Suggest Treatment For Severe Discomfort On The Legs While On Statins

Posted on Thu, 13 Apr 2017

Question: hi, I am being prescribed a statin, ( this will be my third try, ldl's are high, high b.p.,) and it causes me great discomfort with my legs. Now I find that it is not to be used with Amlodipine, which I have taken for over 10 years. The doc. says to take them 12 hours apart. Maybe that was causing the side effect. I have read some nasty things on line about statins. It seems that fluvastatin has the least interaction. She is trying to prescribe sivostatin, which is the worst. Does Niacin still work? She says no. Pharmacist says it is considered too old fashioned. Do the drug manufacturers dictate our medicines? Crazy. Dr. won't let me try niacin. Sign a disclaimer and insist? Get another dr.? thanks

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that the only interaction is between amlodipine and simvastatin (amlodipine increases the effects of simvastatin, thus leading to potential adverse effects).

But, amlodipine does not interact with the other statins. So, you can take each of the other statins concomitantly with amlodipine, without the risk of interactions.

I would just recommend starting in low doses and increasing slowly. This will help avoid possible adverse effects related to statins.

Regarding Niacin, it does not interact with amlodipine. It is true that it is an older drug compared to the statins, but still in use. Anyway, it has more adverse effects compared to statins. But, you can try it, if you do not tolerate the adverse effects of statins.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar