sleep and hands and wrists | Arthritis Information

Does anyone wake up at night with hands and wrists numb like they fell asleep? This has happened to me before but has been every night now for about 4 days. My ra is mostly felt in ankles, feet and knees but I do get stiffness in my hands and wrists at times. Was just wondering if anyone else had this and if is do to ra or something else?

Reegie, this happens to me a lot. I have posted on this and this seems to be a common problem amongst us.Oh thanks, I will try and find those posts!!I often have numbness/tingling in my hands and when this happens I put my wrist splints on and it seems to help.Reegie. I want to add that I had an MRI of my neck and they found some problems with my cervical spine. You may want to get that checked out to make sure your spine is in good health. That could be a problem. I have no neck pain, just this numbness in my hands and arms at times as well as some pain in my left arm.That's weird because in the last couple of days my back and my neck has been aching. I was hoping that I just slept on it wrong as that is one area I have not had any pain in before. If you don't mind me asking what kind of problems did they find?Hi Reegie!

I've noticed that 2-3 times a week I will wake up with a numb hand - like it has completely fallen asleep. It's usually one hand or the other though - not both at the same time.

Hugs

~Brenna

Reegie, I have the same thing. I had my spine problems before the RA. They include cervical discs that are compressed, stenosis (narrowing of spinal canal) and spondylosis (small osteophytes forming)...all of which can press on nerves. I often have shooting nerve pain down my right arm. However the numb hands on waking didn't start until my RA. Lyrica for nerve pain helped quite a bit, but I still have numbness sometimes.Thanks everyone, Brenna I live in Wisconsin too!Well then - hi fellow cheesehead - LOL!

Maimi emailed me yesterday too - she is also in WI.

Hi Reege, count me in too. I have had cervical spine problems very similar to Innerglow for several years but the hand numbness, tingling didn't start until about a year ago. I'm not sure what is the cause, but I know many of us here experience the same thing. You are not alone, LOL!!Cervical issues here as well - and numbness at times. It was worst about 6 - 9 months ago, prior to having my neck checked out. Did PT and started traction at home for a few months and it doesn't happen nearly as often. [QUOTE=reegie]

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Sometimes I have trouble with hands/wrists. I put on splints for sleeping when that happens, and it takes care of the problem.

Definitely get it checked out with your doctor first; as others have said, it might not be a problem in your hands/wrists.

I seem to be in remission, but I do wonder if there is some inflammation involved.

Constant numbness in both feet (peripheral neuropathy from herniated disk at L5 lower back; but also on and off hand numbness, throughout the day, especially holding telephone, pencil, etc. and it happens all night long, especially my left hand/arm; sometimes I wake up and my hands are so numb, I can't bend my fingers.Reggie - five years ago, before my semi-DX, I had a bad bout of night time pain and numbness in both hands, suddenly, overnight. My primary sent me straight to a hand surgeon for carpal tunnel surgery. No testing, just surgery, no alternativesx. I declined as I said, what's causing this? It lasted about six months and never came back until ...

About eight months ago (now after dx) I had another bout of this, only worse. Again, both primary and rheumatologist - go straight for carpel tunnel syndrome surgery, no tests, not even an exam of my hands. Again, I declined and asked for therapy. I too now wear night cock-up wrist splints.

I finally asked for MRIs of my hands and wrists, and it showed synovitis in the wrists (a classic part of RA), which could have been found with an ultrasound of the wrists five years ago. The swelling in my wrists is compressing the nerves at the wrist and causing carpal tunnel. It also showed severe to moderate damage in my hands, which I can see and had been showing doctors for years, who shrugged it off. It's ulnar drift.

Good thing I didn't do the surgery, just what I need to do, cut a ligament in my failing hands. Ask you doctor for an ultrasound of your wrists. It's the cheapest way to prove or disprove what's going on. Good luck, its awful to have such terrible nights and the doctors not believing or helping you. Take care Cathy

I have never had x-rays of my hands/wrists only feet/ankles. My inflammation tests had been normal, that was about 4 monthhs ago, but if the numbness is caused by inflammation that confuses me when technically I aparrently don't have any.
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