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What Causes Severe Muscle Weakness In Arms While On Meloxicam?
Question: My daughter was prescribed Maloxacam and experienced muscle weakness in her arms. Severe weakness, she is not a weak person. When she she talked to her doc about it they had no idea. She stopped the Maloxacam but is still experiencing muscle weakness in her arm and the docs are still saying there is no reason for muscle weakness in both arms.
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
When it comes to Meloxicam I agree with your doctors. It doesn't cause any muscle damage and there is no reason for it to cause such side effects. It is not a new drug, it has been around for many many years and commonly used so its side effects have been well studied in practice and it is unlikely for this to be some previously unknown side effect.
However that doesn't mean nothing should be done about the weakness you describe, even if not related to Meloxicam, causes of muscle weakness must be investigated, like polimyositis, myasthenia gravis, thyroid dysfunction etc. Apart from clinical neurological exam, some blood tests are necessary, tests for inflammation (blood count, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate), for muscle enzymes commonly released when there is muscle damage (creatine kinase, aldolase, LDH) and also some common tests like thyroid function, electrolytes, kidney and liver function.
If all comes out normal and the symptoms still persist an EMG (electromyography) is the next diagnostic step.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
When it comes to Meloxicam I agree with your doctors. It doesn't cause any muscle damage and there is no reason for it to cause such side effects. It is not a new drug, it has been around for many many years and commonly used so its side effects have been well studied in practice and it is unlikely for this to be some previously unknown side effect.
However that doesn't mean nothing should be done about the weakness you describe, even if not related to Meloxicam, causes of muscle weakness must be investigated, like polimyositis, myasthenia gravis, thyroid dysfunction etc. Apart from clinical neurological exam, some blood tests are necessary, tests for inflammation (blood count, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate), for muscle enzymes commonly released when there is muscle damage (creatine kinase, aldolase, LDH) and also some common tests like thyroid function, electrolytes, kidney and liver function.
If all comes out normal and the symptoms still persist an EMG (electromyography) is the next diagnostic step.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
http://www.YYYY.com/ds/YYYY/muscle+weakness
The bottom table show that Maloxacam has been associated with muscle weakness and 100% have not yet recovered. Rare but documented. XXXX
The bottom table show that Maloxacam has been associated with muscle weakness and 100% have not yet recovered. Rare but documented. XXXX
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for that link. I must confess though that I do not find that site the most trusted source. I do not see where this study has been published and the disclaimer "All information is observation-only, and has not been supported by scientific studies or clinical trials unless otherwise stated" makes me think no where.
I am not saying that it is necessarily made up, but individual reports on social media do not take into account other factors. If you see below there is a list of top co-used drugs (lists only the top 5, but there are more) and there are several which are known to cause muscle damage, so how is it to be distinguished which drug caused the damage. That is why clinical studies must be made by qualified professionals, to make a proper analysis of data, which are also supervised by organs such as FDA.
The source I most commonly use is: http://reference.medscape.com/drug/mobic-vivlodex-meloxicam-343299#4
It is used by many of my colleagues as well, one of the most popular sources around.
I am not saying that things are absolute, new data do come up every day and I do not claim to be able to monitor everything, all I can say is I haven't encountered that side effect in my daily practice and my most trusted source doesn't mention it either.
I hope to have been of help.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for that link. I must confess though that I do not find that site the most trusted source. I do not see where this study has been published and the disclaimer "All information is observation-only, and has not been supported by scientific studies or clinical trials unless otherwise stated" makes me think no where.
I am not saying that it is necessarily made up, but individual reports on social media do not take into account other factors. If you see below there is a list of top co-used drugs (lists only the top 5, but there are more) and there are several which are known to cause muscle damage, so how is it to be distinguished which drug caused the damage. That is why clinical studies must be made by qualified professionals, to make a proper analysis of data, which are also supervised by organs such as FDA.
The source I most commonly use is: http://reference.medscape.com/drug/mobic-vivlodex-meloxicam-343299#4
It is used by many of my colleagues as well, one of the most popular sources around.
I am not saying that things are absolute, new data do come up every day and I do not claim to be able to monitor everything, all I can say is I haven't encountered that side effect in my daily practice and my most trusted source doesn't mention it either.
I hope to have been of help.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
My concern about the link below is that 100% of the folks reporting muscle weakness have not recovered yet. (Bottom table). Thank you, XXXX
http://www.YYYY.com/ds/YYYY/muscle+weakness
http://www.YYYY.com/ds/YYYY/muscle+weakness
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I completely understand your concern madam and I did see that table. What I tried to explain above though is that it is not a trustworthy source.
As I said you do not know what caused the muscle weakness in those people, whether meloxicam, another drug, or a medical condition they had (many rheumatological conditions meloxicam is used for do have weakness as a feature of their disease).
Also what does that site say about their non-recovery, after how much time, after a day, a month, a year?? Since they are spontaneous reports I imagine most people tend to report when the symptoms occur and they start searching the net finding that site, I do not see many people going back to say they recovered. And if the site wanted to make a real serious study, should contacted those people after predetermined periods of time (say 3-6-12 months) to inquire about recovery. Also should have excluded people taking drugs which are proven to damage muscles like Lipitor and Simvastatin.
Again, I do not want to minimize things, I did say the issue should be investigated with appropriate tests, but I wouldn't base decisions on that site there.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I completely understand your concern madam and I did see that table. What I tried to explain above though is that it is not a trustworthy source.
As I said you do not know what caused the muscle weakness in those people, whether meloxicam, another drug, or a medical condition they had (many rheumatological conditions meloxicam is used for do have weakness as a feature of their disease).
Also what does that site say about their non-recovery, after how much time, after a day, a month, a year?? Since they are spontaneous reports I imagine most people tend to report when the symptoms occur and they start searching the net finding that site, I do not see many people going back to say they recovered. And if the site wanted to make a real serious study, should contacted those people after predetermined periods of time (say 3-6-12 months) to inquire about recovery. Also should have excluded people taking drugs which are proven to damage muscles like Lipitor and Simvastatin.
Again, I do not want to minimize things, I did say the issue should be investigated with appropriate tests, but I wouldn't base decisions on that site there.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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