The surprising way you can free yourself of joint pain

Do you suffer from “arthralgia”?

It sounds scary… and if you do suffer from it, it can be tough for you to get through the day.

When it’s really acting up, even the simplest tasks can seem next to impossible.

I’m talking about arthritis!

And being that over 50 million Americans are dealing with the pain and stiffness of it, there’s a very good chance that you have it, too.

Obviously, if you experience joint pain, drugs are a big part of your life, as treatments typically consist of a lot of OTC pain relievers, sometimes taken every single day.

Those versed in pharma-speak, however, know that drugs play a bigger role in arthritis than you might ever imagine.

Because hidden in plain view are some warnings that — if you knew how to decode them –would have you thinking twice about popping some of the most common meds out there.

‘Severe and disabling pain’

Of course, while joint pain can come from causes ranging from Lyme disease to illness and injury, it’s most often considered to be one of the typical side effects of aging.

Just one of those things you have to put up with, right?

Not necessarily!

Take Dolores for example. She thought the “dreadful” pain in her knees and hips might be helped by buying a new bed, but she found an even better (and much cheaper!) solution: ditching the statins.

For Abby, stopping the statin her doctor had prescribed was all it took to “cure” her erosive arthritis (a progressive form of arthritis that affects the joints of the hand).

And during the years that Diana took a statin, she developed severe joint pain – yet shortly after she decided to go off the drug, her pain disappeared as mysteriously as it came on.

Of course, it’s quite well established that statins can cause severe muscle pain and weakness, as you’ve read right here in eAlert.

But joint pain, too?

Yes, it’s true – and it’s not a new discovery, either. In fact, six years ago, Dutch researchers found that the drugs were linked to an “increased risk” of developing RA.

And just this past February, some of those same scientists published another study on the topic. This one says that their findings show that the risk of developing RA is “substantially increased” during the first year that a patient is on a statin.

But like the way Big Food tries to conceal the presence of MSG and HFCS in products in the supermarket, Big Pharma has its own method of keeping you in the dark.

Because if you read the lengthy label for Lipitor, one of the best-selling statins, you’ll find “arthralgia” (a.k.a. joint pain) hidden among the “most commonly reported adverse reactions” (along with another tongue-twister, “nasopharyngitis,” also known as a head cold).

I guess that drugmakers don’t want us to know the whole story, right?

But unfortunately, statins aren’t the only drugs that can cripple you with pain in the joints.

Three years ago, the FDA sent out a warning on some of the most popular diabetes meds out there — including Januvia, Onglyza, and Tradjenta — saying that they can cause “joint pain that can be severe and disabling.”

Those drugs (known as DPP-4 inhibitors) can start triggering pain from day one or even years after starting up on them. And after patients stopped taking them, all it took was a month or less for their arthritis symptoms to disappear!

How’s that for proof positive?

Acid suppressors known as proton pump inhibitors and an entire class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, more commonly known under the brand names Cipro and Levaquin, can also cause the same kind of pain.

So, before you write your arthritis pain off as simply one of those maladies of getting older, do some sleuthing first — starting right in your medicine cabinet!

Talk with your doctor about getting off any unnecessary drugs (which include a lot more than you could imagine) ASAP.

And as for those acid-reducing meds, just be careful to slowly wean yourself off of them, as stopping cold turkey can cause the worst case of heartburn you’ve ever had.

“What is the connection between joint pain and atorvastatin?” Joe Graedon, March 21, 2018, The People’s Pharmacy, peoplespharmacy.com