Taking Simvabeta, Causes Terrible Pain In The Arms And Shoulder. Should I Stop It?

Posted on Mon, 27 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 27 May 2013 Answered on

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : if Simvabeta causes terrible pain in the arms and shoulder, would it be XXXXXXX to stop all together after 1.5 year treatment ? My wife also looses strength in the arms, as far as she is not even able to open the lid of a normal bottle.

Answered by Dr. Sukhvinder Singh (31 minutes later)

Dear Sir
1. Simvabeta (simvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug) can cause muscle pains and decrease in muscle strength (myopathy). It is a known side effect of this class of drugs (statins). Sometimes it is better to stop before continuing the drug.
2. A suspected myopathy, as in your wife case, is an indication of stopping the drug immediately and evaluating the patient.
3. I would recommend you to see your physician on priority and take next dose of simvabeta only after consulting him. There are no known immediate side effects of stopping drug suddenly. However on long term basis she would be exposed to risk of high level of cholesterol (but that will be taken care by your physician by prescribing another drug.)
Feel free to discuss further.
Sincerely
Sukhvinder XXXXXXX

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