Can anyone help with this

[mistylee]

Hi there
I have a problem that started with the first relapse. it first was only the ring and pinky fingers  and part of the hand on one hand, then both hands . They would go numb when sleeping. Not the pins and needles numb when you sleep lying on them, just numb and the it would wake me and as soon as I move they normalised.
    It happens when awake and lying still also even with arms outstretched.

It took about 6 months after the relapse for this to stop happening. Then 3 years of nothing. Now I have had another big relapse and the problem has started again. Only now it has migrated up to include all of the hands and the arms up to sometimes mid forarm, sometimes nearly to shoulder and once also around ribs.

I am really scared. I have had very weak hands and arms, mostly on the left but now both. I can do very little before they play up.  I am worried that I might loose the use of my hands and arms. It has been 6 weeks since relapse started to resolve but no improvement. In fact its worse. Especially if I do anything. ie vacuum etc.

I can't do anything I want to do . If I push myself to mop or clean a shower or try to pull weeds etc I am left within a short time unable to use my hands and arms  for a day or so cos they are so weak and need to recover. Even lifting a coffee cup to drink is hard.
Is this consistant with MS????  I can't stop worrying that I might end up with 4 useless limbs . I am so scared. Can anyone help??

Mistylee

[supermum_ms]

Hi mistylee,

I have a problem with using my arms, first time i was in my early 20's (i'd cleaned a spot on the carpet earlier but dont know if it has anything to do with it or not) first my elbow started to hurt like i'd whacked my funny bone but it didn't stop hurting like it should if i had only whacked my elbows and the pain was the same in my shoulders. You know the ache/pain i'm talking about, well I stopped using it as much as i could but i ended up with both arms heavy, fingers tingling and numb and hurting like billie-o.

I never got an answer to why this happens, its agony and as i sit here they are doing it again, all i did yesterday was carry a shopping basket around the store, this morning i woke up in pain and as the day moves on and i have to use them they are getting worse, tomorrow if it continues as it usually does i'll be ready to hack them off with a chain saw. 24hours of none stop agony seems to be my tollerance limit, i've had this on and off for years. I cant hold my arms above my head, the washing line is a no no for me, sometimes putting a dress over my head is enough to send me into a cramp and so far no one i've asked gets what i'm saying or if they do has an explanation.

My hands are weak too, drop things a lot, cant hold my arms above my head for even a minute without payback pain that lasts for days, my arms below the elbows burn, fingers tingle (pinky, ring, pointer & thumb) and the thumb knuckle (main) hurts like my elbows, outside edge of my shoulders hurting but there is no sign of what is causing this. I've even had the muscle look like its no longer attatched to the bone, all floppy, burning pain, drs said i'd torn the muscle off the bone it looked normal on xrays though, strange that it took twice as long to heal and it happens every now and then in both arms seemingly without a cause.

I put my arm issue as the first oddity on my timeline, i see it as all being connected some how, its great to finally have someone else talking about a similar experience :-)

Cheers.....JJ

[jensequitur]

I went for about four months with my right hand being VERY weak - to the point where I had to do almost everything with my left.  

But the good news is that it recovered - eventually I regained some, although not all, of my strenght.

[mistylee]

Thanks Ren.
I also find I have to do gentle excercises to keep my strength up. But we are only talking about 20 arm raises 3x each a different hieght.  Even hanging out washing I have to rest arms 2 or 3 times with one load.
The main problem is my hands. They are weak. They feel slightly numb and burning a lot of the time. I drop stuff ie. pegs , cups etc and knock stuff over too.
Driving is ok but I my hands feel tired turning the wheel too.
I do think this is connected to the numbness at night with them cos if I overdo it , they are worse at night ie. all night as oppsed to one or twice when i wake up.

Mistylee

[rendean]

Hi,

As I am new to this  game, I do not know  the answer to your question. I do have flares of muscle weakness and mine too is advancing. My physical therapist is working with me to establish a home exercise program to help with the atrophy of my muscles due to disuse. I have seen improvement.  Hopefully, someone with more experience and/or knowledge can jump in here and help you.

Warm regards,
Ren