Thumb joints symptoms and conditions

Hi-I am a 59 year old female have been taking 20mg Simvastatin for 3 months for a cholesterol level of 238 and have noticed significant symptoms that cannot be from any other origin than this medication-dry skin, change of hair texture, psoriasis and bulging in thumb joints, stomach flu, shoulder pain and tingling in hands, vision problems. I am a healthy flight attendant except for all these things that have happened in the last 3 MONTHS!!! I am seeing my doctor tomorrow to discuss a change. I want to take a natural medication to lower my cholesterol.

Male 58 years old.

In September 2000 I had a heart attack and consequently underwent an angioplasty/stent procedure. Since then I have been taking 10mg of simvastatin daily.

During the last 12 months I noticed the following symptoms developing...Occasional dizziness... pain in thumb joints to the extent that I had trouble using cutlery...some pain in my right elbow joint...dry skin on my legs...tingling in fingertips and toes...headaches...tiredness...occasional general muscle fatigue for no apparent reason.

I am generally speaking quite active and have kept my weight to a reasonable level. I put some of these symptoms down to my age...... but then read peoples posts on this site.

Approx 2 months ago I stopped taking the statin tablets, ZOCOR, and have only been taking .75mg of dispersive aspirin daily along with a 1000mg vitamin C tablet dispersed in water.

Since doing this I have noticed that ALL symptoms have been gradually fading...I still have some slight discomfort in my thumb joints but hasten to add that its nothing compared to what it was only two months ago.

Have read elsewhere that a daily dose of vitamin C can help keep cholesterol levels down so am going to stick to this regime and have a blood test in about six months time to see how things are going.

i am 55 and have been taking simvastatin for about 2 years although my cholestrol was under 5. over the last few months have had pain in my knees which i thought may be arthritis and then about 2 months ago the pain started in my left foot and became so severe that i had to change to an automatic car, still believing up until today that arthritis must be getting worse although my foot xray came back normal, i found this website today as my finger and thumb joints are hurting so much i cant hold anything and every muscle aching so much i just wanted to cry.after reading these letters i realize that even the choking feeling im sometimes getting isn't a menopausal panic attack and now i have checked my simvastatin leaflet an d box and realize that although my last cholesterol reading was only 3.5 one of my doctors has put my tablets up from 10 mg to 20 mg so big question is this an overdose ? im not taking another one of these pills an see what progress my health makes. i am slightly worried about heart disease and will look into herbal type as my parents use these,have never taken statins and are 90 and 87 so i think this speaks for itself,thanks everyone who has helped me diagnose my own illness!!!

I have been on Fosamax since 2003. In 2004 my left hip starting hurting so bad it would wake me up during the night. I had dislocated my left hip in 1994 so we put the pain down to complications from the accident. The x-rays were fine however so she sent me to a Rheumatologist to see if something else was going on. He told me I had Inflammatory Arthritis (even tho there were no markers in my blood) and put me on Plaquenil. After 6 months, the Plaquenil had done nothing but the Rheumy wanted me to stay on, and truthfully, I was afraid if I went off, the pain would become worse. Next came wrist pain so severe at times I couldn't lift a glass without wincing.To make a long story short, the joint pain has continued to migrate throughout my body. My thumb joints (where they join the palm) are so painful I can't undo jars or bottles, the small bones in my fingers ache all the time. I also get shooting pains in the long bones of my left leg and both arms. Back to the Rheumatologist last week. He said the Plaquenil was not working so he gave me an RX for Methotrexate 20 Mg once per week. This drug is one of the first-line chemo drugs for Cancer and it's effects on the body can be devastating. I have been crying since last Wednesday and had just decided yesterday to start taking this medication. I sat down at the computer to just test the drugs I am currently taking and one by one entered the drug name with "and joint pain". Plaquenil came up with only good things such as "less joint pain" etc. Mobicox also came up with good things. I entered Fosamax "and joint pain" and the top 15 hits were unbelievable. It was my problem in each and every article. I am dumbfounded. I have been seeking Dr.s help with my pain for 4 years, a GP, a Rheumatologist (2 actually) and an Orthopod, not one of these people ever mentioned a problem with Fosamax! What is going on. I am NOT going to be starting the Methotrexate and I feel I have been given dangerous medications over the past four years which I should not have been taking. I was a Personal Trainer and aerobics instructor for 12 years - now I can barely get through a yoga class without modifying the stretches because the pain is so severe.

Thank goodness for this site. I have made an appointment with my GP but I am stopping the Fosamax today (it was my day to take it). I pray I can regain some of the pain-free movement I used to have. In closing, I do have to say that I have regained some bone mass on Fosamax but...was it worth it? Was there another way I could have done this? Who knows. How long does it take for the pain to lessen after dropping Fosamax?

I have severe numbness and tingling in fingers to the point of problems sleeping due to the discomfort. Also have pain and popping in both thumbs only. I heard from a friend that her brother had same symptoms with Pravachol, which is what I take. She said his doctor diagnosed osteoarthritis and thought it might be connected to Pravachol use. Anyone else know any connection or have similar symptom?

I was prescribed Levaquin for a nasal polyp. After one day of it my wrist and thumb joints became swollen and painful to move. Advil seems to aliviate the pain.

I have been taking 20mg of Lipitor for several years and could only get my cholesterol down to about 230. Now I have a new doctor and she has doubled the dose of Lipitor. I have several of the symptoms that are mentioned in the other postings. My hands and feet are affected more than anything. I have some ringing in my ears. I have also had two readings of increased pressure in my eyes. I tried going off of the drug for about 6 weeks and nothing much changed. I am about ready to go off of the drug for at least 3 months to see if anything changes. I hope this muscle damage I have been reading about is not permanent. One other symptom I have is an increased popping in my thumb joints along with increasing pain in the arches of my feet and palms of my hands. They seem to coincide. Please e-mail me if you are having any of the same symptoms! I am going to quit taking the drug as of today and see if I can re-gain my old self!