Did Crestor Issues Stop Me Cold?

August 16, 2013, 8:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

Toronto, ONOkay, it’s time to get personal about Crestor. Full disclosure. I take it, and have for about two years now. No, I don’t have heart disease. But my doctor has been concerned about my levels of so-called “bad cholesterol” (LDL) and put me on 10 mg initially. After 10 mg didn’t appear to make a dent, I was moved up to 20 mg daily. Lately, I’ve been having some serious Crestor issues.

So I stopped taking it. I had to. And it appears that my Crestor side effects are beginning to wane.

Since the outset, I have always been concerned about the more serious Crestor issues, which can include liver and kidney damage, the onset of Crestor diabetes, and Crestor rhabdomyolysis - a rare, but devastating event where muscle tissue breaks down and winds up in the bloodstream. There can be very serious consequences to that.

As for other Crestor side effects, those that are more common such as muscle and joint pain, I can put up with that. Or so I thought. I have since discovered that my tolerance is somewhat limited. I have also discovered that simple joint and muscle pain can morph into something much larger than mere inconvenience or discomfort.

Until recently, my only complaint with this statin has been sporadic muscle pain and the odd spasm. I have experienced tiredness from time to time - something that is also in the basket of Crestor side effects. But I also work about 80 hours a week, so can I really chalk up my weariness to my medication?

Here’s where the tide has turned for me. In late June, I began to experience joint pain in my right shoulder. I’ve had shoulder pain in the past and thought nothing of it. I also concluded I had probably injured my shoulder helping my aging father with his cottage. I was doing a lot of digging and grunt work on June 19 and chalked up the soreness to that. So I rested the shoulder.

The pain didn’t go away. In fact, things got worse. In July, a planned dock project up at the lake involved a posse of family to sling hammers and haul wood. And thank goodness for that, as I was for the most part useless. Not wanting my shoulder to freeze up from complete inactivity, I contributed some limited involvement to the project, working the shoulder a bit but at the same time being very careful.

It only got worse. It hurt to type, it hurt to drive. The shoulder hurt just sitting.

Then, a few weeks ago, my left elbow joint started to hurt for no apparent reason. That complaint quickly escalated to the point where I couldn’t reliably hold a glass of water with my left hand.

At this point I am totally incapacitated. My right shoulder is screaming in pain and is only getting worse, not better, after six weeks. My left elbow joint is also proving unreliable and painful. I can’t even do the treadmill, as swinging my arms or even the simple vibration from running or walking translates to sometimes searing pain in my right shoulder and left elbow joint. My doctor wants me to exercise. But I can’t even do that now…

At this point, I’m beginning to think Crestor could be the culprit, as I really have done nothing to actually injure myself. Joint pain is part of a laundry list of Crestor side effects. Could the Crestor I’ve been taking lay at the root of my problems?

I begin reviewing my previous articles about statins. Dr. Mohammad H. Chaudhry is a noted cardiologist who practices at the Heart Center in Takoma Park, Maryland. “These drugs work by interfering with the synthesis of production of cholesterol by the liver,” Dr. Chaudhry says in a video statement, “and when [statins] do that they do it through a mechanism which interferes with the production of some essential proteins that we need.”

Well now…

Late last year, I came across How Statin Drugs Really Lower Cholesterol (And Kill You One Cell at a Time), a book penned by James B. Yoseph and Hannah Yoseph, MD, a retired GP. According to various reports, the Florida authors have spent years researching their book, and have a few things to say about how statins, in their view and according to research available to them, actually reduce levels of so-called “bad cholesterol” in the blood.

Co-author James B. Yoseph explains that statins such as Crestor interrupt the mechanism by which human cells - which die off on a regular basis and is perfectly normal - regenerate themselves.

“Some overcome the blockade,” notes Yoseph, “so the death is very slow.” He also says that many of the aches, pains and overall fatigue generally chalked up to aging may very well have been triggered by statins.

Statin use has been proven to lower levels of bad cholesterol in the blood. And Yoseph says that it is true, the bad cholesterol leaves the blood. However, according to the author, the cholesterol does not leave the body.

“[The cholesterol] leaves the blood and comes into the cell, and actually contributes to cell death - it’s called ‘apoptoisis,’” Yoseph notes. “These drugs kill you one cell at a time, your cells which normally clone themselves and replace themselves cannot do that under the influence of statins.”

Could this be the basis of my intense joint pain? Is Crestor robbing me of vital proteins I need to sustain myself? Are cells in my joints dying, and aren’t being replaced?

I’m not a scientist. But I do know that I’ve been experiencing muscle pain and sporadic joint pain since starting on Crestor two years ago, and now it’s gotten completely out of hand.

So last week, I stopped taking Crestor. And a funny thing happened. My left elbow cleared up. Completely. My right shoulder is still a bit sore, but it’s definitely improving. A lot.

So there you go…

I don’t advocate patients to stop medication without first consulting their doctor. And I will be doing that the first chance I get. But understand that I had to do something. I wasn’t simply inconvenienced by joint pain, I was incapacitated by it. The pain stopped me dead in my tracks. I could barely cut the grass. I could barely work, and thankfully, my job is not physical. Hell, I could barely drive, sit or even stand without substantial pain.

I couldn’t function. Sure, maybe my LDL cholesterol is probably better, but what’s the point of having a good LDL if you can’t function? And what of the other, more serious Crestor side effects, such as Crestor diabetes, that is rare but a concern nonetheless?

And don’t get me started on Crestor rhabdomyolysis. Dr. Sidney Wolfe, at one time director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during his tenure that the risk of rhabdomyolysis linked to Crestor is 6.2 times higher than the rate of all other statins combined, and that when comparing Crestor to the statin with the lowest rate of rhabdomyolysis, the risk in Crestor is 21.8 times higher.

I won’t soon be launching a Crestor lawsuit over joint pain. However, I will be talking to my doctor about the wisdom of continuing on Crestor. As for my aging father, he’s still spry at 81, living on his own and restoring classic antique boats. All he takes is a low-dose aspirin once a day. That’s it.

There might be a lesson there as well. Maybe all these drugs we’re taking, beyond making pharmaceutical companies rich, aren’t the best response for everyone. Maybe I can control my LDL cholesterol naturally. Taking Crestor is quick and convenient. But at what cost? And what Crestor issues will return to haunt me down the road if I resume treatment? Stay tuned…