Patients taking cholesterol-lowering statins may sometimes experience aching muscles in their arms and legs, a common side effect of all statins. When the drug is stopped, the pain goes away and the adverse reaction is usually not associated with any danger.
In rare cases, however, statins can cause severe muscle inflammation (myositis), most often when certain other drugs are taken along with the statin. Severe myositis, referred to as rhabdomyolysis, causes the release of large amounts of a muscle protein, myoglobin, which can seriously damage the kidneys. Myositis and rhabdomyolysis are identified by detecting huge amounts of creatine kinase (CK), another protein released into the blood by damaged muscle.
My recommendation in situations like this would be to get a blood test for CK and stop the statin for at least 2 weeks. If the CK is not elevated to high levels and the pain persists, the muscle aches were probably not caused by the statin. On the other hand, the drug was likely responsible for the pain if it disappears when you stop the drug.
After that, patients have several choices: Start taking the same statin again, try another of the statins, or take a different type of cholesterol-lowering drug. My recommendation would be to talk to your doctor about trying another statin. Even though all statins have similar chemical structures and lower cholesterol through the same action, some people do not develop muscle aches when they switch to another statin. One of my colleagues had to try four different statins before finding one he could take without muscle pain.