Some people seem to have trouble with muscle pain no matter which cholesterol medicine they take--and I am one of them.

I have found that taking a high dose of Co-Q10 every day helps somewhat (I take 200 mg a day). ALSO, the latest medication my doctor prescribed is Livalo--a fairly new drug and not available in generic form. I started out with a 2mg dose of Livalo once a day and after a month the pains came back but my liver enzymes were fine (not the case with the other statins). So I was switched to a 1mg dose with the same result but not as much pain. Now I am taking 1 mg of Livalo every other day and the muscle aches are still there but minor compared to what they were before. When the aches bother me too much, I stop taking the Livalo for a week to give my body a rest and then start all over.

My doctor has given his blessing to this routine and is pleased with the result--my total cholesterol is about 180. Without medication it was as high at 310.