tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

I've been taking Amlodipine and Simvastatin for about three months now.
Recently, I've noticed that my calves, ankles and feet are swollen, and wearing socks is painful around the ankle.
Is this a side-effect of one/both of the drugs? I can't find it listed in any of the side effects.
Should I be worried? Ought I stop taking them? See my doctor?

oldsplice

Have a telephone appt with your doc. Statins do cause some problems. There's been stuff about their side effects in the papers recently.

Oops....forgot to say......Amlodipine can cause swollen ankles.

Tam the bam

Get to the Docs TT

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Phoned them, spoke to the doctor who put me on them, he wants me to decrease the dose, then see what effect it has.

Damn things are making me unable to stay up, too
Wife is not best pleased.

john banks

Amlodipine 5mg is usually OK for leg swelling, whereas 10mg is sometimes not. I've had some success switching some people with leg swelling to felodipine which is also a calcium channel blocker, but seems to cause less leg swelling.

Tell the doc about E.D., might be related to the need for the simva and amlod or might indeed be side effects. Either way it can be investigated and treated.

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Told him, he wants me to continue with the amlodipine at 5mg, and report what happens with side effects.

Thanks for the responses.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

...................Just looking at this, NICE would like me on statins soon as I was born in the 50's ....

As ever thanks to JB

Shaun

spireite

The best advice is to see your pharmacist , they can explain better any side affects

mart360

i had fluid on the ankles, they prescribed diuretics, (sp)

foof me do you get the urge to go lol


Mart

Leslie

Simvastatin has a bad name for its side effects. It is a lot cheaper though which is why it gets prescribed. It is well known for causing leg pains as well as other pains.

I was on Simvastatin for quite some time and I started to suffer the same way as you. When I stood up my calves hurt so much it was difficult to walk at first. I went to the GP and requested a change to Atorvastatin which is appreciably more expensive. He did that although I could see he was not happy, and halved the dose since Atorvastatin is twice as effective as the other one.

The pains have all gone now and my cholesterol level is 3.9 so it must be doing the business pretty well.

Might be worth a try in your case.

Les

john banks

Simvastatin is less likely than amlodipine to cause leg swelling, but more likely to cause leg pain.

We're under huge pressure to switch people back from atorvastatin to simvastatin where we can keep their cholesterol below 5 for primary prevention or 4 for secondary prevention (although we and the cardiology/diabetes depts prefer 3.5). The argument is good from a health economics viewpoint in that the number of people you need to treat with atorvastatin instead of simvastatin to prevent one cardiovascular event is huge in the primary prevention population. We are spending £200 a year per patient on medication (this average includes a huge number on no medication or just a few cheap medications). It doesn't come out of our personal budget, it is from the Primary Care Trust. Regarding side effects, it seems different between different patients with statins - some switch simva-atorva and benefit, some switch back and benefit.

Leslie

Thanks for the explanation JB, out of interest, switching to Atorva worked both for me and a close friend of mine.

Les

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Leg pains? Blow me, I have those, I just thought I was getting old, or cramped a bit from sitting, walking etc. Got pains in the muscles of my FEET too
Must mention that to the doc too...........

markr1963

Some intersting stuff hereStatins. I have read somewhere (I'll try find the source) that statins, in general, cause more problems that they solve.