I got mugged and was left on my living room floor for about 15 hours before I was found. I was in the same position and this (rhabdomyolysis) was my diagnosis. I do not have high cholesterol and do not take any of the medicines mentioned. I was only told of this diagnosis in an "oh by the way" type of thing upon discharge from the hospital. It has only been about five days. They did not give me any kind of medicine for this. My urine was always a normal color. Now, the left side of my body from my head to my waist is numb. The more I read, the more scared I get. I am already not very mobile due to a previous injury. I'm reading and reading, but have no idea what my prognosis is. The people in the hospital didn't seem to think it was so horrible, but I was pretty badly beaten and they actually at first thought I'd had a stroke, but now I'm really scared. I was in the process of searching for a new doctor and I don't really have one now. I have insurance and all, but not a regular physician. I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep now. While the thought of kidney failure really is horrible, the mere idea of ALS seems way worse and this is now my real fear. I keep reading and am not sure if rhabdomyolysis is related to it, or the statins that people take. I know I should be concerned about kidney failure, but transplants happen and ALS is a horrible death. Maybe I'm paranoid. I don't know.

I am a 71-year-old male in good health. I have been taking Zocor (generic name simvastatin) for the past two years. For the last year, I have had severe leg cramps and aches. My doctor prescribed ibuprofen. I can't take it any longer and will discontinue the meds on my own and try to drink lots to stop the pain. I also have been stumbling a lot. Thanks for this information about the meds.

I am a 35-year-old female that was in the Fire Academy. I was a week into the training when, during a run, my left leg went numb. I had severe pain from my hip to my toe. I decided to get treatment, and within hours, I was admitted into the hospital with a CK level of 12,965. I was surprised by the diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis. I had never heard of this. I didn't go into kidney or liver failure, but I was in the hospital for three days with fluids and pain management. It has been four weeks and although my CK is normal, I feel like crap and my leg has significant pain and swelling still.

I'm a mother of a then 14 year old boy who had a severe asthma attack. He was brought back spent (9 months in hospital) during his stay in ICU occurred Rhabdomyolysis which has left my son now 24 years old completely disabled because they (doctors) didn't catch or didn't know what they were doing. I couldn't sue because he was 14 and not an infant, but at the end my son was overdosed by Propofol people need to understand the concept of off-label use on medications for you or your loved ones who receive treatments in the hospital.

I had always been strong, healthy, and overweight. Simvastatin was prescribed because of cholesterol. I became increasingly tired, felt flu like muscle weakness, tendinitis on both arms legs, headaches and dizziness as well as other symptoms that were not the "top two" the doctors asked about (cramps and pain). I had those intermittently, but passed them off as something I got from yard work, or hiking. After losing 30 pounds I was much weaker than before I began my prescription. I was sent to a heart doctor because blood tests came back showing muscle breakdown. Heart stress test was good, but the doctor was brainwashed into believing that if you could get cholesterol down under 180 you'd be wonderful. It almost killed me with the side affects. I quit my Statin, and 2 plus months later I am feeling better, but still not back to where I was. Statins work by suppressing the liver function. They keep the liver from manufacturing cholesterol, but also prevent it from accomplishing its other tasks including manufacturing other important body enzymes. For recovery you must take minerals --Magnesium selenium, calcium and more. One must take CoQ10, as this is what is necessary for liver to make for muscle repair and is suppressed by statins. Also need vitamins A and D. When on a statin you may not die from heart attack--your heart my just give out due to increased statin induced weakness affecting all the muscles.