The majority of muscle damage by statins is secondary to its direct toxic effects, possibly via coenzyme Q10 depletion causing mitochondrial dysfunction. The injury is dose dependent and reversible after withdrawing the drug, with most recovery of symptoms occurring within 2–3 months (3).
Rhabdomyolysis or milder forms of muscle inflammation from statins can be diagnosed with a blood test measuring levels of the enzyme creatinine kinase. If you notice moderate or severe muscle aches after starting to take a statin, contact your doctor.
Often the only way to halt the effects of statins on your muscle cells is to stop taking the medications. Symptoms tend to disappear within 3 months after you stop taking statins, with no permanent damage in most cases.
The FDA warns on statin labels that some people have developed memory loss or confusion while taking statins. These side effects reverse once you stop taking the medication.
If you're taking a statin medication to lower your cholesterol, you will need to keep taking your prescription, or your cholesterol will likely go back up. Stopping your statin can put you at risk of having heart disease and other preventable health problems like stroke and heart attack from high cholesterol.
You may feel a constant soreness or weakness in your shoulders, thighs, hips, or calves. If you're like most people, it'll affect both sides of your body equally. Your symptoms can be mild or serious enough to interfere with your day-to-day life.
Within a month of starting statin therapy, they may feel aches or weakness in the large muscles of their arms, shoulders, thighs or buttocks on both sides of the body. About 5 to 10% of people who try statins are affected. It's more common in the elderly, in women and in those taking the more potent statins.
Certain statins are associated with a higher incidence of myopathy. Bruckert et al used pravastatin as a reference and demonstrated that atorvastatin and simvastatin were associated with higher incidences of myopathy, whereas fluvastatin XL was associated with a lower incidence.
In most cases, if you're going to have muscle pain from statins, you will notice it soon after you start taking the medication. For many people, however, this side effect is temporary and goes away somewhat quickly.
The cholesterol-lowering action of alternate-day statins is as effective as daily dosing in many individuals. 6.
One of the side effects of these drugs, however, is muscle pain and weakness, a general condition called “myositis.” In the great majority of patients, this side effect goes away when they stop taking the medication.
If you have high cholesterol and are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, you should consider statins. That's because the benefits of statins greatly outweigh the risks. Statins reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke by up to 25%, and death by 10%.
inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), which can cause flu-like symptoms. inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can cause stomach pain. skin problems, such as acne or an itchy red rash. sexual problems, such as loss of libido (reduced sex drive) or erectile dysfunction.
Your doctor will carry out a blood test to measure a substance in your blood called creatine kinase (CK), which is released into the blood when your muscles are inflamed or damaged. If the level of CK in your blood is more than 5 times the normal level, your doctor may advise you to stop taking the statin.
In the analysis of 135 previous studies, which included nearly 250,000 people combined, researchers found that the drugs simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin (Pravachol) had the fewest side effects in this class of medications.
Importantly, when considering a statin, other factors such as potency (i.e., effect on low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol levels) should be considered. While pravastatin and fluvastatin may be associated with the lowest incidence of myalgia, the LDL-lowering effect is low compared to other statins.
In a small retrospective study of 45 patients, the mean duration of statin therapy before onset of symptoms was 6.3 (SD 9.3) months (range 1 week to 4 years). In this study, the mean duration of myalgia after stopping statin therapy was 2.3 (SD 3.0) months (range 1 week to 4 months).
According to the research, published in JACC: Basic to Translational Science, statins cause spontaneous and irregular leaks of calcium from storage compartments within muscle cells. Under normal conditions, coordinated releases of calcium from these stores make the muscles contract.
Skeletal muscle side effects that are associated with statin use involve muscle cramping, soreness, fatigue, weakness, and, in rare cases, rapid muscle breakdown that can lead to death (ie, rhabdomyolysis). Side effects have been associated with all commonly used statins and are dose dependent.
Coenzyme Q10 supplementation ameliorated statin‐associated muscle symptoms, such as muscle pain, muscle weakness, muscle cramps, and muscle tiredness, demonstrated by the present meta‐analysis.
“In other words, the statin is not the cause of muscle symptoms in more than 90% of individuals who report such symptoms.” The authors found that in the first year, statin therapy produced a 7% relative increase in muscle pain or weakness, but there was no significant increase after that.
Statin-induced autoimmune myopathy should be considered with high suspicion when there is a significantly elevated CPK level. Discontinuation of statin therapy does not lead to muscle recovery or improvement in the CPK level. Diagnosis is confirmed by positive anti-HMG-CoA reductase autoantibody and a muscle biopsy.