What to Do If Exercise Suddenly Becomes Painful When You Start Cholesterol Medication
The cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor is prescribed so often in the United States that it practically can be described as vitamin L. And if you have not been prescribed Lipitor, chances are, if you are over the age of 40, your doctor has at least mentioned the possibility of prescribing Crestor, Zocor, Mevacor, or LesCol.A Side Effect of Lipitor and Other Statin Drugs You May Not Have Heard About
Statin drugs offer a tiny yet measurable increase of your likelihood of not experiencing a heart attack. But especially in the case of Lipitor and muscle pain, they also offer unexpected side effects that your doctor may not warn you about.Everyone who gets put on Lipitor does not experience the connection between Lipitor and muscle pain, but up to about 5 per cent of people put on Lipitor and similar medications do. Lipitor and other statin drugs can induce a serious complication called rhabdomyolysis, when the muscle fibers break down and emit toxic compounds that can overwhelm the kidneys.
How Many Lipitor Users Suffer Muscle Tissue Breakdown?
This kind of muscle breakdown is much more common in victims of crush injuries, in burn victims, and in frostbite. Toxic muscle breakdown can even occur in teenagers addicted to wii. But beginning Lipitor, or increasing the dosage of Lipitor, can cause this potentially deadly condition in about 1 in 20 users of the medication.The way Lipitor users can detect this dangerous complication is muscle pain that occurs without exercise or injury. If you are on Lipitor and you experience not just unexplained muscle pain but also weakness and fever, especially if you also have a dark discoloration in your urine, you should see a doctor right away.
Medications that Increase the Risks of Lipitor
Certain medications increase the risk of Lipitor and muscle pain related to muscle tissue breakdown, including:These medicines include:
Antifungals:- Voriconazole (VFEND)
- Posaconazole (Noxafil)
- Miconazole
- Ketoconazole (Nizoral)
- Itraconazole (Sporanox)
- Fluconazole (Diflucan)
Antibiotics:
- Clarithromycin (Biaxin)
- Cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune)
- Erythromycin
- Telithromycin (Ketek)
Fibrates, such as:
- Gemfibrozil (Lopid)
- Fenofibrate (Antara, Lofibra, Tricor, Triglide)
- Niacin (nicotinic acid, Niacor, Nicolar)
Protease inhibitors:
- Saquinavir (Invirase)
- Ritonavir (Norvir)
- Nelfinavir (Viracept)
- Lopinavir and ritonavir (Kaletra)
- Indinavir (Crixivan)
- Fosamprenavir (Lexiva)
- Darunavir (Prezista)
- Atazanavir (Reyataz)
- Amprenavir (Agenerase)
Of course, 95% of users of Lipitor who experience muscle pain simply have tired, sore muscles that respond to other kinds of therapy, such as ultrasound and TENS.
