Are you struggling with muscle pain caused by a statin drug? In this video you can find
out six tips which can help you with this type of pain! Coming up! Can Statins cause muscle injury?
Well, the straightforward answer is yes and thank you for watching this video.
End of the video. A short and concise video. Just kidding. In clinical practice we see this
nearly on a daily basis with different patients. In fact the type of injury to your muscles has
a variety of names. The most common being a medical term referred to as myalgia. You
will have a feeling of soreness and stiffness or tenderness in your muscles sometimes this
is described as cramp- like or like a cramp. The best way of comparing this is if you've ever had
a viral infection, like the flu, that's the type of pain I'm talking about. Another type of injury
to your muscles is referred to as myopathy which just means your muscles feel weaker.
You may have pain and discomfort with this type of weakness. Then there is a muscle inflammation
where you will feel muscle discomfort and soreness, this is called myositis.
A step worse is a term called myonecrosis where because of muscle breakdown a marker
called CK is released and can be measured. The worst type of this is rhabdomyolysis, where during
this muscle breakdown a protein is released from your muscles and excreted in your urine.
You can also have acute renal failure at the same time with this condition.
You're more likely to have this breakdown of the muscles coupled with renal failure, especially,
if you're taking type of drugs which can cause drug-drug interactions and the most common being
HIV drugs, Cyclosporine and Gemfibrozil. I'll talk about other drugs and other drug drug interactions
later on in this video. AND, if you want to skip to the TIPS check the TIMESTAMPS in the section
below; and if you're interested in a more detailed discussion of ATORVASTATIN and it's side effects
click on this link above. Clinical symptoms? Typically your upper muscles in both your
extremities feel weak and sore so things which you and I take for granted like
getting up from your chair, walking up steps or stairs, raising up your arms will be affected
and your activities of daily life are affected. Sometimes these symptoms feel cramp-like
and some patients even complain about tendon pain as the tendons are close to your joints and this
pain is radiating, this pain is also sometimes described as pain in the joints or joint pain.
Usually in my experience these symptoms occur within weeks after starting off Statin drugs,
but sometimes this can occur after months and sometimes even after years. So, if you're having
pain or soreness talk to your doctor, talk to your physician about going off the drug, symptoms
should resolve typically within two to four weeks sometimes it may even last up to six months.
Now if you're unlucky and this disorder does not resolve and you continue to have symptoms
you may have a disease disorder called immune mediating necrotizing myopathy.
This is due to antibodies being built against an enzyme in the muscle this would probably need
a referral to a specialist as further workup is required and needed including an MRI and a biopsy.
Other disorders that may be induced by statin therapy is a condition called mononeuritis
multiplex. So what does that mean? It happens when there's damage to two or more nerve areas.This
is a type of neuropathy where nerves are affected, so you will experience a group of symptoms
such as numbness, tingling, a lack of sensation, difficulty controlling movement
and pain. Another statin-induced disorder is a myopathy or weakness around your eyes
which can mimic Graves disease or Graves disease eye disease. AND, If you're finding value in
this video don't forget to LIKE, COMMENT and HIT that notification button and SMASH
that SUBSCRIBE button as well.I'm gonna go down a list of medications or some Statin medications
with an increased risk for muscle injury: Lovastatin the brand name is Mevacor,
Simvastatin the brand name is Zocor and Atorvastatin the brand name is Lipitor.
The reason is the way these drugs are metabolized in your body. There are some other statin drugs
which have a lower risk if they are metabolized in your body because they're metabolized differently
and these are Fluvastatin it's called Lescol which is the brand name, Pravastatin and the brand name
is Pravachol, Pitivastatin and the the brand name is Livalo. And the ability to cause muscle injury
among different statins also depends on the statin dose. So the higher the dose the higher the risk.
The other thing is that certain diseases such as hypothyroidism, renal failure, liver diseases
also are also associated with a higher risk of muscle injury secondary to Statins
and as always genetics plays a role and makes you more susceptible to Statin injury.
And I'm going to go through a list of drugs and if you're taking them there is a higher risk of
drug drug interaction with Statins and higher risk of muscle injury and these drugs can be HIV drugs,
Calcium Channel Blockers, Amiodarone, Macrolid antibiotics such as azithromycin and erythromycin,
Anti-fungal medications, Cyclosporines, Colchicine,F ibrates, Niacin. So talk to
your doctor if you're taking one of these drugs and if you're interested in side effects of other
common medications click on this link above. So how do we diagnose a muscle injury from statins?
Of course you need a physical examination including a detailed drug history and then
you can do a blood test which includes a CK. So, question of the day are you on a Statin and do
you have muscle aches? Leave your comments in the description below! So, what are some of the things
you can do together with your doctor to combat this muscle pain while you're taking a Statin? So,
here are the six steps: 1) Discontinue the drug waiting for resolution of symptoms. Your symptoms
like I mentioned earlier on during this video should resolve within a couple weeks, Tip two:
Your Doctor might lower the dose of the statin or even change the class of the statin
to another alternative class of the drug. Tip 3: Another approach is to give the drug
every other day. Tip 4: If symptoms persist switch to a non-Statin therapy such as Niacin or Fibrates
or a new class of drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors or Bile Acid Sequestrants such as cholesterol. More
importantly, lifestyle changes and if you've seen a lot of my videos, I talk a lot about medications
and medication side effects.I'd rather have you on less medications and less pills and reduce your
pill burden and minimize the amount of medications you're taking to reduce side effects and to reduce
drug drug interaction.So how can you do that? You can lose weight, enjoy a diet rich in fiber,
fruits, vegetables and fish, lean meat and chicken. Stay away from processed meat!
Tip 5: Sometimes Vitamin D is lower and your doctor might choose to re-challenge you
once the level has improved after being replenished with an appropriate dose of vitamin D.
And tip 6 which is the last tip, your Doctor might add Co- Enzyme Q10: doses can range
from 30 to 250 milligrams per day. Coenzyme Q10 plays a role in muscle cell energy production
therefore this supplement is suggested to help muscle related problems caused by Statins,
however, the studies are mixed and therefore I'm showing a meta-analysis on the screen which
does show some benefit.Have this discussion with your Doctor, with your provider about adding this
supplement and if you want to see more videos to REVITALIZE your health click right here,
or click right here or click right here and THINK YOUR HEALTH, have a good day
and bye bye .Okay this is the entire thing again i'll try to do it in one take
and this is because i couldn't even get the buttons right, hopefully, i get it right now,
second take, i can't even say it properly, hope this take is a little bit better!