For years, many patients taking statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs have been complaining about side effects such as muscle pain and weakness. (You can read some of the comments on this article as examples.)
Is Statin Muscle Pain Real or Psychosomatic?
Most clinical trials have found that these adverse reactions are rare. As a result of these reports, some cardiologists doubt that patient complaints are real.
But a new study published in JAMA and reported recently at the American College of Cardiology suggests that a significant proportion of people do indeed suffer from statin muscle pain. The investigators made a plan to help them figure out which patients were reacting to a statin drug specifically, and which had muscle pain that could not be attributed to one of these common cholesterol-lowering drugs.
How the GAUSS-3 Study Was Set Up:
Researchers recruited roughly 500 patients who had previously reported muscle problems while taking a statin. They were randomly assigned to receive either atorvastatin (Lipitor) or a look-alike placebo. The investigators discovered that 42 percent of these subjects experienced muscle symptoms while taking atorvastatin but not while taking placebo.
Dr. Steve Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic was the lead author. He estimates that as many as 10 percent of patients may experience statin muscle pain. That could translate into three or four million people.
Are Other Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Less Likely to Cause Muscle Problems?
In a second stage of the study, the researchers gave statin-intolerant subjects either ezetimibe (Zetia) or evolocumab (Repatha) to lower their cholesterol. The results showed that some of the patients who don’t do well on statins may also have trouble on other medications: 29 percent of those taking ezetimibe and 20 percent of those on evolocumab complained of muscle cramps, spasms, weakness or pain. That proportion is smaller than those who suffer on statins, but it is still significant.
Some people with statin muscle pain will need to use diet and exercise to keep their cholesterol under control. This is not easy, but we offer ideas in our downloadable Guide to Cholesterol Control and Heart Health.
