Statins and RLS

[btthemd]

I developed my RLS after taking statins for high cholesterol. The statins ruined the muscles in my legs and caused RLS. I stopped taking the statins, but the RLS remained and have had them for over 20 years. Has anyone gotten RLS after taking statins and having leg or other muscle problems. If so we should talk about the relationship of statins to RLS. Sure some people can take the without the bad effects but there are others who are affected greatly. Your thoughts?

[Parminter]

Very recent research points to anomalies in the peripheral nerves of RLS/WED sufferers, and this may be the cause of your problems.

physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley....

Previously only the Central Nervous System was considered, and this widens knowledge of the disease considerably.

Statins cause damage to muscles, nerves, liver and kidneys, and both of the latter can be associated with RLS, most particularly the kidneys.

So sorry you had to suffer this way, for a drug based on bad science - but making billions of dollars while causing huge harms.

What are you doing to help your situation? It might not be a good idea to ask for help from the person who had you on statins - I assume you made your muscle problems known?

[Allyp69]

I have been advised to take statins but I refused because of side effects. So sorry to hear about your problems. Generally, I avoid medication unless absolutely necessary. I use Valerian occasionally, copper bracelets some nights and listen to music using headphones. Just started taking folic acid daily. Noticing improvement. Hope you can get the help you need.

[marci6]

i started taking Crestor about 20 years ago . but i had mild rl once in awhile. not to often as i can remember. but recently i had it bad almost ever night. i have always suspected the Crestor. i have stop taking it about 2 weeks ago, my elbows have not felt like they were on fire at night anymore. I'm going to my PM doctor today. were going to have a good talk. also I'm on ropinirole for the past year. doesn't seem to really help that much. i might try to get off of it since now i get it in my arms now. I've gotten off diet coke and limit my coffee to 1 cup a day, cut out all chips and limited fried food. tried a lot of over the counter medicine take i read off this site but nothing seems to work for me, have an exercise bike i ride at night . sometime at 2 o'clock in the morning when it's really bad.

[Hidden]

I first went onto statins for familial high cholesterol about 15 years ago but stopped them because they made my legs ache. Since then the debate about statins has ebbed and flowed and we keep being told they don't cause leg problems but they certainly did for me. The NHS wants us to take statins because they are cheap and may save the NHS money in lessening CVD but that doesn't mean we should put up with something that may cause other conditions that impact our quality of life if not the quantity (which is debatable anyway as chronic conditions can contribute to CVD risk).

Under pressure from GPs I went back onto statins more recently, but by then I had bad (undiagnosed) PLMS. I cannot make a direct causal link to statins but decided to come off them again once I had the PLMS diagnosis. Interestingly my sleep consultant asks me at every appointment whether I have gone back on the statins. I have lost confidence in my consultant but it says a lot that even they seem to think that statins could make RLS/PLMS worse.

[restlessstoz]

Just read the posts here. That's an interesting slant on RL as I haven't heard it before. I was on statins for years, developing fibromyalgia from it and ended up Rhabdomyolysis which is the breakdown of damaged skeletal muscle. due to the enzymes produced in this process there is a big risk of kidney damage and failure. It was picked up when I had a ruptured disk and had total numbness in my leg and they did random blood tests at the hospital. It was quite dramatic- nurses running up with bags of saline to run through as fast as possible to reduce the enzymes in my blood which were sky high. I was told NEVER to go on statins again as it would happen again and my kidneys would be at risk. I can't even use the other groups of drugs to control cholesterol as I get fibromyalgia from all of them- even though you're not supposed to be able to!

I have to look into when I was put on statins but it would fit with around the time that I started on statins to lower cholesterol as I'm diabetic. It may be nothing but I'm interested in finding out.

[robert1957]

please research magnesium deficiency and symptoms of magnesium deficiency also research vitamin d3 k2 Mk 7 goodluck

[Hidden]

You might be interested in a facebook group called Stopped Our Statins, people who share their stories of what the stuff has done to them- facebook.com/groups/1274471...

[trentshs]

My RLS developed sometime after starting a statin but stopped almost immediately after discontinuing the statin I was taking.