Numb At Night? | Arthritis Information

I know some of you have said you get numbness in your leg(s)/arm(s) and/or hand(s), (finger(s) during the night when sleeping and I'd like to hear more about that. Like, have you always had that or did it start with your RA? Is there any cause-and-effect that you know of? Does it only happen if, for instance, your arm is curled under your head or you do something else to stop the circulation? Does it happen more easily now from being in an awkward position or does it just come out of the blue? Does it only happen to the parts of you affected by RA? Has it gotten worse over the years? Does it happen to anyone else in your family who doesn't have RA? I'm curious if this is just something that comes with age or if it has something to do with RA type diseases.

It started with my RA.

I assume the cause-and-effect is nerve entrapment, but I don't know.

Sometimes it happens because my arm is curled up, but other times there isn't a rhyme or reason.

Yes, it happens to the parts already affected by RA (mainly my hands, sometimes my feet).

I don't think it's gotten worse over the years, but it gets worse from time to time and then subsides again.

I don't believe anyone else in my family has it.

Whew, that's alotta questions!

hi jesse i get numbness burning tingling in lips shins and hands..
my shins would burn day and night. i have recently put up prednisone
and started statins for cholesterol. and ace inhibitors for high blood pressure
not sure what med is doingwhat be burning shins have subsided..
the feelings in hands and lips are mainly when i lay down. not long after
getting into bed. and are present no matter what the meds. it makes no difference
how i lay.. i had the electric nervetest no carpal tunnel only slight copresion
of the ulnar nerve..i wonder if it is to do whith the waythe spine compresses when i lay
down.. i allso have paraprotein in my blood and am looking at neuropathies
whith this...
other hings that have happend to me but only during the night are.
explosions in the head sending a electric shock through my arms.
now they hurt.. electric shocks in my chest... as i say never during the day
only in bed.. the only thing i know is all my dmrds were stopped at this time of
these occuring . and was on pred alone.. for about 1 yr.. after a bad chest reaction
to a dmrd.. aftera year on pred i restarted mtx and things subsided.
but i am now off mtx due to 8mths chest infections and a badreact to arava .. so
iam back to pred alone.. been ont his 13yrs... i have had ecgs
but they are ok..latest ecg was when i took buscopan given for. muscle relaxer
as iwas having probs swallowing. heart near bust out my chest..
hope you can make head and tail of this ..
Boney

Jesse, I also have numbness of my arms at night and wake up multiple times to wake them up. I have degenerative disk disease in my cervical spine but declined an orthopedic consult as no one is touching my spine. It is hard to deal with some times. It happens more to me if I extend my arms over my head. I often wake up with an arm that is completely numb. It's because I sleep curled up like a fetus. If I box myself in with pillows before falling asleep, I don't toss and turn as much and when I wake up, so do all my limbs.

But I like curling up under the blankets at night.

Both my arms do that at night. An ortho dx'd it as 'high collarbones' or something - proved it in the exam by taking my pulse with my arms in various positions (long time ago - had just been with misdx'd with MS, good times....). I have to be careful about purses, backpacks, too. Funny thing - much less bothersome at night, after I found out what it was! I guess I was able to sleep through it, once it wasn't a major worry!

He said if it got really bad, he could do surgery. Yeah, right, I'd love collarbone surgery....

Jesse - I had "carpal tunnel" about four years ago. Would wake up with both hands completely numb and would have to get up and walk the house shaking my hands trying to get some feeling back. Was sent to a hand surgeon, who immediately said I needed double surgery. He did that awful electric shock/waves/listening test and my right thumb contracted and he had to give it a shot of steroids finally to get it to relax. I told him I really wasn't sure it was carpal tunnel, and it stopped suddenly after about two months total of the symptoms.

Then last October it suddenly came back. Both my primary and ex-rheumy both immediately said it was carpal tunnel and would need double surgery. I opted for some great occupational therapy with a hand expert and splints at night, which I am still using. Then in December I ended up in the ER with what I now know was a scleroderma attack of neuropathy and this all turned into the digital fingtip ulcers I have developed.

The last thing I need to do is have double wrist surgery. I think it is autoimmune related, and not from repetitive motion carpal tunnel, but that's just my opinion. Good luck ~~ Cathy

The last thing
Just wanted to add...

Like lorster, I have DDD going on, with several cervical discs affected, so that could certainly be part of it. However, I've had the DDD longer than the RA, but the frequent numbness began with the RA.

Also, Lyrica did help quite a bit with the numbness, but didn't take it away completely. The fact that the Lyrica helped reinforced the notion for me that it is related to the nerves.

I started having limbs fall asleep about 3 weeks ago and it is driving me nuts. I won't be siting on a leg or have a hand above my heart and my hand or feet still fall asleep.

I was tested for diabetes but came out perfect in my test, so i have no clue why i just started doing that so much.

any one else get the burning tingling.. feeling or electric shocks..
Boney

I have problems with it too and have seen orthopedic spine specilist as well as neuroligist. The best thing that has helped me so far was that the neruo discovered a B12 deficincy. He did lots of test; blood work and the nerve conduction test with the needles and the electric shock thing.

He dx'ed peripheral neruopathy and that explains a good bit of the pain in my legs. I had already started lyrica about 6 months before that and it does help a great deal. All I have to do is skip a dose to be certain. I've recently doubled my dose of that.

I honestly believe though that the B12 really had a good bit to do with my problems. Even the neruo said he wouldn't say that was the main cause....but it certainly contributes to the problems. I take B12 injections about every two weeks sooner if I think it's nessesary.

I sleep with wrist braces which help with the hand falling asleep thing that I often suffer with. Those help a lot because the way you hold your hands when you sleep has a lot to do with the problems.

My two cents worth. Before beginning AP numbness and tingling were a regular part of my life. No longer a part of my life. This is interesting and even more common than I thought. Lorster, your experience and the DDD is identical to mine and SnowOwl's numbness after laying on the back too long also happens. I still can't figure out if it's the OA or the RA-related issues, but I guess in the end it doesn't really matter. Another piece of puzzle to work on and there are so many pieces. Sorry for so many questions but it seems to be the best way to get the answers I need. Online research can go only so far and the information here is so helpful. Thanks guys!
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