Issue 97 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).