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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Are The Side Effects Of Simvastatins?

I read in last Sat. NZ Herald the article on Simvastatins I was on 20mgms daily & had painful aching legs & now there seems to be diminished power in my legs. I was on these drugs for about 13yrs,until the Cardio physiologist took me off themin Nov 2013. Could this be the effects of simavastatins?
Tue, 4 Oct 2016
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi & Welcome to HCM.
I can understand your concern regarding safety of Simvastatin.
Statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) like Simvastatin is known to cause myopathy, liver injury, stomach upset, etc.
The most common side effect is myopathy, a painful clinical disorder of the skeletal muscles which can result in generalized pain & tenderness in the muscles. Rhabdomyolysis is an extreme, life-threatening type of myopathy. It’s brought on by muscle breakdown & in some cases, rhabdomyolysis can be fatal due to acute renal failure.
You seem to have developed Simvastatin induced myopathy.
Kindly consult your treating doctor for alternate effective but a safer medication like Cholestyramine or Ezetimibe to lower your high Cholesterol levels if any thus reducing the risk of heart disease.
Hope this will help.
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What Are The Side Effects Of Simvastatins?

Hi & Welcome to HCM. I can understand your concern regarding safety of Simvastatin. Statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) like Simvastatin is known to cause myopathy, liver injury, stomach upset, etc. The most common side effect is myopathy, a painful clinical disorder of the skeletal muscles which can result in generalized pain & tenderness in the muscles. Rhabdomyolysis is an extreme, life-threatening type of myopathy. It’s brought on by muscle breakdown & in some cases, rhabdomyolysis can be fatal due to acute renal failure. You seem to have developed Simvastatin induced myopathy. Kindly consult your treating doctor for alternate effective but a safer medication like Cholestyramine or Ezetimibe to lower your high Cholesterol levels if any thus reducing the risk of heart disease. Hope this will help.