Quote from Godiswithyou:

I heard that it was a dangerous side effect..but do you know why? How can muscle pain be dangerous? Do you know of an effective cholesterol medicine that is better without all the side effects? Thanks for responding!

The muscle pain is caused by rhabdomyolysis, which is a process in which dying muscle cells cause a toxic buildup of substances in the blood. Statin drugs can cause this condition in some people.

Some doctors will simply try the patient on another Statin drug, just as lovastatin, Zocor, Lipitor, Vytorin, etc. Other doctors use other cholesterol lowering drugs that belong to a different classes. Alternatives include Niaspan, Questran or Colestid, and Lopid and Tricor. Many professionals believe that these brands aren't as effective as the statins, but nonetheless are successfully used in many patients.