So, I start having pains in my hands and arms again like carpal tunnel. This happened once before a few years ago and it resolved on its on.
Then I had a horrible week of hard hand work. Then I had four sleepless nights propped up in bed with Scale 10 pain in my hands up to my shoulders. It would pulse in one arm for awhile, then switch to the other arm, then back. Finally went to ER for 10 lortabs costing ,000.00 as my rheumy's secretary erased his recording machine and forgot to forward the calls to the message center.
My primary sent me to an OT, and I am in my fourth and last week of exercises, wax baths, ultrasound, and am much better.
It has finally come down to the middle two fingers tips are numb and the knuckles are stiff and red. My rheumy said it was carpal tunnel. I think I had a huge RA attack. How can you have exactly the same symptoms in both hands and arms and it be carpal tunnel? Why couldn't it be my first real RA attack?
The situation is slowly getting better with the OT and splinting at night. I now have a great exercise program. It's just these stiff, numb finger tips on both middle fingers. I still don't think this is carpal tunnel. Maybe I am just stubborn, because with no testing, the rheumy wants me to have surgery. I want to see if I can work it out, and if it isn't carpal tunnel and was a huge RA attack, it would be stupid to have the surgery.
I am flummoxed.
Cathy my hubby has CTS...it comes in flares when he drives too much or uses them on something repetitive. They get numb at night and then are very painful when the feeling comes back in. He has a splint from the Dr that helps when he drives and to wear at night. He hasn't agreed to the surgery either.
My sister had the surgery and hers are fine now, both hurt at the same time but they would only do surgery on one hand at a time. I think it's all part of Auto-Immune disease just like Fibro.
It went away with AP.
Don't do anything yet!
Hugs,
Pip
It could be both. I have suspected Carpel Tunnel caused by RA. When I first went to the docs with numb hands they thought it was CTS prior to my RA diagnosis. The numbness has never gone, just other things have been added. I now have splints for both hands to wear at night and whenever else I feel necessary. I'm having a Nerve Conduction Test in 2 weeks to make sure.
They are probably connected. My RD says inflammation from RA is causing possible CTS.
I tend to agree with you that RA is bilateral. As the only time i ever had bilateral carpul tunnel was during a flare. I tested at the nuerologist and have carpul tunnel on the right side, but not the left so sounds like swelling. I do not know how the test might come out if you are swelling as to say i would like to see you prove your point now instead of later. That is so painful please take it easy on yourself, but do not let the doctors off of the hook so easily. Do you have any pred? Certainly do not get surgery for bilateral carpul tunnel if you are having an RA flare. But i agree with PIP. As to say I have RA and it sounds like something i have experienced. I would hold off on the surgery and get more investigating done. And here is a good post for you how many people with carpul tunnel have stiff red knuckles did you point that out to your doctor. Now that sounds like RA stiff and red.Lordy woman. If you figure out the answer to this (how can you tell which is which) let me know. I've got CTS in both wirsts, as well as the RA, AND tendonitis in my left wrist/thumb. I never know what the hell it is. I just ride with it....really the treatment for all 3 is pretty much the same, too. I get what you described a lot. Sometimes after doing repetative motions (keyboard!!!) and sometimes not. I can guess at which is which, but I never know for sure. I've only recently come to find that some of my pains like that, are actually from my ELBOWS. Never knew it could be like that, but now I'm finding it's from them about 50% of the time. Makes the treatment and prevention a little different, but not a whole lot.
*hugs* I'm glad it's finally letting up, I know how horrible that can be!
Thanks for the input. Got up this morning and the fingertips are the best they have been in a month. But I know it will worsen through the day with gravity. My reading says you should have surgery if you have three months of hard symptoms. For some reason, having a ligament cut on both hands when I need as much function as possible seems a little too dramatic and a cop-out, frankly. If this is resolving once again, without surgery, then I am lucky. And I will avoid the hard hand work I was doing, learned a big lesson. Another reason Christmas is going away after this last decorating season, too hard on my hands.