Mr A. R.

[Alroyseven]

I was prescribed Pravastatin 40mg 15 years ago following a minor heart attack. For at least 5 years I was treated for Goat problems even though I was not having the usual swellings associated with the illness. During the past 3 or 4 years started with Cramp like problems both in my feet, ankles and legs which was getting progressively worse. I mentioned it to various GP's without help until about 3 or 4 months ago when finally one doctor asked "Was I on Statins?" and took me off them straight away. One month later obviously concerned about the possible Cholesterol reaction put me back on but on the reduced 20mg medication. Since then my CRAMP like problem seems to have receded considerably put not totally. My question is will the now obvious effect's from using Statin's go away "totally" in time?  

[Alroyseven]

Thanks for that interesting reply to my question. As I explained since the GP reduced the medication down to 20mg (which by the way I am now only taking on alternate days) the muscle problems seem to have subsided considerably but not completely. As I understand it from my nosying on my computer Statins can actually have a detrimental breakdown effect on the muscles which is very worrying, especially if its usage causes irreparable damage even to lung functions (breathing) which is extremely serious for me seeing I have lost half of my left lung during a Cancer operation. .

[Paxiled]

I guess this would depend on why the statins are doing this.  They are known to interfere with the absorption of fat soluble nutrients, so that's one possibility.  It might be connected to whatever pathway the drug takes to get into the system -- drugs that target neurotransmitters usually use the magnesium pathway, for example, and since magnesium relaxes the muscles they often cause cramping.  Statins are also known to be highly liver toxic.  Way more people are on statins than need them, as they've been overprescribed -- the connection between cholesterol and heart disease is still in question.  I have no idea why statins would cause this, but some investigation might get you the answer and that in turn might tell you whether this will even go away if you still take statins.