[Information4U] Lipitor side effects

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Lipitor Neurological Side Effect: Amyotrophic Lateral

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Lipitor Neurological Side Effect: Amyotrophic

Lateral Sclerosis,

 

Posted by: " VoiceAnalysis "

VoiceAnalysis

 

soundstonedchick

 

 

Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:34 pm (PST)

Lipitor and other statin drugs are well known for their degradation

of muscle tissues and the sometimes excruciating pain that comes with this.

What is less well known is that the progression of this muscle wasting side

effect may lead to a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also

called Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neurone disease, described as a chronic,

progressive, almost invariably fatal neurological disease.

Duane 'Spacedoc' Graveline, author of Statin Drugs Side Effects: the misguided war on cholesterol

Statins are the absolute best sellers in the pharmaceutical

armamentarium against " high cholesterol " which in itself is not a disease

but has been heavily promoted as an indication of future cardiovascular trouble.

The use of these drugs is associated with serious side effects, most prominent is a degeneration of the muscular tissue and debilitating

pain that comes with it. If you have any doubt whatsoever about this, please read two

earlier articles on this site:

Lipitor - The Human Cost

and

Lipitor: Side Effects And Natural Remedy

Quite apart from the damning information in the articles themselves,

you will see that literally hundreds of readers have added accounts of their

personal experiences of the side effects of the statin drugs they are taking.

 

This can no longer be put this down to lack of information about the

effects of these drugs. The pharmaceutical producers are hooked on the

billions they are making and are doing everything possible to make the FDA and

other regulatory agencies look the other way. Doctors are largely being

kept in the dark as well. Perhaps you can help to bring the carnage to an end by copying

this article plus the two earlier ones and making your doctor pay

attention. There is little hope that the FDA or any other regulatory agency will act as

long as the pharma manufacturers say that " everything's ok " . We need a

doctors' revolt.

But let's take a closer look now at nerve degeneration as a possible

statin side effect. Duane Graveline , who is a former NASA scientist and

astronaut as well as a medical doctor, has an explanation for the neurological

effects of statins and it's not just theoretical. He has encountered many cases

that suggest this is really happening.

Read his report here, including several accounts of ALS

patients:

- - -

ALS AND STATINS: EPIDEMIC?

Another case just reported to me of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(ALS) associated with the use of statin drugs. Only a year ago the numbers

of case reports of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis reported to my repository

was a trickle - now it is a relative flood. There is not the slightest doubt in my

mind that the numbers of reports I am seeing now are far more than usually

expected in a group the size of my reporting population. One naturally wonders

about this curious relationship with statin drugs and what the possible

mechanism of action might be.

Recently a neuroscientist, V. Meske, reported in the European Journal

of Neuroscience a very relevant study about the ability of statin drugs

to cause neuronal degeneration. To refresh your memory statin drugs are

designed to inhibit cholesterol synthesis [in the liver] by their effect on the

mevalonate pathway . It seems that a consequence of the inhibitory effect of

statin drugs on the mevalonate pathway is the induction of abnormal tau protein

phosphorylation. Tau protein phosphorylation goes on to form neurofibrillatory

tangles, long known to be the prime suspect in causing the slowly progressive

neuronal degeneration of Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes this process is

accompanied by Beta amyloid deposition but more commonly not. Research scientists are now

finding that this mechanism appears to be true for ALS and many other forms

of neurodegenerative diseases as well. They have even coined a new word

for this, the taupathies.

Statin associated taupathies or tauopathies may well be additional

gross evidence of collateral damage to existing cellular chemistry that our

researchers were unable to predict when they originally created the statins. All

this from a class of drugs originally designed simply to inhibit the

biosynthesis of cholesterol, which is a vital substance now proven to be irrelevant

to the atherosclerotic process.

Very few primary care physicians are familiar with the association of

statin drug use with ALS and most are disinclined to use warnings from

websites such as mine about statin drug side effects, saying they are anecdotal.

These “

anecdotes†are the patient’s histories! Doctor Ellsworth Amidon,

my Vermont College of Medicine professor of medicine, used to say, “Heed well

the words of your patients, my young doctors, they are telling you the

diagnosis.â€

Most physicians feel that the pharmaceutical industry is on guard for

side effects such as this and if no black box warning is out, the drug is

safe. This is terribly naïve. Nor is FDA’s Medwatch an effective monitor of

drug safety. My personal experience with Medwatch is that it is an adequate

repository only. As an example, primary care physicians were denied the

existence of statin associated amnesias until Wagstaff et al reported in Pharmacotherapy

their 60 cases gleaned from a Medwatch review in 2003. I can only hope that

readers of this paper, especially those having relevant symptoms, will bring

this subject to the attention of their doctors. Print out this paper for them and

urge them to check their own literature.

My first case report will demonstrate how carefully guarded the drug

industry is about this relationship. “Hundreds of folders†might be an

exaggeration but, as a specialist in both family practice and preventive medicine,

even [the existence of] ten folders frightens me.

Duane Graveline MD MPH

Author, Statin Drugs Side Effects: the misguided war on cholesterol

www.spacedoc.net

spacedoc

- - - - -

Recent ALS patient case reports

“My dad died on 6/1/06 at the age of 65 from a six-year battle with

ALS. I said to my mom a million times that dad got ALS from taking Lipitor.

When he was taking it he would wake up in the middle of the night from severe

muscle pain and cramping. When he told his doctor about it, his doctor said,

" Hey, I get aches and pains too, but that's life " , then he doubled my

father's dosage. My dad finally was diagnosed with the ALS and kept taking the Lipitor

because no one told him of any connection of his aches and pains and the

Lipitor. He went from stumbling, to falling down, to walking with arm braces, to a

walker, to a wheelchair, to total paralysis except for his hands. I watched him

die from a disease that took away every bit of his pride and dignity because

he needed help eating and going to the bathroom to being completely paralyzed

and helpless. He was a proud, strong hard working carpenter and this

disease turned him into a sobbing, completely petrified paralyzed person. My dad worked

for an " extremely " wealthy man who finally sent him to and paid

for him to see one of the United States top neurologists after he was diagnosed. After

seeing this doctor for a while I said to him that I thought my dad might have

gotten ALS from taking Lipitor and the doctor said, “You see all of those

folders behind me (there were hundreds)? He said, â€Those are all cases that

pharmaceutical companies have sent me of people who are in law suits because they

think they got ALS from their cholesterol-lowering medications and they want me to

read them all over and decide if I think that is the case or not.†He said,

“In your father's case, honestly I'm just not sure.†Well I know Lipitor

gave my dad ALS no matter what anyone says. It took away my four small children's

grandpa and memories they will never have with him. I just wish doctors would

inform their patients before they prescribed them a medication of the side effects

and risks of that medication so the patient could decide if they wanted

to risk it or not. Maybe if someone told my dad this from the beginning he would

have opted to lower his cholesterol in another way.â€

- - -

“Sadly, I did not stop taking the Lipitor in time. After feeling

back to normal for a short time I took a sudden downturn and was diagnosed

with ALS last week. I am losing strength and mobility every day. I would like to

join any lawsuit against Pfizer.â€

- - -

“The first neurologist gave Dad about an hour long electrode and

needle test in arms and legs (we were in the room and watched) and provided us a medical/technical written report several full pages long to take to

our second opinion. He was pretty sure it was ALS, but emphasized we needed to go to an ALS-specialized neurologist. Right now we are focused on his health

and the battle against Lipitor.â€

- - -

“My neurologist has done a complete turn in his diagnosis. A few

weeks ago he told me that he didn't think that my speech and swallowing problems

were caused by Lipitor and that he thinks that I DO have ALS! Well, he

calls my problems " atypical " ALS because I have d teriorated slowly.

At this point in time I have had problems for almost three years. Currently, I can barely

speak and my speech is pretty unintelligible. Further, I have such great

difficulty in swallowing that I can only eat pureed food and I have lost a lot of

weight. I am tired a lot, feeling weak and my breathing has declined somewhat. I

have been off statins for 2 1/2 years and that has not restored my

vigor.â€

- - -

“I am a veterinary pathologist, that does a lot of neuropathology,

and unfortunately, I am the patient with neurologic issues currently. I

have been on Lipitor 40mg qd for 6 years (increased from 20 mg qd 2 years ago).

Over the past 2 years, I have noticed increased weakness, extreme fatigue,

shortness of breath, and very significant loss of muscle mass (postural muscles,

laryngeal muscles, legs/arms, etc.). The loss of muscle mass in the lower legs

has led to significant edema, which was the main clinical signs that my

physicians were focusing on to try and explain. After some consideration, I became

convinced that I had ALS. I have also experienced short-term memory loss, have

trouble finding the right word, have trouble dictating my biopsy cases

fluidly, and have significant depression. I have a referral with a neurologist tomorrow

for an initial evaluation.â€

- - -

I came across your website while doing some research concerning the

side effects of cholesterol medication. My mom has been taking cholesterol

medication for 15 years now. Recently the past couple months she has been

showing signs of ALS. These symptoms include muscle weakening in the arms, tingling, twitching, slurred speech, fatigue, neck aches, and an overall mood

change. She went to see a couple different doctors and they have taken her off her

medication. One of the doctors told her that she has ALS. I am not convinced that

she has ALS. I still have a strong feeling that this has something to do with

her cholesterol medication. She has always watched her diet and before

all these major symptoms occurred, she was working out really hard. We are in serious

need for some answers. I am so worried about my mom. She is only 48 years old

and her spirits are so low.â€

- - -

“I would first like to thank you for all your work. It never really

occurs to you that one day you may have to face a diagnosis like this until it

happens. It is incredibly uplifting to have people like yourself offering

information like this to all of us! However I have a question or request... My

mother (65yrs old) has been healthy her entire life until recently being

diagnosed with ALS. In our efforts to put her on more medications I noticed she has

been taking these statin drugs for about a year now (Zocor & Lipitor).

My question to you... how strong are the relationships between statin drugs and ALS

or side affects similar to ALS? Are there any doctors out there that truly

understand the relationship and are willing to consult us on what we can do to help

my mother? Any names would be incredibly appreciated.â€

- - -

“Hello, I was on Lipitor for three years; complained of hand and

stomach cramps to my doctor and stayed on the drug; finally went to see a

neurologist who promptly diagnosed me with ALS and gave me three to nine months to

live. My sense is that Lipitor affects the myelin sheath -- is this

correct?“

- - -

“I have a scheduled appt. with a neurologist. I found out my

Creatinine Kinase was 386 on March 31, 2005 and was taken off Lipitor. I asked

for my old records and found that it was at 237 in February of 2004 and was

taking Lipitor for 14Mo (20mg per day). With all the research I have done, I feel

this was the cause, however, my doctor said he does not know what is wrong with

me. Since January 2004, MS was ruled out and but I have lost fine motor skills

and walk unsteady. Have weakness and loss of muscle in hands. I fell down the

stairs last week. Do you think this could be from the statins and is there a

cure? I work a physical job, need my income and I am only 55 yrs old. Please

advise... Thank you.â€

- - -

“My mom has been on cholesterol medication for almost 15 years. She

is only 48 years old. The medicine she has been on ranged from all different

types of statin drugs. The last being Zocor and then a switch to Vytorin. She

has always suffered from stomach problems and then the last couple years she has

noticed muscle weakening in her hands and cramping. After vigorously

exercising recently, the problems seemed to get worse. There is not much muscle

left in her hands and she finds that her arms are very weak. Her muscles are

easily tired and after a recent EMG she has noticed twitching throughout her body.

She also seems to have slurring in her speech and difficulty writing.

Basically the doctors are leaning towards ALS. I just have a hard time believing

that this is the answer. Could it be possible that these really are side effects

from the Statin Drugs?? Supposedly her EMG results were not great and the last

doctor she saw seemed to think it was ALS. She has been off the statin drugs for

2 months now. Her symptoms are not any worse; they have pretty much stayed the

same. I am so worried about her, but refuse to believe that she has a life threatening disease. I'm just trying to get my mom back.â€

- - -

“I have a preliminay diagnosis of ALS. I am a 57 year-old male and

have been on Simvistatin (Zocor) for 12+ years at 60mg a day. I am a medically

retired pilot. Last Thanksgiving I thought at first I had had a stroke but

over time I realized that this was no stroke as muscle weakness and movement were

getting worse. A CT scan ruled out stroke so they sent me to a neurologist

and he has made the preliminary diagnosis. I have an MRI, EMG and Nerve velocity

test coming up. I have stopped taking Zocor (gradually) and it seems that

symptoms have leveled off. Maybe wishfull thinking but they are definately not

progressing at the rate they were. I am not getting any better at this time but

not getting worse as far as I can see.â€

- - -

“I am a 48 year-old woman. I have been on various statin drugs for

13 years. I have been on Zocor the most. About 2 years ago, the Dr. put me on

Zocor and Zetia 20/10 mg. After a while, I started getting muscle cramps in my

hands, legs, neck, and abdomen. I complained to the Dr. about it but he said

to try and tolerate it because my numbers were so good. About a year ago, he

switched me to Vytorin. After about a month or two, I noticed that my hands were

getting weak---I had difficulty with buttons and zippers and tying. Upon

starting the Vytorin, I also started a vigorous exercise routine of running 4

miles 3 to 4 times a week and doing a boot camp routine. I then I noticed I had

trouble doing lateral lifts with my right arm. I thought I had a weight

lifting injury and then I thought I had carpal tunnel. Went to see my Dr. who

noticed I had muscle atrophy between my thumb and index finger on my right hand.

Thank God I'm left-handed. He sent me to a neurologist who did all the tests, MRI,

EMG, nerve, etc. After the EMG, I started twitching all over. I couldn't

even sleep. The neuro said I was probably in the early stages of ALS. I have been

off statins for about 4 mos now. I haven't gotten any worse for which I

am grateful. Whenever I overdo physically, I pay for it. On my last visit to the

neuro, he was surprised at how strong I still am. He still thinks I am in the early

stages of ALS but then added that he wouldn't " bet the farm on

it " . This comment gave me hope.â€

Duane Graveline MD MPH

See also:

STATINS MAY CAUSE NERVE DAMAGE

A Danish study reports that some people who took statin drugs to

lower cholesterol developed a type of nerve damage called polyneuropathy.

Polyneuropathy is characterized by tingling, numbness and burning pain as well as

decreased sensitivity to temperature or pain. When a person suffers nerve

damage, a doctor is supposed to look for a cause, such as diabetes, lack of vitamin

B12, Lyme disease, kidney disease, thyroid disease or alcohol abuse. People who

had taken statins and developed polyneuropathies were checked for known

causes of nerve damage. Researchers showed that people taking statins were 4 to

14 times more likely to develop polyneuropathythan those who did not take

statins. Statins include Lescol, Lipitor, Mevacor, and Pravachol. Check with your

doctor about any side effects from your medications.

Reference: Neurology May 14, 2002;58:1321-1322, 1333-1337

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