Elevated Creatine Kinase

Hi,

I am a 39 year old white male, and have been on statin drugs (Crestor) for the past five years or so.  Earlier this year, I noticed some muscle fatigue in my shoulder area, primarily the left shoulder but lesser so in the right.  I cut my Crestor use to 1/2 a pill a day (5 mg).  Recently I went to the GP for a regular checkup, and my bloodwork showed an elevated level of total creatine kinase.  I measured 234 versus an upper boundary of 204.  She told me to go off of the statin for 4 weeks and we would retest.

I am a worrier.  I am wondering why, after taking this drug for years, am I just now starting to feel a side effect?  I am worried that something worse may be going on, such as a muscle disease or ALS or something along those lines.  Are these legitimate concerns?  For the most part I function fine, just feel a little weakness in the shoulder area on occasion, and a bit of discomfort (almost like a burning sensation) on the back part of the upper arm near the shoulder.  This comes and goes but I usually feel it a couple of time a day.

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
The causes of elevated Creatine kinase are – Myocardial infarction , Renal failure , hypothermia , Hypothyroidism , Pericarditis , Myocarditis and  Rhabdomyosis . Please consult your GP and discuss these possibilities . Please get relevant investigations done to rule out the conditions . Hope this helps you . Take care and regards !

[Tryroid]

I am 48 years old and I also have high CPKs, ranging from 250 to 900, with an average of 300. I stop taking Lipitor temporarily and discovered this did not make any difference in my case. The CPK levels were still high. Fortunately, I have no symptoms, even when I learned I had a reading at 900 (ironically, I felt very agile and healthy at my highest reading of 900) I am back on Lipitor but I am monitored bimonthly for CPK, and am watching for symptoms. My doctor told me CPKs are unique to each individual. In my case, I have no symptoms, but some people have symptoms and have normal CPK. This is one of those weird tests that does not always follow a pattern. My advice is to NOT worry so much about the numbers but be aware of the symptoms: muscle pains, cramps, stiffness. However, I am only a patient and NOT a doctor.

[ericksoto88]

hello im a 31 old male hispanic I had some rutine blood lab work an the level came out to 10,732. I has admited to the hospital for another lab an it came out higher than the previous lab 20,160. I was under a 24 hr supervision an i was treated with 4 liters of iv fluid. Later on that day they ran another lab an the ck had dropped to 14,557, they say the level was going down so i was able to check out of the hospital. Those labs where take around 01/22/2011. I had another lab done an it was 444 on 02/07/2011 i have been under this medication for close to a year bupropion hcl 150mg. I have read all the symptoms an i had some musle soarnes. do i have to worry about the numbers being so high?