Well,first let me say beware of "...Boston..."-ian type plants or "ringers" from drug companies issuing what amounts to publicity releases on these or any boards claiming that any type of medicine is wonderful for all people. As you can see in this thread they typically resort to name calling in an attempt to broadly paint all who experience problems (and have nothing to gain by making them public) as irrelevant.

My own experience with 10 mg Lipitor numbed and froze my legs and arms to the point I could barely unwrap my fingers from any position they were placed in - such as around the steering wheel. This was after 9 months. I sat at my desk staring into space 8 hours a day unable to concentrate on or think of anything. Fortunately I first realized this problem could be caused by statins after reading it on the internet. (When I went back to the doctor he said he was taking it and had no problems when it was first noticed and not yet as devastating as it ended up).

After reading about the effects on the net and stopping on my own, most symptoms were greatly relieved after 3 or 4 weeks. A year later I seemed normal.

Changed docs after swearing never again for statins. New doc (4 years later) finally got me to retry statins. He pointed out there were two kinds - natural based and synthetic which were each processed in a different part of the liver. So he said Lescol was synthetic and persuaded me to try 20 mg. No problems after six months and lower but not acceptable chol levels. Tried 40 mg. Slightly better but not good enough. Then Lescol XL 80 mg. Still no problems 18 months later and chol levels all OK now. I'm confused since I did read on the net Lescol is not synthetic but it's not causing a problem so I'm not pursuing that matter.

I still worry, started taking COQ10 for the heck of it. So far so good with LDL at 98. Trying Niacin 2x 500mg daily to see if it helps HDL which is on lower edge of OK.

If you read information on studies on Lescol and the others of that class, they had absolutely no effect what-so-ever on any thing but the numbers. They were considered an absolute waste of time and money. Even though I hate statins, they do contain an anti-inflammatory portion, that is most likely what is causing (the very small amount) of help in very selected groups. It is now know that statins are causing lipid accumulation in the muscle fiber (cells). THis is not good. Statin therapy is now know to induce ultrastructural damage in skeletal muscle in patients without myalgia (pain). These tests were done through muscle biopsy. (Journal of Pathology, 2006) Why hasn't this been shown before? Because they never tested damage at the cellular level, and statins were doing exactly what they were supposed to do, lower cholesterol.(whether right or wrong). You would also be amazed at the choleserol medications that were to go in for final FDA approval, but were pulled at the last minute. (Avasimibe and Pactimibe) Pfizer was the company with Avasimibe. When it was pulled, they said they were disappointed but they were counting on their new star...the medication that raised HDL. We know that star elploded also. In a way the people that have pain from statins are fortunate. My mother did not, and the doctors would never equate the severe weakness with statins. Be VERY scared if you are taking channel blockers with statins...they are KNOWN to raise serum concentrations of statins anywhere from 2.5 to 10 times. (and that is at a lower does than most people take calcium channel blockers). Gooney I think you would appreciate reading about Dr. Dave Graveline, a NASA doctor. He had very similar problems to yours. He has now written several books on cholesterol lowering. (the dangers).