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Item
#10
VIAGRA INTERACTS WITH SOME
CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING DRUGS
If using
Zocor, they should not be using Viagra
A
76-year-old man reported to his doctor with severe aching of the
muscles, especially in the legs. He had never experienced anything
like this before, and was unable to attribute it to any unusual
activity, trauma or injections, etc. He was taking Zocor (generic
name, simvastin), a cholesterol-lowering drug that is known to
cause aching of the muscles in some patients and, much less
commonly to produce very painful inflammation and breakdown of the
muscles (a condition known as rhabdomyolysis).
At
first, it seemed unlikely that this was the cause since he had
been taking Zocor for several years without difficulty. However,
12 days previously, for the first time in his life, he had taken a
tablet of Viagra in addition to his usual doses of Zocor, and
about 10 hours later, the pain began. A search of the medical
literature revealed no previous reports of muscle pain following
the use of Viagra. Nevertheless, rhabdomyolysis has been triggered
by other drugs in people who have been taking cholesterol-lowering
drugs such as Zocor for long periods without trouble of any kind.
These
other drugs include certain antibiotics, antifungals and
antidepressants. From this experience, it appears that Viagra
should be added to the list of medications that interact with
cholesterol-lowering drugs and make them more apt to cause muscle
pain. Thus, if you are taking a cholesterol-lowering drug such as
Zocor and wish to take Viagra (or one of these other medications)
as well, it would be wise to switch to another kind of
cholesterol-lowering drug, such as cholestyramine or a niacin
compound, which never cause muscle pain or rhabdomyolysis..
Source:
AMERICAN
FAMILY PHYSICIAN (63:636,2001).
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Did you know?
What IRH
is? Idiopathic Reactive Hypoglycemia. A disorder that may
cause individuals who don’t have diabetes to develop the symptoms
of hypoglycemia after meals. It is characterized by a blood
glucose level below 45mg/dl accompanied by symptoms of
hypoglycemia. Experts still don’t know what cause IRH or how many
people are affected.
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