Numb from my wrists to my elbows | Arthritis Information
Alright, I don't think this is my RA, but you guys wouldn't mind if I did just a little whining anyway, would ya? My grumpy hubby is asleep and is tired of hearing it anyway.
I had my second lumbar epidural today, complete with mild sedation, and I think I spent about an hour in the procedure room. Lying face down. With my arms on supports up around the sides of my head. Fun, right?
As you may (or may not) know/remember, I have also have a couple of cervical discs that are just bursting to get out, as well as all sorts of muscle spasms and nerve entrapments in my shoulders and arms. So when they asked at the end how I felt, I said my back was fine, but my shoulders and arms need to be removed.
That was at 12:30 pm. Around 8:45 pm, I started noticing this numbness in my forearms, not quite pins-and-needles, but that tingly annoying almost-like-you-hit-your-funnybone muscles-seizing-up feeling. And now two hours later, it has spread to my elbows and wrists. (BTW, the serious back pain started in around 6, so it's not the only thing I'm trying to handle tonight.)
I am a very unhappy person tonight. And I don't expect I'm gonna sleep well with any of this, so I'm going to be unhappy for a long time tonight.
Is it because of the position? Like the blood drained there? The back makes sense but...
Pip
Elbow to wrist?
It's not your ulnar nerve being pinched is it? Are your elbows swollen?
No, elbows aren't swollen. I typically get shooting pains through this area because of the cervical disks and perma-spasmed shoulders, so keeping the shoulders extended for an hour (which is actually one of my PT exercises, when done for a minute or two) seems to have moved things from shooting to numb. Pfffttttt!Suzanne - I know this will come out all weird-sounding, but it could be part of the procedure starting to work. Sometimes tingling and numbness are parts come back to life that you didn't realize were in serious trouble, and when you get treatment, the nerves, etc. go a little wild while recovering/renewing. FWIW - I hope you are better soon. Cathy
Can't offer any suggestions or solutions but sure wish you all the best for relief from this problem.
Cathy, that would be wonderful. The dr said to call immediately if there were numbness, so that sounded like a bad thing, but he was talking about in my legs, since the injection was at the bottom of my lumbar spine. I hope you are right, but I still find it difficult to believe that I would be seeing improvement in my arms when that is the furthest away from where the procedure was done, and not intended to help those problems. But time will tell!
The good news is that the numbness is significantly less this morning. And the hubby's grumpiness is also significantly less.
Ulnar nerve problems usually means your ring and pinky finger getting numb and weird. Had both my arms done only to have chemo give me peripheral neuropathy in my left hand.
Much hugs, innerglow! and more hugs for having the courage to let someone poke foreign, metal objects into your spine... or even your body. Sorry but it just sounds so painful. Boney, soon you'll have to put together a whole new dictionary! You'll need to add "legal butts", "discs that are bursting to get out", "perma-spasmed" and a new definition of "fun". I think the existing language just isn't enough for all this lovely stuff we go through.
mab, that's unbelievable about the chemo. I already had plenty of neuropathy long before this, just mostly controlled by the Lyrica until about a month ago when it started creeping back a bit (which my ortho said was completely explained by my cervical protrusions and stenosis). I'm not really worried, just frustrated.
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