoking is one
thing that causes oxidized LDL. One of the best-studied groups is the
diabetic population, where increased oxidative stress is a typical
finding.

Re: Triglycerides
There are basically 2 reasons for elevated triglycerides:
* high carbohydrate diet (especially the white foods)
* underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)

So if your doctor has not checked for hypothyroidism, that could be
one reason your triglycerides are on the rise.

Less likely (but possible) uncontrolled diabetes, liver disease (cirrhosis),
an infection of the pancreas (pancreatitis), kidney disease, or a diet too
low in protein can cause high triglycerides.

White foods: sugar (biggest offender), bread, rice, potato, flour.
Pasta is the least likely to cause elevated triglycerides.

Replace these foods with whole grains and complex carbs:
Brown/wild rice, steel, barley, buckwheat, millet, sprouted
grains bread, sweet potato, spelt flour. Stevia is the healthiest
sugar substitute.

Cinnamon (C. cassia - spice isle variety) helps to control both
triglycerides and blood sugar levels. Available in 500 mg capsules
(Walmart, etc) - take one or three daily in addition to avoiding the
white foods. If you can't find the capsules, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
daily added to food or beverage.

Re: HDL - yours is great - the higher the better.
Exercise and saturated fat increases HDL. Your doctor won't tell you
about saturated fat, but coconut oil (pure, not hydrogenated or
partially hydrogenated) and butter are healthy and excellent sources
of saturated fat.

If you're using fish oil (in capsules) try cod liver oil either in capsules
or liquid. Carlson's brand offers both - for the liquid they have one that
is lemon flavored and does not taste fishy at all. Keep all fish oils in the
frig.

One last item: high doses of Ibuprofen may inhibit aspirin's benefit...
preventing platelets from clumping together.

Fran

[EffieH]

Thanks so much, Fran! About the triglycerides, if I had to guess, I'd say it was the "white carbs" -- I was on a carb kick for quite a while there, eating lots of bread. Now that I've been on Weight Watchers 5 weeks, I'm finding I've cut back drastically on the white carbs -- Weight Watchers encourages you to eat more whole grains by assigning fewer points to them so I'm doing much better in that category. And I'll definitely pick up some cinnamon -- I've been noticing it at Wal-Mart and at the pharmacy where I shop, but I wasn't sure what it was good for!

Also -- I want to thank everyone for the suggestion to take L-Carnitine! I started taking it yesterday, and today I had the best day I've had in weeks!!! I even worked all day with only minimal discomfort I'm so happy I found this web site!!!!

P.S. I just checked the lab request form my doctor gave me to use in November, and she definitely wrote "hscrp" on there! I'm starting to realize what a good doctor she is, I think I'll stick with her a while!!

[anvilhead]

If I remember correctly, you have to be careful with cod liver oil in summer - if you get a lot of sun - can OD on Vit D -