What Can I Do About Muscle Weakness In The Legs And Arthritis In The Lower Back And Knees After Taking Shots To Manage It?

Posted on Wed, 18 Jul 2018

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

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 Answered on

Mon, 3 Oct 2022 Last reviewed on

Question : I have muscle weakness in my Legs. It seems to getting worse at a fairly rapid pace. I took a high dose of Lipitor for about 25 years at the insistence of my cardiologist. 80 mgs Total Cholesterol stayed about 100.
For years I just put up with the weakness, but lately its getting where I don't even want to walk at all. (Not Good). I stay fairly active - working outside for as long as I can each day. I am a 66 year old Caucasian male.
Have dropped Lipitor dosage to 10 mgs and it doesn't appear to have helped. I do have arthritis in my lower back and both knees. Have received shots in all three. The back shot helped the severe pain in my leg (sciatic nerve) and the knee shots seem to help for about 6 months. My PCP suggested adding a magnesium supplement about a week ago no signs of helping yet. Any suggestions

Answered by Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Increase fluid intake.

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

A muscle weakness in the legs is likely to be due to Lipitor, low magnesium levels, low calcium and D3 levels, osteoarthritis changes in knees, etc.

In addition to magnesium supplements, increase your fluid intake, add a regular calcium and vitamin D3 supplement, add regular joint lubricant supplement like Glucosamin and chondriotin. Also eat magnesium rich foods like bananas, beans, chickpeas, fish, nuts, soybeans, spinach etc., which are natural sources of magnesium. It is better to stop Lipitor for 2 weeks after consulting your cardiologist.

I hope this answers your query. In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out. Wishing you good health.

Regards,
Dr. Praveen Tayal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy