[granny weatherwax]

He guys just wanted a little advise

The doctor diagnosed me with Carpal tunnel a couple of months ago because my hands kept going dead in the night. I suppose I was in denial but hey I thought I would try the splints at night and see what happened.

It did seem to help a little so I carried on. It wasn't until I decided to paint the shed yesterday (and pot up some plants) that really clinched it. It feels like some one has put an electric cable in both my hands and turned on the power with a few flames to boot... (even typing this is uncomfortable to say the least!) Is this normal? dose this means it is progressing? is there anything I can do to ease it? how long is it likely to last?

Any help would be gratefully received..

Claire xxx

 

[greenhaggis]

Hi Claire,

Sorry to hear the symptoms are worse!

Just one quick question - 'was it GP who diagnosed on symptoms or did you have the tests performed by a specialist'?

Love Lesley

 

[Joandublin]

Hi Claire

As a fellow sufferer I can sympathise with you. Are you still wearing the wrist splints? I know I have been very bad about wearing them and I certainly regret it because they do help to keep the nerve from being compressed too much.

Anyway thats a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted

I have a range of physical therapy exercises that I do which are very hard to describe in writing but I found this link which suggests some exercises to relieve the pain from Carpal Tunnel

http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/flexibilityexercises/qt/CTSexercises.htm

This particular exercise helps relieve a lot of the pain when I get a bout of it. Try it and then wear your splints as much as possible over the next week or so and especially at night.

Hope it helps!
Joan:rose:

 

[granny weatherwax]

Hey Lesley

The Dr dx off symptoms why do you ask? The numbness at night has been helped greatly by the splints, and I must admit typing at work today has been a nightmare, so I resorted to wearing the splints most of the time!

Thanks for the exercises Joan will give them a try. I have been very good at wearing my splints... because my husband tells me off and checks up on me bless him. He is very good and won't let me overdo it even if I am feeling ok. I am so lucky and feel blessed to have him.:love2:

Claire

 

[Maia]

Splints and NSAID's can help, you can also get cortisone shots, and ultimately surgery can be done if nothing else helps. I had the sister syndrome known as cubital tunnel and ended up needing surgery on both arms. In my case it helped a great deal. Carpal tunnel could also be due to your lupus and more medication may help out the lupus as well as controlling the carpal tunnel.

There are a lot of options out there to help the pain and odd sensations. It becomes more important to have the specialist diagnose and treat if it keeps up and/or progresses. If you notice yourself dropping lots of things and the pain/numbness/shocking sensations worsen definitely mention it to your GP again and possibly your rheumy; and you may end up needing to see an orthopedic specialist as well.

Take care - hope it improves with the splint being worn diligently and some exercises.

 

[Raglet]

just curious to know, how can lupus cause carpal tunnel ? I thought carpal tunnel was a nerve entrapment. Obviously lupus can inflame and damage nerves (I have multiple nerves in my hands and feet that have been damaged by lupus, but never carpal tunnel).

cheers

raglet

 

[Maia]

CTS is well known to have other primary causes, lupus being one of them. Lupus can cause inflammation in the hands, the inflammation narrows the passageway for the nerves, which causes the entrapment of the nerve....

Pregnancy is another common cause of CTS but for very different reasons of course!

 

[KarolH]

CTS is well known to have other primary causes, lupus being one of them. Lupus can cause inflammation in the hands, the inflammation narrows the passageway for the nerves, which causes the entrapment of the nerve.

Interesting. I did not know this. I have nerve entrapment everywhere that has shown up on EMG testing...hands, lumbar spine, thoracic outlet syndrome, etc...

I had Carpal Tunnel surgery in 1993 on my dominant hand, right hand. It helped for a while but has been back with a vengeance for some time now. I used the splints for some time with Advil and Ibuprofen yet it just continued to get worse so I had surgery.

Surgery works well for some folks and did for me too for a while but it came back.

Best of luck to you as I know how CTS can cause pain.

 

[granny weatherwax]

Thank you everyone for your help and support if it continues I have a nurses appointment for family planning next week so I could change it for a GP appointment if it is no better. I have a week off next week also to will have time to rest.

many thanks

Claire

 

[halfpintfl]

Hi Granny, I went to my Rheumy with one hand so numb feeling and sore that I could hardly stand it. I was sure that he would say "Carpel tunnel, and I did not want that.Then got there and he said that I needed a script for splints for both wrists. I asked if it was cts, and he said
"not really" It was just that I was at that time using my wrists more than usual, and it caused severe inflamation in my wrists. I wore my splints for almost a yr. and then I didn't need them any more. They did help, but they sure are hot to wear. Best of luck.:wink2:​

 

[Raglet]

thanks for the explanation - I have always wondered about this, but there never seems to be any real detail written about lupus and carpal tunnel.

I read quite a lot about nerve stuff as I have a lot of nerve damage, but not carpal tunnel syndrome as it is my nerves and not the surrounding structures that are causing the problem.

cheers

raglet

 

[Clare.T]

I have read lots of times how the first sign of lupus turned out to be carpal tunnel, that often didn't clear up after surgery. There can be other systemic causes too like thyroid and diabetes.

One man to whom this happened is called Bret Borowski. He tells his story on
http://followmylupus.com It's a very interesting account of an extremely serious case with a good outcome, so it helps maintain hope

Claire, I hope you can get some help.

Cheers
Clare