From the Research
Simvastatin can rarely cause chest pain that may resemble cardiac chest pain, though this is not a common side effect. The most frequent muscle-related side effect of simvastatin is myalgia (general muscle pain), which affects approximately 5-10% of patients 1. In very rare cases, statins can cause myopathy or rhabdomyolysis, severe muscle conditions that may include chest wall muscle pain that could be mistaken for cardiac pain. Some key points to consider include:
- The evidence in support of muscle pain caused by statins is in some cases equivocal and not particularly strong 1
- Statin use was associated with a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, particularly in the lower extremities, among individuals without arthritis 2
- While statins are prescribed to reduce cardiovascular risk, they don't prevent all cardiac events, so a patient on simvastatin could still experience true cardiac chest pain from underlying heart disease If you develop new chest pain while taking simvastatin, you should seek immediate medical attention to determine whether the pain is cardiac in origin or possibly related to the medication. Your doctor may need to evaluate you for both medication side effects and potential cardiac issues, as chest pain should never be ignored regardless of its suspected cause. It's also worth noting that the benefits of statins outweigh potential risks in the vast majority of cases, and careful clinical judgment may be necessary in certain cases to manage potential side effects on an individual basis 1.