What do statins do to your muscles?

Statins can rarely cause muscle inflammation (swelling) and damage. Speak to your doctor if you have muscle pain, tenderness or weakness that cannot be explained – for example, pain that is not caused by physical work.

Which muscles are most affected by statins?

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.

How do you know if statins are affecting your muscles?

Muscle pain and damage

One of the most common complaints of people taking statins is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult.

Is muscle damage from statins permanent?

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).

Why do statins affect muscles?

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.

Statin Associated Muscle Symptoms and Pain

Can you still build muscle while on statins?

Conclusion: Statins may increase the incidence of exercise-related muscle complaints and in some studies augment the exercise-induced rise in muscle enzymes, but statins do not consistently reduce muscle strength, endurance, overall exercise performance or physical activity.

What do statins do to your legs?

Statin-related muscle pain, if it happens at all, usually happens within the first few months after you start the drug or raise the dose. 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.

What is the best statin to avoid muscle pain?

Even though all statins are similar chemically, they have some minor differences that could impact how likely they are to cause muscle pain. Simvastatin is the most likely to cause muscle pain, and fluvastatin is the least likely.

What can I take instead of statins to lower cholesterol?

What happens when you go off statins?

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.

Why do statins have to be taken at night?

So, why do people take statins at night? Many statins work more effectively when they are taken at night. This is because the enzyme which makes the cholesterol is more active at night. Also, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes for half the dose to leave your body, of some statins is short.

Which statin has the least side effects?

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.

Do statins cause weight gain?

Statin use is associated with increased calorie intake and consequent weight gain.

What are the two most common adverse effects of statins?

Side effects can vary between different statins, but common side effects include: headache. dizziness.

Does joint pain from statins go away?

Generally, symptoms of SAMS resolve on their own if a person stops taking statins. However, if they do so without medical supervision, they may develop high levels of cholesterol. This in turn increases risk of serious conditions, including heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

What organ do statins affect?

Most people associate statins with the heart, but these cholesterol-lowering (also known as lipid-lowering) drugs actually work in the liver. “The liver is responsible for the vast majority of cholesterol production in the body,” Dr. Jacoby explains.

What does the Mayo Clinic say about statins?

Taking statins lowers your body's production of cholesterol and may lower your risk of heart attack, stroke and heart-related death. However, you may experience mild to severe statin side effects such as muscle aches, pain, weakness or other side effects, including asymptomatic liver damage.

Is there a safer alternative to statins?

There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.

How do you stop muscle pain from statins?

Is there a new drug to replace statins?

Ezetimibe. Ezetimibe (Zetia) is a medication that's often prescribed in cases where a statin alone isn't enough. If you've hit the maximum recommended dose of your statin but your cholesterol levels are still high, your healthcare provider might recommend it.

Can statins cause walking problems?

While statins have been shown to significantly reduce cholesterol levels, they have also been reported to have negative side effects on skeletal muscle. Most statin-induced myopathy manifests in the leg muscles, which can lead to difficulty walking and exercising.

Does coq10 help with muscle pain from statins?

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.

Why are some doctors against statins?

Statins do not address the underlying cause of heart disease: Chronic inflammation. Statins may lower cholesterol, but they do not address the underlying cause of heart disease, which is typically chronic inflammation (some people are genetically predisposed to cardiovascular disease).