I had this affliction, for about three months. It involved myalgia — that’s the name of the symptom, muscle pain — that limited my movements, produced frequent nasty cramps in several parts of my body, made me miserable and depressed. Among the affected muscles were those in my fingers, which cramped up painfully without warning. Especially my ring finger (third finger, left hand).
Eventually, it was seen to be a side effect of the very powerful statin drug I was taking (for blood pressure and cholesterol control), generic atorvastatin, trade name Lipitor, a very powerful statin prescribed at maximum dose. Which was breaking down muscle fibers. Essentially, I was being poisoned by one of my medicines.
That’s now over — I went off the Lipitor three months ago and recently started small doses of the steroid prednisone for symptomatic relief — and I feel very much better, but an odd effect remains. My ring finger occasionally gets stuck in a bent position. No pain, no swelling or anything, just stuck, as here:
(#1) Stuck bent finger (workdesk spathiphyllum plant as background)
I can push it back with my other hand, and it makes a little pop! as it resumes its normal working position.
It’s called trigger finger, fancy name tenosynovitis. And it has nothing to do with the Lipitor poisoning.
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