Statins, an effective drug for reducing low-density lipoprotein -- LDL or "bad" cholesterol -- may cause muscle pain. Exercise may exacerbate the pain. You may need to make changes in your exercise routine to accommodate side effects of taking statins. Report any muscle pain to your doctor. In rare cases, muscle pain proves a symptom of a potentially fatal condition.
Benefits of Statins
Statins work better than any other drug to improve your LDL cholesterol levels, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. They can also reduce triglycerides and elevate protective high-density lipoprotein -- HDL or "good" cholesterol. Most people tolerate statins well, but side effects in addition to muscle pain may occur. Statins may damage muscle tissue. Statin can increase your levels of creatine kinase, leading to a condition called rhabdomyolysis. This may cause kidney failure. Statins may also cause liver damage.
Exercise, Statins and Muscle Pain
The American Heart Association recommends you exercise moderately at least 150 minutes per week to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Vigorous exercise may increase the side effects of statins. If you take statins and experience muscle pain after exercise, talk to your doctor about whether you should pursue lighter forms of physical activity, take a brief break from statins so you can determine whether side effects from the drug or some other problem caused the muscle pain or switch to a different type of statin or a different kind of cholesterol medication.
Study
Professional athletes who took statins because of a family history of high cholesterol generally found the drugs intolerable during intense workouts, according to a study published in the "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology" in April 2004. Helmut Sinzinger, of the Wilhelm Auerswald Atherosclerosis Research Group in Vienna, Austria, led a study that monitored 22 athletes for eight years. Three of the athletes who took statins reported no side effects and three others reported intolerable muscle pain that lessened when they switched to a different brand of statins. The remaining 16 athletes discontinued their use of statins because of muscle pain. Their symptoms disappeared within weeks after discontinuing statins and taking another type of cholesterol medication -- fenofibrate.
Considerations
Not everyone who takes statins experiences muscle pain. Your risk for these and other side effects increase if you suffer from medical conditions such as diabetes, liver disease and kidney disease or if you're older than 65. Women prove more likely than men to incur side effects. If you take multiple medications to treat cholesterol, this also increases your risk. All cholesterol medications carry the possibility of side effects. If you feel that taking statins hampers your physical performance because of muscle pain, talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks of switching to another type of cholesterol medication.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Drug Treatments: Statins
- MayoClinic.com; Statin Side Effects: Weigh the Benefits and Risks; October 2010
- "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology"; Professional Athletes Suffering From Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Rarely Tolerate Statin Treatment Because of Muscular Problems; H. Sinzinger, et al.; April 2004
- American Heart Association; Diet, Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Reduce Triglyceride; April 2011
