Is my cholesterol drug causing leg pain?

Did you start having leg cramps and pain after starting one of these cholesterol drugs: atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), pitavastatin (Livalo), pravastastin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), or simvastatin (Zocor; Vytorin)?

These cholesterol drugs are called statins and sometimes patients develop leg pain within 4 to 6 weeks of starting them. If you think your statin may be causing your leg pain, please notify your doctor. Your doctor may recommend one or more of the following to relieve your pain:

1. Your doctor may temporarily stop the statin until your leg pain resolves. Then your doctor may restart you on the same statin at a lower dose or switch you to a different statin. Pravastatin and fluvastatin seem to cause less muscle pain than other statins. Your doctor may even have you take your statin less often, such as every other day or three times  a week, instead of daily.
2. If you are taking a cholesterol drug called gemfibrozil (Lopid), ask your doctor to switch you to fenofibrate. Gemfibrozil interacts with statins and can increase your risk for muscle pain.
3. Sometimes patients take a supplement called Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). There isn’t a lot of medical evidence that it helps relieve muscle pain, but some patients say it works. And it is generally safe. Ask your doctor if CoQ10 is right for you. I will include a link below: