A new study published in Lancet, one of the world's leading journals, reviewed all the published data on statins and muscle pain. You can read the original study, no paywall.
HERE
The simple summary of the findings, looking at a series a studies all of which had over 1000 patients each and lasted at least 2 years:
Those on statins are very slightly more likely to have muscle complaints than those on a fake drug, about 1 in 100 patients. 27.1% of statin users complained of muscle symptoms. But 26.6% of people NOT taking a statin had those same complaints over an average of over 4 years of follow up. Almost all the difference is during the first three months of statin use and more common with intense medication [higher dose].
Take home message is that you should not be avoiding statins because of muscle complaints. You should not be automatically blaming statins if you have aches as they are so very common in all of us.
The study concluded that the known benefits of statins on cardiovascular health far outweighed the small increase in muscle pain or weakness.
Now one note of caution. This Lancet article reviewed clinical trials of statins. It is almost always true that entry into a clinical trial requires that the participant pass some screening criteria. I did not review the many studies included. It is however likely that exclusion criteria may have included taking multiple other drugs, uncontrolled diabetes, renal or liver failure etc. So this conclusion that statins have minimal impact on muscle complaints should be limited to the range of patients that were able to participate in the statin studies.
I am sure that several people are going to be here absolutely certain that their pain was statin induced and that they are "allergic" to statins. No way could your pain be the result of age or activity or serendipity because you got better when you stopped and got pain again when you tried another statin. Argue with the authors and the data. Do what you think is best for you. I am just the messenger of this important contribution to the medical literature.