Neck Rigidity

[RigidNECK]

INTRO:
I'm new to the forum and stopped my Lipitor on Jan. 10, 2007.
I am having severe neck rigidity. I cannot move my neck at all bilaterally. My doctor said it was arthritis, but an x-ray came back clean. I suspected the Lipitor. I researched it and found the connection and this board. Needless to say I'm mortified. I think my neck stiffness has gotten a little better in the last week, but it's still a problem.

MY PLAN:
Based on reading this board, I will begin the following regime:
baby aspirin, CoQ10, folic acid, B6, B12, Carnitine, Omega 3's.
I’m assuming I can get all this at a health food store.
Moderate exercise. Eat more healthy.

QUESTIONS:
1. First, tell me if I need to do anything else, and if there is a specialist I should see, i.e. a neurologist or rheumotologist. I’m in AZ if you have a local referral. Will physical therapy help, injections, etc. Again, what do we do about this.

2. Along the same lines, what is the standard of medical care for treating adverse muscle problems from statins?

3. It appears from reading this board that the neck rigidity might be permanent. There does not appear to be any consensus on whether these adverse reactions are transitory. Please advise. I’m hoping for a full recovery and will do whatever it takes, but do I need to be prepared for the worse.

I’m glad I found this board.
Thanks.

[catspajamas]

I have been "recovering" from zocor since 2002....I have fibromyalgia which makes it hard for me to judge my muscle recovery but being the fm mostly involves "muscle aches"...I am judging my recovery on "weakness"...When I was the worst and just before I went off zocor the left side of my body was weak(like a stroke) Mayos ruled out stroke and any other muscle wasting diseases.....Here it is 5 years later....I would say I am 90 percent recovered as far as the "muscle weakness " thing is concerned...(except for a droopy eye lid on the side that was weak)......I wish I could say the same for the periferal neurapathy it caused...I see no improvement there....Lyrica keeps me mobile....
I have lowered my total cholesteral from 310 to 229 with non-flushable niacin, policosanol, fish oil....I also take benfiotiamine, l lipoic acid, coq10 and have ordered l carnitine...those are for the "nerves" that ae damaged....the benfiotiamine has helped my nerves a lot...It is basically B vitamins.....I don't understand why most doctors are not getting this...even a cholesteral "specialist" I went to tried to give me more statins and laughed at me when I said statins made me so ill.....

[Darrell]

Not sure the Carnitine applies, RigidNECK. Don't buy a large quantity of it.

You can probably save some bucks on the rest by using WalMart instead of a health food store. I routinely get my Q10 there now (about $26 for fifty 200 mg Rexall-brand capsules).

[bucho]

I was on Zocor (20 mg for 3+ years) and developed a stiff, painful neck with reduced range of motion. Also a host of other alarming symptoms that I now realize are a lot like symptoms of cervical spine damage, or spinal cord lesions in the cervical area.

The good news: I stopped Zocor 9 months ago, and now my neck is free of stiffness and pain, and has restored full range of motion. This may be an indication that you can expect good recovery. But keep in mind it took 9 full months to reach this point. I take 300 mg co-Q10 daily and I think this has been a major factor in the recovery.

When I was on Zocor, I kept fighting the neck problem with neck stretching and neck muscle toning exercises. I was careful with those exercises but still continually experienced muscle injuries and pain. I think these efforts may have contributed to the spinal symptoms and I wonder if I did some real damage. However, I continued the exercises after quitting the statin and if I did do some harm earlier, getting off the statin seems to have healed whatever harm I did and seems to have prevented any further injuries even though I've continued the same exercise routine. Today all the neck and shoulder problems are gone and it's like a fresh start -- unbelievably good and what a relief!

Best of luck to you, and be patient and careful in your recovery and therapy.

[cjbrooksjc]

I can empathise with your neck stiffness. I quit Zocor 8/8/6 and am still recovering. Don't get discouraged. I would suggest you try [http://www.gonsi.com] (Nutraceutical Sciences Institute) to order your meds - it is astoundingly cheaper than local helath product outlets and a shipment takes about three days to arrive.

[RigidNECK]

Thank you for the comments. It's hopeful to hear that you (bucho) had similar symptoms with a good recovery. But it's also sad to hear about some who struggle for so long (i.e. catspajamas). Even bucho's recovery took almost a year. Yikes. This is really bad.

Anyway, I stalked up on all those supplements and I want to do everything possible to get rid of this neck pain. I don't care about my cholesteral at this time. The neck rigidity is much too disruptive in my quality of life. It's hard to sleep.

I have not exercised in 1.5 years, which I thought was just pure laziness. In hindsight, I've probably felt overall muscle weakness for some time, but I was attributing it to my deconditioning. Now that I've developed this neck rigidity, I'm wondering of the Lipitor has anything to do with my lack of exercise, or muscle weakness or both. I'm probably just out of shape.

Anyway, thanks again. And thanks for letting me vent.

[RigidNECK]

Actually I "stocked" up on those supplements. :D

[sos_group_owner]

Hi RigidNECK & Welcome to the Forum,

Re: therapy
My husband's neck and shoulders were extremely painful and stiff. Even after stopping (8 years of) statins the pain and stiffness persisted for over a year. So about a year ago he started going to a Chiropractic clinic. Treatment is regular adjustments with 1/2 massage. He used to take Advil a couple of times each day and rarely take any now... a huge improvement.

Fran

[carbuffmom]

Hi Rigidneck:

I went to Physical Therapy for a while and that seemed to help. They gave me stretching exercises to do, which I still do. I am now going to a Chiro once a week--that helps. I also sleep on a pillow designed for proper neck support. I got it at JC Penneys. It takes some getting used to, but it really helps. Hang in there, even slow progress is better than no progress. Stay strong--DEB

Also, doing the exercises in a hot shower can make a difference.