Help - Simvistatin & Pain

40mg is quit a high dose - I had to stop takling Simvastatin at 5mg because of the pain in my legs as a result of taking it. I'd speak to your GP about substituting the Simvastatin for a different statin...

mandapanda2601 said:

Hi

Can anyone help me? I've been suffering for the past month with severe pains in my left shoulder and arm to the point i cannot get my watch on as my wrist has started to swell. I've not hurt myself but i feel like the top of my arm feels week and i'm starting to get the same feeling in my right arm. I take 40mg of Simvistatin each day, my bloods are ok around 5 - 6 but this pain is driving me mad. Anyone with any ideas or thoughts please let me know.

Amanda

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Hi Amanda.
The pain you are talking about does not have to be caused by the Simvastatin, there are many other causes of such pain, one that I have had experience of with very similar effects was a trapped nerve in my neck.

So my advice is to go and see your GP and discuss this.

You've asked a question. We cannot give medical advice, but speak from experience. I found stopping 10 mg simvastatin stopped the severe muscle pains in a few days. I then reported back to the Dr, & the chemist. They confirmed the side effect.

If you suspect simvastatin, as I did, stop taking it for a few days to see if yo get relief. Report back to the Dr. What are your cholesterol levels? If they are very high you may need to take statins or otherwise reduce your cholesterol, but if your Dr is 'simply' trying to get your levels down, say from 5 to 4, and you have no indicators of a heart risk, then stopping the tablets for a trial period will not put you in danger.

On diagnosis, my total chol was 7.6. Adding oat bran & chol-reducing margarine to my diet reduced it to 5 - 5.5. When I went to a low carb diet, my chol reduced to about 4.7. I do not take prescription medicine for chol.