Atorvastatin and joint pain

[jack1955]

I have been taking Atorvastatin 80mg one a day since I had a mild heart attack in late September 2020.

I have had muscle pain from the beginning but I accepted that as part of taking the medication. Over the past 6 months I have been having pain in my knee and hip joints. It has progressively increased. Today I tried to do some yoga exercises and it proved very painful and I had to stop. A month ago it would have been not a problem.

I am quite active and regularly walk more than 60 mins a day and more at weekends. 6 miles walking not unusual. I am 66 years 5ft 9in tall and about 73kg weight.

I have seen that joint pains can be a side effect of taking Atorvastatin. I do not want to stop as I have high cholesterol which is genetic rather than lifestyle.

Have others had similar experiences ?

Thanks

Jack

[Hidden]

Have you considered that hip and knee pain might be related to your daily very active life style, particularly if those joints are becoming arthritic? I have some arthritic joints (including knees and hip) and whereas they don't normally trouble me, if I overdo things they can become painful and then take time to settle down again. Without being too pessimistic it may be a sign of old age creeping on, which sooner or later sadly affects us all. Perhaps try gentle and limited exercise rest days once or twice a week to give your body chance to recover. Even athletes do that.

But that aside joint and muscle pains are one of the possible side effects from taking Atorvastatin. However there are other statins that can be prescribed as an alternative, and there is now a periodic injection which has recently become available on the NHS as an alternative, and you may qualify for that.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

I suggest you talk this through with your GP. Accepting medication side effects without first discussing them with a health professional should not, in my view, be an option.

[jack1955 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your response.Natural ageing was my first thought. Followed by the effects of cold and damp winter weather. It was the rapid onset and that I had not done anything a strenuous in the previous few days. Speaking to a qualified yoga instructor it was suggested that it could be the medication

I will seek advice from my GP practice.

Thanks again.

[Hidden in reply to jack1955]

A final word from me! I started hatha yoga in my early 60s and whilst I really enjoyed it and considered myself in good shape for my age I struggled with some of the asanas, and there were some I just didn't attempt. I also found it took a toll on some of my joints, knees and hips in particular. We are all different, but I noticed the older folks were noticeable less capable than those a lot younger, and men were generally much less supple than women. As we age joints become worn and less flexible, and muscles and other soft tissue becomes less supple, and so we must respect that, but noting that's not to say we abandon their wellbeing and certainly not give up on them. Anyway for my part I had to stop yoga in the end, much to my regret, because I found it was making my reflux problems much worse than I could tolerate, but in so doing I also found my bad knees and less so hip improved.

[Mentdent]

Sounds like arthritis

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

When I first started on statins I was prescribed Simvastatin. Within weeks I had developed quite severe muscle aches in the shoulders. Someone I know who is in to all the various supplements sugged CoQ10. This did absolutely nothing and so went back to my GP. He changed the prescription to Atorvastatin and the problem resolved itself. I know others who have changed statins in the opposite direction and yet others who have gone onto yet different statins like Rouvastatin. We are all different so you need to work with your GP to find the best statin and dose.

However you should bear in mind the comments about arthritis. It can seem to hit multiple joints at times as specific inflammatory markers rise.

[MountainGoat52]

I totally agree with Michael, in that changing statins can provide relief from muscle aches. I'm on Rosuvastatin which is the fourth statin that I have been prescribed. After three "failures" understandably at first I was reluctant to try a fourth. However, after a bedding in period of a couple of weeks, it has proved to be effective with no side effects.

I too walk long distances, ten or more miles on a fine day if I have time. I also climb Munros. I look on medication as being an aid to me being able to do this aged 70, post heart attack, stents and triple bypass. Nevertheless, the medication has had to be adjusted to suit me without side effects. Medication is meant to make us feel better, not worse, so I would speak to your GP about your experience.

As for arthritis, yes I've a measure of that as well, but I found the aches caused by statins were different - more muscular than joint. Having eradicated the statin issue, I'm now on the case to solve the arthritis issue which isn't proving easy.

[Ecki]

I was put on Atorvastatin 40 mg at the start of December last year. By Christmas everything ached, joints, muscles, head, horrendous muscle weakness, I'd gone from walking 4 miles daily to just about managing half a mile, couldn't open bottles and jars that I'd normally have no trouble with. I felt that I'd aged 30 years in a month. My husband suggested it could be the statin.

I read up on statins and discovered there are 2 types: lipophilic and hydrophilic. Atorvastatin is lipophilic so I talked to my GP, explained my symptoms and said I wanted to try the hydrophilic type. He agrees to change me to Rosuvastatin and wanted to start me on 40mg. I felt it would be better to start low and go up if necessary, so after some discussion, we agreed on 5mg (my trump card was that my cholesterol wasn't high anyway (4.2) but he wanted me on a statin to reduce my QRISK2 level).

Nearly 3 months on and I am almost back to normal, the aches and weakness do take a long time to go but I'm almost there. I have read that it typically takes 2 months and some people never recover. I also have some arthritic joints and so I knew that this statin-caused pain wasn't the same.

I would advise you to read up on types of statins and then have a conversation with your doctor once you are armed with some knowledge. You don't have to accept what they want to give you, it is up for discussion.

My GP told me that they look for a 40% reduction in cholesterol level. According to NICE, 5mg of Rosuvastatin typically results in a 38% reduction. If that's how much mine has gone down, then that will be good enough for me and I would not be willing to up my dose even if the GP suggests it.

I'm having the blood test on Monday so will know soon how much my cholesterol has gone down. Hopefully, it will be enough to stay on the 5 mg of Rosuvastatin.

Hope this helps, but do read up on statins.

[MountainGoat52 in reply to Ecki]

With regards to statins, your experience is almost the same as mine. I'm now on 10mg of Rosuvastatin. Initially I was prescribed 10mg on alternate days and my total cholesterol dropped roughly 20% from 4.4 to 3.6. Last year it started to rise, so I suggested to my GP that I start taking the medication every day and this was readily agreed to. I'm due a blood test shortly, so it will be interesting to see whether it has had any effect.

[MikeBB]

Speaking to the doc is good. Ask about blood tests. I have broadly similar issues and am currently spending a statin free month (same as yours!) to see what happens. This having found muscle enzymes in blood having finally accepted the dreadful cramps I suffered at night aren’t normal.

Note the past tense! They stopped after three days off the statin.

I take Turmeric which helps joints I find.

[Katrinatroy]

Hi Jack1955, sorry to hear your having problems with your Atorvastatin, but yet, I did and my dosage was only 20mg, please contact your doctor again, as my doc's response, was quite abrupt..Ive not had a heart attack, but, was diagnosed with Bilateral illiac artery occlusion, so not as fit as you, (I was).

They may be able to lower your dose, or a different Station, talk to your specialist at BHF.. Sorry I can't suggest anything else, or be more help. Take care. X

[dinasaurnan]

Hi, I'm also on 80mg of Atorvastatin and was suffering excruciating muscle pain when out walking, the pharmacist at my surgery suggested trying Co Enzyme Q10 200mg and I can honestly say that this has helped.Good Luck

[Qualipop]

I had pain with atorvastatin; swapped to simvastatin - no problems but people are very quick to blame statins when in f act according to research I read today, only 10% of those withy pain are because of the statin. Best way to find out, with GP permission of course is to stop them for 2 weeks to see if it goes away.