I can identify with your pain and frustration. I have CT in both wrists. Back in Oct 06 the pain was so bad I was only getting on averge 2 hours sleep. My dr. put me on gabapentin. He kept increasing the dose until the pain was under control. Two weeks ago my RD gave me some Lyrica samples to try. She's hoping it would help my fibro pain and said that Lyrica is also prescribed for neuropathic pain so I could drop the Gabapentin.
Tonight anything that touches my hands makes me want to scream and my hands are really sensitive to cold and heat. I've also been very clumsy...my hands will suddenly shake and suddenly I'm dropping things. Guess that lets me out of working with knives and power tools.
I'm taking 75 mg Lyrica twice daily but the dose is too low to control the CT pain. The Lyrica pamphlet says the maximum dose is 600mg ( 8 - 75mg tablets in 2 or 3 divided doses), but I can't increase the med without my dr's ok.
It's 12:45 a.m. ... I'm up cause my hands have that pins and needles feeling... it's like I've been out for hours on a winter's day and there's the buzzing sensation that comes when the hands start to thaw out. I've decided to go back on Gabapentin. I've just taken 3 capsules and I hope they'll start working quickly. My prescription allows me to take up to 6 pills ( 1800mg) in 2 or 3 divided doses.
Blessed, I don't know if you've tried Gabapentin. I know some have posted that the med hasn't helped them but it has worked well for me. As I said it took awhile to get to the dose that would control my pain. After 3 months at 1800mg, the pain and most of the numbness went away & I was able to reduce the dose to 1 capsule 2x daily for almost 6 months without any CT pain. THat was the maxmimum amt of time I could get away with taking a low dose of Gabapentin. Now I'm back to 1800mg every day.
I hope you'll find something that will keep the CT pain under control. That pain is the biggie. The dropping things and loss of strength I can work around, but uncontrolled pain is a nightmare.
Punkie2008-04-21 00:10:28Blessed...I had CTS a while back and surgery was suggested after wearing my wrist splints for months hadn't helped. I'm such a big baby, I decided to give the wrist splints a bit longer...and sure enough, the symptoms stopped. I still get some numbness and tingly once in a while and when I do. I just put the wrist splints back on and the numbness/tingly feeling goes away. So for now, that's what I do for CTS...if it gets worse for me at a later date, I then will have to have surgery.
Give the splints a try...it just might work for you...good luck!
yup I have ct. I get symptoms most nights when I'm sleeping, so I wear the splints at night and when I''m driving..
ct is the weirdest pain, hot tingling, numb, pain...
hi blessed i have burning -pins and needles and awake in the morning to a feeling
of half my hand is missing.. i allso get same feelings in lips and shins..
i have had the electric shock nerve test thing and no carpal tunnel was found..
but i do have compresion of the ulnar nerve.. but doc said not enough to cause this problem.
i do not know what is causing it.. but i have recently put up pred started statins and high blood pressure meds.. i dont know what is doing what but burning in legs has subsided
and my veins are down .. think thats bp meds... rambling now
I was waking up during the night feeling like my hands were asleep. Numbness, tingling...pain. My RD thought it was CT and I was seeing a neruologist for other problems I was having. He did the nerve conduction test and it didn't show anything. He said it might just be too early to detect it yet. I only had problems at night and first thing in the morning. My doctor suggested slints and they have helped a great deal. I only wear them at night.
This was actually one of my earliest symptoms of RA as well as a lot of pain. I think the pian I have is just RA related because it didn't really start up again until I spent that time without Humira. I don't know.
I also take Lyrica so it might be helping also. I only take 150mg per day (all at night) I can't even imaging taking 600mg a day. That's alot! It's taken me weeks to be able to manage on 150mg. It makes me pretty loopy in the morning and I sleep like a log with a rock on top of it. If I get up during the night to go to the bathroom I almost fall I'm so dizzy.
I did have a carpal tunnel problem where it hurt even to drive. Sleeping
the whole night was impossible because of the numbness and pain.
I went to a hand specialist to have test done and the results were if
I did not have surgery soon I would loose the feeling and use of both hands.
Well as soon as I had sugery my hands were pain free right away.
It's been over a year and my hands still feel wonderful.
You should get it checked out by a hand specialist and get them all cleaned out.
If you can't get to a Dr for a while check out these gloves that can help .
I am going to order some for when Ra hurts in my hands .
Lovie, I don't take Lyrica, but I take 800 mg at night of Neurontin (for fibro) and I sleep like a log too. I also have the same feeling you do if I wake up after sleeping, even after an hour or so. It takes a while for your body to get used to it. I just started slowing introducing the neurontin during the day (in much lower dosage) and I'm doing okay so far. Next week I'll add another 100 mg in morning, and see how I do.
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