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.

[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!

[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.

[Ben Smith]

For the past few years I have had some problems with my hands and arms falling asleep while I sleep. It has seemed to get worse here in the last year or two.
I was born with an aortic valve that isn't quite right, regurgitative at 3+ to 4+. I have been diagnosed in the last two months with an aortic aneurysm in my assending aorta, 5.3cm.
I have spoken with others that have had aneurysms and they said they also had some numbness at night.
I am not saying that any of you have an aneurysm, but it may be worth asking your doctor about. It could just be carpel tunnel, who knows. I just thought I would give you guys my two cents worth.

Ben

[janel]

I too have problems with numbness in my hands and arms.  I had by-pass 6 years ago.  This problem started about 1 year ago.  At different times of the day my hands and arms will tingle and get sort of numb (they feel real warm).  sometimes it is in my legs and feet as well.  My heart dr. says he doesn't think it is my heart.  I also ache a lot especially around my biceps, wrists, calf and ankle (usually during the numbness or shortly before or after.  Anyone one else do this?  I have even wondered if it could be some kind of chemical imbalance since everything else has been out of whack since my surgery (I always had a lot of alleries and now I have none, I used to could take any medicine and now a lot of medicine had adverse reactions especially cholestrol meds.  

Anybody relate to this?

[Gerard NEAU]

I am very familiar with these symptoms in the bed or while watching tv in an arm chair for a while.
It always start with the left side.
I was first told it was tunnel carpal syndrome as I had also tingling during the day in the small  and ring finger. What I found myself is that carpal tunnel syndrome involves only the three fingers starting with the thumb, the other two are related to a problem coming from the spine. Indeed it stopped after a manipulation of the spine.

Now the numbness is back, but after two years of problems the
diagnostic is atrial fibrillation ( known since the very beginning) and fibromyalgia. I would suspect coumadin in my case. I am 56/M

[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.

***@****