Loss of muscle in hands

A forum to discuss personal experiences of Neuropathy associated with statin drug use.

Loss of muscle in hands

Postby carbuff » Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:38 am

Has anyone out there experienced loss of muscle in their hands. My mom's hands have lost a lot of muscle. Between the thumb and index finger and it is hard for her to grip things.

I read a post before about a 55 year old woman who also experienced the same thing and would like to talk to her.

Any info???

Thanks so much.

Carbuff
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Postby tex62 » Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:49 pm

Carbuff,
Yes, this is one of the side effects that my husband has. He stopped taking Zocor and Tricor about three months ago and many of his side effects went away, but not the swelling and weakness in his hands nor the numbness in his fingers. This has improved, but it is still very bad. He has been seeing a hand specialist for about three months and is scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery next week on his right hand. Four months ago he had a very strong grip. Now he can’t even open a twist off bottle top. I’ll post a report next month after he’s completed his physical therapy to let you know how successful the surgery was in addressing this problem.
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Postby carbuff » Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:36 am

Thats interesting. My mom is the same way. She has lost a lot of strength in her arms and muscle in her hands. It is hard for her to grip things as well. Even hard to zip her coat and tie her shoes. Does your husband seem to have any twitching?? The other day her finger was twitching terribly. The doctors seem to think she has ALS, but I think differently. Her symptoms started after her doctor switcher her to Vytorin. Keep me posted. I wish your husband a fast recovery. Is he off the statin drugs now?

-Jamie
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Postby tex62 » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:40 pm

My husband has been off statins for 3 months. During the last month that he took statins, he had jerky motion throughout the night, mostly his hands. He didn't have this symptom during the waking hours. The jerky motion stopped about a month or two after stopping the drugs. I'll let you know how he does after the surgery, which is scheduled for tomorrow.
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weak hand and arms

Postby Cathy » Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:06 am

I too have this,and have been off lipitor for almost 2 years. Some days are better than others. Tonight I couldn't get the new bottle of ketsup open! Arms too, I still have a hard time vacunming I pay for it the next day.
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Postby carbuff » Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:43 am

Would you mind telling me some of the other symptoms your husband experiences? How long was he on the statins for?

My mother had been on them for 13 years and has been off for about 3-4 months now too.
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Postby carbuff » Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:45 am

Cathy,

When you first noticed this problem with your hands did you go to the doctors? My mom went to two doctors and they are both leaning towards ALS. But I don't think so.

What are your other symptoms?

My mom's arms are also very weak and she experiences some twitching throughout her body.

Any info you could give me would be so helpful.
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Postby carbuff » Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:47 am

Tex62-

Good luck with your husbands surgery
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other symptoms

Postby Cathy » Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:56 pm

Yes, I have been going to DRs through-out this whole thing. I guess my very first symptom was the pads of my feet going numb. Foot Dr. said I had lost too much weight in my feet. God I was stupid, I believed him,and so did my regular Dr. I just progressively got worse from there, to the point of not being able to walk. Pain so bad I wanted to die. Thats when I started doing research on the internet. I quit the lipitoron my own and am slowly getting better, very,very slowly. Anyway yes, I do have the shaking in my hands and fingers or finger. Not all the time, but quite often. I'll be holding a fork and all of a sudden my fingers will start to shake, the food will fall off. Holding a book my hand will start to shake and I have to put it down till it stops. I have what the Drs term resrless leg syndrome, where my legs get a crawly feeling ,themn start to jump. my head will sometimes jerk, like somebody scarred me. The list goes on and on....I really don't know what to tell you, this is whats happening to me.
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Postby carbuff » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:49 am

Sounds similar to some of my mom's symptoms. She has had the restless leg syndrome, shaky hands, hard time gripping things, cutting food, tying her shoes, and her middle finger and ring finger have been twitching for almost a week. Its just an awful thing to go through and the worst part is not knowing if it will get better. Some of my mom's doctors think she may have ALS, but I really don't believe that.
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Postby carbuff » Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:01 pm

How did the surgery go? Any new word from the Doctors?
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Postby tex62 » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:45 pm

My husband's surgery went very well. He started doing some simple exercises the day after surgery, and started working with a physical therapist yesterday. We are very encouraged by the progress so far. The feeling has already returned to one finger and partially to another. I understand that it can take several weeks or even months for full recovery (assuming that there will be full recovery). Regardless, we are pleased with the progress that we have seen. In fact, we wish that he'd had both hands done at the same time. He'll probably have the left hand done in about a month. It was never as bad as his right hand, so he will probably see quicker results there. I'll put more updates as recovery progresses.
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Muscle loss in hands! OK to take CoQ10 after STROKE?

Postby victoriaht » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:33 am

I've gotten soooo much from this forum, so thank you. However, it's good news/bad news. I took Lipitor for a very short while -- less than a month -- and had a terrible reaction -- could hardly breathe, exhausted. Tingling in limbs and lost muscle in hands and arms --a lot! I went off Lipitor, against my Dr.'s wishes and within a week I was up, feeling fine.
But: I was on Lipitor because I had a stroke, so they still wanted my cholesterol lower (although my ratio was awesome in the first place-- HDL 99 LDL 144). Now I've been on Zetia for a couple of months, and have been thinking I have ALS! Weakness, twitching, slurred speech. And I think the muscles in my hands are wasting again. Is this possible? The sad thing, is that the Zetia did bring my LDL down to 98 -- great! (Although my HDL is down to 85.) I'd love to try CoQ10, but am worried about its blood-thinning/thickening properties, because of my stroke. Any thoughts on this? Please????? I don't want to lose all my muscles!! And I surely don't want ALS!!! :( HELP, Doc!!
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Q10 after stroke

Postby Ray Holder » Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:22 am

I had a stroke at Easter last year, probably because of the stress of looking after my late wife with Alzheimer's, I had been off statins for 3 years by then, and my cholesterol was still high. I have been on Q10 for 3 1/2 years now, and they gave me Lipitor after the stroke as well. I insisted that I continue with the Q10, but the Lipitor brought back my angina afer a whle, so I stopped it.
Q10 does not thin the blood, Dr Langsjoen says that it helps stop LDL cholesterol from getting oxidised, which is helpful anyway, I am still taking a large dose. It helps improve heart action, which can improve blood pressure, as it does mine, so another help for artery problems.
The PROSPER Report showed statins increasing cancer deaths and having no effect at all on strokes, in older folk.
You would probably do best by following Spacedoc's Folic acid and vitamins B6 and 12 etc regime to avoid possibility of a recurrence of stroke problems, by preventing inflammation of the artery lining, which is the cause of the problem much more than cholesterol level.
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Postby carbuffmom » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:30 am

The addition of Zetia to my daily dose of Zocor and then a switch to Vytorin (Zocor and Zetia together in one pill) caused me to have muscle atrophy in my hands and arm weakness. I have twitching all over which was exacerbated greatly by an EMG and Nerve Velocity test. My neuro is leaning toward ALS, but I told him that I believe that I am suffering from STatin Toxicity. I refuse to have another EMG. I have been off Vytorin for about 6 mos. I have been following Dr Graveline's recommendations. My symptoms are still there, but I have not gotten any worse, for which I am thankful. I think Zetia can cause the same side effects as Lipitor. Don't give up---I don't think you have ALS. Gradually go off of the Zetia and see what happens. Add some CoQ10. What have you got to lose?
Good luck and best wishes. Keep us posted.
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Postby victoriaht » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:37 am

Thank you both for your responses. Ray: I'm more worried about CoQ10 making my blood clot -- doesn't it aid in blood-clotting? And, of course, blood clots cause stroke. I'm already taking all the other supplements on SpaceDocs list. My MDs actually put me on those. I also get a B12 shot every month. I am going to get off the Zetia. Do I have to do it slowly? :?
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Q10 and blood change query

Postby Ray Holder » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:17 pm

Victoriaht, Q10 has no effect on blood thinning or clotting, it is very thinly spread throughout the whole body, only about a teaspoonful in total, and every cell in the body has to have some, so there is not enough of it to make any difference to blood consistency. Nothing I have ever read suggested anything about clotting, I would not be taking 500 to 600 mg every day if there was any danger of that, and it has virtually no side effects.
Spacedoc suggests reducing a statin gradually as there is a possibility of causing platelet problems and thus a consequent clot, if you stop suddenly.
there is information on how to do this on one of the main information pages, but I think he suggests cutting the tablets in half for a few days, then into quarters for a few more and so on.
Don't worry too much about the slurred speech, I couldn't say "Baby elephants" when I had my stroke, it's alright now except when I get a bit tired, but nothing works as well when you are tired.
Your MD seems to have seen a chink of the light, putting you on the other meds and especially the B12 injections, so he has heard about the need to lower homocysteine, but he is still watching his back with the statin!!
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Zetia

Postby Darrell » Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:55 pm

"Now I've been on Zetia for a couple of months, and have been thinking I have ALS! Weakness, twitching, slurred speech. And I think the muscles in my hands are wasting again. Is this possible?"

Absolutely! I first developed serious muscle problems and fatigue on Zocor. A couple of months after I stopped Zocor, my doctor put me on Zetia and everything flared up again as bad as before. I stopped Zetia immediately and have not had a flare up in the 13 months or so since stopping it.

It's a pity we can't divert people searching on ALS to this board. I was searching on it myself back when Zocor was ruining my health. And muscular distrophy, and multiple schlerosis...
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Postby victoriaht » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:35 pm

[b]Ray:[/b] My MD did not suggest the B12 shots. I discovered that on my own. The slurred speech did not occur until nine months after my stroke; even my neurologist says that timeline is unheard of. According to the MDs, my stroke was a big hemmorhagic explosion, but I had nothing bad except a headache until I started the Lipitor. Oh, and, I have read several reports regarding CoQ10 that say it is involved with blood clotting, even that those at risk for stroke must take care in using it. Wish I could get this cleared up. I know it would help the muscle wasting, but surely don't want another stroke.
[b]Darrell[/b]: You're so right about diverting people from ALS boards. I was out of my mind with worry until I found this board. Now I really don't think I have ALS; I truly think it's the Zetia. However, I am going to a renowned ALS specialist next month for testing, which will include a FULL EMG -- needles every inch of my body, especially tongue. Now that the seed of doubt is in my mind, I must have it removed beyond any doubt (my grandfather died with ALS.) All this because of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
By the way, my neurologist, as of today's appointment, is very concerned about my muscle wasting, but still :x won't admit it's from the Zetia.
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Q10 and blood clotting

Postby Ray Holder » Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:19 pm

I have had a big search today on this matter, and the only references I could find were to the very infrequent effect on warfarin, and I am sure you are not on that with your kind of stroke.
Warfarin is used to thin the blood of people with clot type troubles, and that's the last thing you would be given in with a haemorhagic stroke.
As the effect on warfarin is about the only side effect of Q10, everybody seems to mention it in their articles, but in Dr Langsjoen's trials, only one case was reported among several people on warfarin.
Of course, you must make up your own mind on whether to take Q10, but the benefits really are great.
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