As any one got any advise for my painful hands please

jilly

I am here again asking for help. It is driving me mad ,all the time i have pain in my hands and arms , they keep going numb with pins and needles I have pain going up my arms , it really is very painful even typing is hard. I have asked before but nobody had any advise . I have asked the doctor and she said it is carpal tunnel syndrome, I have already been diagnosed with raynards syndrome.
I try putting my arms all over but it makes no difference , i rub them and that does nothing , my finger ends have lost feeling in them a bit and the skin has gone hard .
I am going back to the rhumey on the 9th of may and hope they will sort it for me ...just wondered if anyone can advise me in the mean time ....jillyx

skezier

Hi Jilly,

Sorry about this one cus I get it a lot and its not nice is it? When your doc says its carpal tunnel have you been tested for it? See if it is they might be able to help it?

Mine is said to be a combination of the neck and circulatory. I have raynaud's as a secondary to the acrocyanosis and so my hands and feet or actually arms and legs completely can either go blue or white depending on which is in the driving seat. have you got colour changes?

For me the only 'cure' is heat. I really do find heat can help but yours may be the ct and that would be different maybe?

I am glad your being seen and if you haven't had the ct test it might be something that you could get the rumo to arrange for you? Hang in there and try the warm thing and with luck it will help. ((( ))) and a hope. Cris xx

madwestie

Jilly, I also get problems with my hands they are always cold and i lack feeling in them like cris mine is due to problems with my neck (OA and nerve compression) have you tried cold or hot treatment on your neck i find an ice pack helps sometimes and a hot pack others depending on which is causing the trouble.

I hope you get this sorted out soon the rheumy can test to see if it carpel tunnel mine did all sorts of funny tests moving my hands in certain ways and flicking my fingers very odd.
some people say hot wax treatment is good. a friend brought me a kit to do it with about 3 years ago :oops: i haven;t tried it yet, i never seem to find the time.

Tracey

ratface

Jilly, this probably wont help you as you have raynaulds as well as carpal tunnel but before the op for carpal tunnel the only relief I could find was resting my hands in cold water for a time. (Eventually I had both hands operated on at the same time - which helped). Also another thought have you tried ice packs across the wrist/palm of the hands - this may possibly have the same effect as plunging hands in cold water and reduce the swelling in the carpal tunnel.

Hope this helps

Ratface xxxx

jilly

Thanks for your help
Chris Tracy and Ratface, I am so fedup of pain , I am not sleeping because every hour or two i am awake with the pain in my hands, arms, and my knee as OA , my neck and shoulders have inflamartry arthritis in them and my hands .
I was diagnosed with inflamatory athritis , OA , and Raynards syndrome by a rhumey doctor but he was only tempory at the hospital , then i was started on sulfa meds but after 3 weeks they took me off them because of a rash and headaches ,but because of the holidays they wont see me until 9th may which was when i was due to see them if everything had gone well , it seems because of the holidays I cant see anyone,
My GP thinks it is all down to Rhumey nurse to sort everything , I am going up the wall with this ,
I thank you for the advise and will try them . i cant even type this because my right hand is so painful .
I went to see the GP a fortnight ago she said it was carpal tunnel but offered me no help , so i rang back because i cant stand it , because of the holidays i have to wait till until Thursday this coming week.
I find GPs dont help once you get the diagnoses of inflamatory arthritis they tell you to ask the rumeys .
Sorry i am going on and having a rant , I have been up most of the night and am feeling so fedup. This is no life . ..................jillyx

mp1952

Hi Jiffy

Sorry to hear about your hands.. I had similar problems when I was first diagnosed with RA 3 years ago. I used to be up all night with my hands in bowls of iced cubes. It only really improved when I started on proper treatment for my RA and I also had a steroid injection in my wrist which really helped.

Someone has mentioned putting ice across the inside of your wrists.. I also found that helpful.

I also found holding my hands upright (vertical) seemed to help a bit - especially during the night (eg propping them up on pillows).

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Can you take some stronger painkillers until you see the Rheumatologist in early May?

Hope you find some relief from the pain soon.

Marion

jilly

Thanks Marion, I am trying the ice on the wrists at the moment , I think it is to do with the RA with me to. It has got worse since i came off the meds and was worse before i tried them .
I am feeling a bit better now my knee is bad at the moment to so that isnt helping , I was having a big moan earlier , I am just so fed up with pain , it just goes on and on does'nt it . The trouble is you look fine apart from walking funny . Hope you are not in to much pain today thanks for your advise ...............jillyx

tillytop

Oh Jilly I am so sorry that you are in so much pain and don't know where to turn for help.

I wonder if, tomorrow, you could phone the hospital and ask to speak to the rheumy nurse and tell how how much pain you are in and see whether she can advise? Alternatively does your GP have same day "fit in" appointments for urgent things? I guess they must have and I think that, given the pain you are in, you should certainly count as "urgent". Then perhaps the GP can follow up with the rheumy nurse on your behalf.

Sorry I can't think of anything else to suggest but hopefully things will improve for you once you can get back onto some proper meds.

Thinking of you.

Love Tilly xxx

mp1952

Hi Jilly

Sorry for calling you 'Jiffy' - I haven't got my specs on this morning!

Glad you are feeling a tad better..

After a few years of juggling ice cubes on my various joints I finally disovered a good method for my smaller joints! Fill an empty yoghurt pot or an empty jelly pot with water and put it in the freezer.. then when it's frozen, cut about half an inch off the top of the pot to expose the ice, and then hold it on the joint.. I find it a bit 'icier' than a bag of peas..

Marion x