Actonel and joint problems in thumbs - Osteoporosis Message Board

playagirl · 08-24-2006, 02:46 PM

I went on actonel a couple of months ago about three months ago.

I have been having a problem with my thumbs, they keep poping, it comes and goes sometimes very painful and then I feel it pop as if it goes back into place and the pain somewhat subsides. Other times I just feel popping throughout the day and not much pain. This has been going on for over about two months now.

I have a friend that is a dental assistant, she had a doctor in her office recently and he was talking to the dentist about actonel. He was talking about a patient having jaw pain. He told the dentist that he thinks this is only the tip of the iceberg, he believes this medication is going to cause many problems for people like that anti inflamatory meds did.

taape · 08-24-2006, 07:49 PM

I've always had to have alot of dental work even when I was a kid and I didn't have osteoporosis then. I worry about taking Boniva which my doctor is recommending or any of the other bisphosphonates because of possible jaw necrosis. It is suggested that patients get their dental work done before going on these medications but what if it is needed indefinitely? There's no answers to that. My doctor will not let me remain on Forteo and I'm concerned about not having any treatment.

About your thumbs popping - Do your thumbs get stuck when you bend them? I would make sure that you don't have trigger finger. Do other joints painful since you started the Actonel?

Misty800 · 08-24-2006, 07:53 PM

I took Actonel once a week for 6 weeks. It was absolute poison to my body. I now have trigger thumbs/fingers and do believe it is a result of the Actonel even tho it has been a year since I stopped. After stopping Actonel I would wake up at night with fingers in stiff claw fashion, difficult to force losoe and able to use. Actonel definitely affects ligaments. It also caused Plantar Fasciitis in both feet and in sitting bone area. Never had so much bone pain, 2 to 3 different levels of pain all over. The list of ailments caused by Actonel is a mile long for me. I have inflammation all over my body and wonder if it is result of Actonel too. Doctors do not refer to the inflammation as arthritis, just inflammation.

taape · 08-24-2006, 11:25 PM

Misty 800,
That's exactly why I'm afraid to take bisphosphonates - bone pain. Your symptoms occurred in only 6 weeks on the medications that's awful. I took 3 weeks of Fosamax and only remember the heart burn because it was so miserable. Do your pains from Actonel still continue today, a year later?

Titchou · 08-25-2006, 08:26 AM

Am so glad I read all this! My doctor wanted me to take Actonel. I finally decided not to after I read up on it. There is a list of antibiotics you are not supposed to take if you are on Actonel. The ONLY antibiotic my immunologist says he has left to give me (I have tons of allergies to antibiotics) is on that list of ones you can't take on Actonel! My gyno is upset with me for refusing the Actonel but I'm more worried about a severe infection I can't fight than I am some bone thinning. I've gone back on my regular calcium and have upped my weight bearing exercise. Don't know what else to do.