Numbness in hands during sleep

[Richard]

I am a 55 year old male who is apparently in good health.  My blood pressure at home is frequently as low as 95/65 with pulse from 47 to 55 when at rest.  In the doctors office my blood pressure is 110/70.  I exercise on a tread mill for 15 minutes at a time several times per week, snow ski twice a year and was very athletic when I was young.  I recently had a complete physical including blood work, x-rays, and a cardiac stress test on the tread mill.  My internist said everything was great.  My problem is frequent slight numbness in my hands when I awake in the middle of the night.  I have used Rogaine on my hair since it was approved but have recently stopped because after a few days of using it as directed, the numbness in my hands can extend to the whole arm.  Hanging my arm off the side of the bed causes feeling to return in about a minute.  A couple of beers at night also seems to make the problem worse.  My doctor says its the way I position my hands while I sleep that is the cause of my problem.  What is your opinion?  Thanks.

[ugneek]

Id I'm just sittin around or laying normally my legs and arms sometimes hands get numb for about 30-40 secs. And then goes away! I just wanna make sure I'm not gonna have a heart attack or diabeties. I'm only 32, and I'm scared as hell can someone please tell me what this might be.
Thank you!

[Nora]

For the past 6 months have had several problems with my neck, back, shoulder, arms and fingers.  I have also had numbness in my head and pain that feels like and electrical shock.  The doctors diagnosised me with a pinched nerve in my neck, carpal tunnel syndrome and a pinched nerve in my elbow.  They also concluded that I had several bulging disk in my neck and a slight case of osteoarthritis.  Their solution to my problem was to give me vioxx, nortriptyline and tylenol 3.  This seemed to alleviat the  pain. BUT after taken these medications for about 2 to 3 weeks, I had not slept all and was so exhausted that I slept approximately 14 hours straight. I woke up and my whole body felt like it had fallen asleep, tingling, numbness, even in my eyes, face, legs arms, rear end, back, everywhere.  If I turned to one side it would be more severe on the side I was laying on.  I should also mention that I had heart irregularities shortness of breath, dizzness and blurred vision  the night before.  The next morning the numbness was on my left side only. One week later I still have the numbness but not as bad and still only on the left side. I called the doctor.  My doctor (neurologist) was not available so I called the neurosurgeon that I had seen before. Since I have a lot of allergies I assumed I was having a reaction to the medications. So I stop taking all of my medication.  Three doctors and two pharmisists told me that they had never heard of any type of numbness throughout your whole body from any type of prescription drug.  The neurosurgeon ordered an MRI on the brain.  And told me if I have any more heart irregularities or shortness of breathe to go to the emergency room immediately. The heart palpations stopped.  The other symptons did not. After receiving the MRI, my regular doctor came back in to town and was concerned, he ordered blood test.
I saw my regular doctor yesterday.  My MRI and blood test were normal. But, he still suggested that I might possibly have MS. I had already looked up information on the internet about MS because I knew some people who had the same symptons. He suggested having another MRI, an EKG, a spinal tap and more blood test. I just kind of laughed because I have already had 3 MRIs, an EMG and several blood test in the past six months. He also suggested that I go back on the nortriptyline.
I took one last night.  This morning, I had more numbness in my whole body, rear, left side of my face, lips tongue, arms and hands.  I came to work and got on the internet and decided to look up drug reactions and allergies and found that all three of the medications that I have been on have RARE side effects of numbness, heart palpatations, sleeping problems, low blood pressure etc. (By the way my blood pressure is normally 110 over 60 or 70, but has been 90 over 50 in the doctors office.) I have not had any rib pain, but I have gas pain & indigestion which is alleviated somewhat with loose clothing.  I realize that some of my symptons are not the same and/or I may have more symptons than some of you. But I just thought that any of you who are on prescription drugs, that you may want to make sure that you are not allergic to them, because they can cause heart attacks and other life threatening side effects.  I realize I am not a doctor and I have not yet confirmed that I am allergic to these drugs, but it seems to me that my doctors seem to be guessing a lot and have not yet come up with a definite solution.  I feel that most people know their bodies pretty well and when something is wrong, we know our symptons better than anyone.  
So if you feel it could be your prescription please make sure you check out all side effects including the RARE ones. If anyone else has these symptons and feels I might be grasping at straws or has any other suggestions. Please let us all KNOW.  Thank you.
By the way, I am female, age 38.

[Carol]

Carol & Me Too, I also had the numbness (in my right arm) while sleeping (during twin pregnancy).  I too was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, about 2 weeks after giving birth.  They blamed the numbness as carpal tunnel and the cardiomyopathy as peri-partum.  That's wierd that I make the third person to have the arm numbness & then be diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy... a link??  Makes you wonder???

mike&***@****

[Kathy]

Janel, I have the exact same problems and it is really inferring with my ability to get a good night's sleep.  I also have this sort of vague tickling feeeling in my left arm and in the tail of my spine.  Haven't been to the doctor yet, but am considering it as I am concerned about heart problems.

***@****

[Diane]

I am 44 yrs. old, and in the last year, I have had three heart attacks, CABG surgery (4 arteries), CHF, pneumonia and angioplasty with a stent insertion (5th artery). My hands are tingley numb almost every night, it wakes me up, and it's very annoying.  Also, they "fall asleep" sometimes when I raise them above my elbows, like when driving, or putting on makeup, when I paint (on canvas), holding the paintbrush very securely, or even a pen.  This has occurred only in the last year, and I believe it's either heart related, or prescription related.  The doctors don't know anything.  They say I am sleeping on my arms in some unusual way.  Not True!  Hanging them off the bed helps me too.  I know I'm stumped, but it's comforting to know I am not alone.

[dah]

I'm replying a 2nd time to address the low blood pressure idea.  I've been taking a low dose of Atenolol for various types of heart palpitations for about 1 1/2 years now, and it has lowered my blood pressure over time.  It never seems to go below 93/60, but my normal blood pressure was about 130/80 for many years (before I started the Atenolol).  So perhaps the drop in blood pressure due to medication has now started to cause numbness in my hnds while asleep.  This is a very interesting topic (and a very annoying problem) so it would be interesting to continue to hear what people's doctors have to say about this problem.  Good luck, everyone!