Do you know what doseage your sister was on? My hubby is on Lipitor. I really worry about a lot of these danged medications. The doctor tried switching hubby to Zetia, and oh my, that was awful. It is now listed that he is allergic to it on his medical records.

Hubby is on 20 mg. Doctor tried upping it to 40 and hubby just couldn't stand the pain.

Had I realized she was on a statin I would have mentioned that immediately as a possible suspect. My doctor would have to do a lot of threatening to get me to take it... And yes, I know others have no problem with it.

When I first started Visastatin ( or something like that), I had terrible muscle pains in my legs..then was put on 10 mg of Lipitor, and seem to be able to tolerate that. It would be wonderful if she can avoid surgery....no fun, but sometimes necessary.

I can't take Lipitor or Zetia either. I was getting horrible foot cramps. I now take Cholesterice, CoQ10, and Red Yeast Rice that I get from the health food store.

I moved and had to get a new primary. Labs were drawn. He was not happy with several of the numbers. Three months later, as per protocol, labs were drawn again. The numbers were not changed much. Double the dosage. After another three months, the numbers went way down and he said to keep it up. I have cut the dosage in half. I'll wait for the next labs and see what they show. Darned Cholesterol.

Julie -- I'm glad to hear your DS's pain has diminished. Would she start doing a little exercise -- just walk a block or two or even just march around the house for a few minutes -- enough to raise her heartbeat?

Jim -- DH's cholesterol hovered around 200. By the time he was 70, his MD agreed he didn't need statins.

chisue - I have been praying and hoping and prodding her do do a walk around the block for years. I think she is just in such a dark place emotionally that she can't even think about exercise. sigh....it's so frustrating to see her go down hill when most of it is preventable.

Oh My....Statins are, to me, frightening. I tried to take Lipitor for months. I see my MD at least every 4 months and would take Lipitor for only days before I ached all over and stopped....then 3 months later would try again.....never could tolerate them. Finally when labs and statin came together in blood work, I had muscle tissue in my blood. Never heard of such a thing. DH has been taking some statin for years and has Rheumatoid Arthritis and he is so uncomfortable all the time....finally stopped statin and is feeling much better. We thought his aches and pain was from RA....don't think so anymore. He sees a new MD tomorrow, I think....me on Wednesday.

Julie, I do not know your sister's conditions, but can speak from my experiences. I had a "blotched" hip replacement and it left the nerves dead in my hip...so therefore, I walk with a "waddle", which I turn grinds the bulged discs in my back...and believe me, it hurts! I also have had a stenosis surgery. I need to exercise, but after walking 50 feet, I am in terrible pain. So please do not be too hard on your sister that her problems are "preventable". I am sure she also knows she needs to exercise and it is easy to go into a dark place when constant pain is always with us.

Excellent news and info. Thanks!

Wow, that's great. It's a really great lesson for everyone reading. Know your meds side effects!

Anytime you can avoid back surgery for local pain, it's a great thing.