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Any recent information on how long the myalgia/myopathy side effect lasts from simvastatin once the drug has been stopped?

Associated tags: adverse events, Cardiovascular disease, myalgia, myopathy, simvastatin, statins, stopping treatment, time factors

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Question answered:24/04/08

Overall, we found little information.

 

A 2005 article ‘Outcomes in 45 Patients With Statin-Associated Myopathy’ [1] looked at a variety of statins (over half were on simvastatin).  They reported:

 

“In 44 patients, medical records indicated recovery from statin-associated myopathy a mean of 2.3 (3.0) months after the cessation of statin therapy (range, 0.25-14.0 months) (Table 4). Specifically, 57% of the patients (n=25) reported resolution of muscle symptoms by 1 month, another 34% (n=15) by 6 months, and 7% (n=3) by 14 months after stopping statin use. The single patient with ongoing muscle pain chose to continue statin therapy because of the high risk of cardiovascular disease. One individual reported “several months” of pain before full recovery.”

 

An article in the Medical Journal of Australia [2] states:

 

“Statin-induced myopathies tend to resolve within a few days to 1 month after ceasing statin use.”

 

References

1) http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/165/22/2671.pdf
2) http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/180_09_030504/ran10797_fm.html
 


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