Lipitor Side Effects: My Family's Experience

Four of us in our family took Lipitor for different lengths of time. We all had some side effects that were disturbing. Mother and I had muscle aches and muscle fatigue. Mother and my brother are diabetic. While they were on Lipitor they found it was more difficult to manage their sugar to insulin balance. My sister and I both experienced fatigue as a side effect of Lipitor. None of us have thyroid problems. All of us needed help to get our cholesterol down.

Until we actually talked to each other about Lipitor side effects, I was the only one who was concerned. My muscle and joint pain was enough to make me question this possible Lipitor side effect. When we realized we were all having some side effects it was time to talk to our pharmacist and doctor.

While we knew that thousands of people had been through clinical tests and only a small percentage of them had discomforting side effects, we planned to ask our doctor. Mother saw an article in the AARP newsletter about some of the possible Lipitor side effects and she decided to stop taking the pill before we even talked to the doctor. Naturally, we all did the same thing.

It was actually rewarding to hear our physician tell us that he was no longer prescribing Lipitor as a routine because so many of his patients were having significant side effects. Actually the receptionist told us that.

Mother was given a different medication for cholesterol management. Within days she had worse side effects from that including swollen feet. Again she used her own good judgment and stopped taking the prescription.

When she returned to the doctor two weeks later he proclaimed her a "poster child" for her good blood work. He said his other patients will want to know what she is doing for her good health.

At 92 years of age, she is diabetic, but is able to manage her sugar and insulin balance mostly without the use of drugs. The doctor found it hard to believe she was not taking any anti-cholesterol medicine at the time because her HDL and LDL levels were as close to perfect as he had ever seen. He remarked, "Mine should be so good!"

Essentially we recognized that our bodies actually use cholesterol and need it. Many of the side effects of Lipitor were related to the lack of cholesterol in various parts of our bodies. Our cell membranes were not able to repair themselves because cholesterol is an essential ingredient.

Without realizing it, what we did was really very helpful. We all started taking better care of ourselves. We watched what we ate. We all tried to get a little more exercise. None of us is especially active right now. To compensate for our occasional bad eating habits we began to take vitamins that we had overlooked for a long time.

Recently I read online that vitamin C is especially helpful for managing cholesterol in our bodies. I would much rather take that than face the side effects from Lipitor or other prescription medications. Today my first step is to consult with the health food nutritionist and then discuss it with my doctor.