Hands/fingers morning muscle weakness

[frustrated74]

Started roughly when I was 23, I am now 34.  It's gotten worse as the years have progressed.  This happens mostly during the warmer seasons and only recently has been happening all year round this year.  When I wake up in the morning and only when I wake up in the morning, I find that my fingers/hands/grip, one or all, is extremely weak.  It's gotten as bad as it reaching my legs, arms up to shoulder blades, maybe twice to three times over the years as well as some chest discomfort.  Otherwise, 95 percent of the time it's just my hands up to my elbows, weak to where I can't even turn the key to lock or unlock my front door.  Now, the unsual part of all this is that it only happens in the morning when I wake up.  Come 12pm, my muscles in my hands start regaining strength but then my muscles start hurting whenever I squeeze or flex.  Then there are days like today where it lasts all day long.  I've taken blood test, CT scans, seen specialist as they freaking electricute me using little needles in my hands.  All Normal.  Now, one doctor asked if when I wake up in the morning, if I have any "brown" stuff in my mouth that I spit out.  I answered yes but nothing came of it.  He never questioned it after that one time.  don't even know what he was getting at with that question.  Anyhoo,  what else?  dont know if it's related but on occassion, I'll see like a small flash within my vision like a little electrical ball for an instant.  This has been happening for the past 6 years or so.  Any answers, suggestions of what I should do next?  Anyone else experiencing the same problems?  

[iahmed]

I had never done a blue collar job before but due to circumstances I was forced into it... It was quite heavy work with a lot of repetitive movements. With time I started noticing numbness in my hands ... if I lay on my back my hands would go numb. When I woke up in the mornings I had to wait 2 hours before I could use my hands... I always had to use both hands to use the tap. I get regular migraines too ... one of the reasons of the migraine is tense muscles in the neck.
So one fine day at work I had problems in the hands as well as the migraine to an unbearable point. I could not afford take days off work because I’m not eligible for any kind of medical or financial benefit from the govt. so in desperation at work I picked up the plastic mallet and started mildly hammering the side and back of my neck... after about 30 minutes I hit the sweet spot and fixed my headache. I thought I would use the mallet as a massager and thought it would work like a meat tenderiser hammer... I started hammering my back as well and within 5 mins the pain reduced. The next day I was a little better than usual so I continued hammering away for the duration of the whole shift. My hands improved... I was not getting numb until a week later it happened again... later I changed jobs where I had to use my legs more than arms. Within 6 months I managed to regain the strength in my hands.
I would not recommend using a mallet on yourself but this story should give you an idea that the problem is in your nerves in your back. (The regions around the spine from shoulders to the wings) try deep tissue massage or sports recovery physicians to help you fix the problem. It can and will go away. All the best.  

[lauracx]

I have the same problem I am 23 years old. It started earlier this year. First it would only feel weak in the morning, then by afternoon it would go back to being normal. I guess as time progressed since I didn't do anything about it. It had gotten worst. Now if I don't wear a cast to sleep I wake up with my arm being weak and numb.
Now I have a pretty poor nutritional diet, I use to rely on energy drinks then soda with a lot of caffeine. Now i only drink water, but I take caffeinated pills. (for work)I don't really eat three times a day, in fact sometimes I eat one meal a day. I don't know if sugar has anything to do with it, but I think it started because I started drinking 1 tall can of energy drink per day. or 4 water sized cups of mountain dew
It could also be that I use to crack my knuckles a lot whenever it felt weak. (maybe the problem progressed because I cracked my knuckles so often whenever it was weak, and so it damaged  nerves? )
or maybe i hurt my wrist sometimes I did hold my phone a certain way to watch tv shows on netflix. i was wondering if that could be the reason. At work sometimes i carry heavy things( too heavy for one hand a lone like a big pot of veggies, or try to grip things with only my right hand i think little things really add up)

I figured I had carpal tunnel syndrome, so I bought a cast for my right hand, being the hand I rely on the most. I couldn't afford to buy another for my left hand.(left hands feel weak but not as much as my right) So it started working, but after I washed it on the 2nd day it became different. It didn't feel the same, now my hands feel weak with it on, but feels stronger with it on than when I don't wear it for at all. If I don't wear it for the whole day my hand becomes super numb especially if I don't go sleep with it.


did you ever find out whatever happened to you guys? I always seem to try to look for the same diagnosis as other people, maybe then I can be able to easy some of my medical inquiries lol (first time positing my symptoms out loud)

[goldenfall]

I also have these symptoms. Morning weakness and pains in all muscles, which start right from the moment I wake up. The weakness lasts few hours. It gets better about an hour after eating breakfast. I was diagnosed with Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis. In my case, muscle weakness is caused by blood potassium dropping overnight. I take slow K when I go to bed and it helps somehow. Other than that, I get extreme weakness after eating/drinking sugar or sugary drinks (which I haven't had in years), and also from heat and every time I get a viral infection. That's why all my colds look like a very bad flu with muscle aches and severe fatigue.

[jojokev131958]

I have identical symptoms to you except for the brown stuff in the mouth. I ended up having some form of muscular dystrophy with myopathy. This diagnosis came after 40 years of symptoms. The eye thing for me has never been diagnosed. I've had muscle eye surgery and a pituitary tumor which may be causing that symptom.

[Padiel]

@Frustrated24 did you find out what it was? I have the same exact symptoms

[OHEALTH]

I would also suggest having a MRI scan(magnetic) of cervical and thoracic vertabrea, I am not sure exactly why but my neurologist says that CT (x-ray) scans can't pick up certain things (like soft tissues), would be worth researching prior to asking, they found that I have a prominent spinal canal, this can cause similar symptoms but tends to be more of an issue with nerve type symptoms from time to time, potentially the weakness as well but that could be something else, and have been told that a lot of people could have slight anomalies but simply never have the tests.  Nothing to be alarmed about.  

[OHEALTH]

I would also suggest having a MRI scan(magnetic) of cervical and thoracic vertabrea, I am not sure exactly why but my neurologist says that CT (x-ray) scans can't pick up certain things (like soft tissues), would be worth researching prior to asking, they found that I have a prominent spinal canal, this can cause similar symptoms but tends to be more of an issue with nerve type symptoms from time to time, potentially the weakness as well but that could be something else, and have been told that a lot of people could have slight anomalies but simply never have the tests.  Nothing to be alarmed about.  

[memilsly]

I've had this since I can remember. When I was a child, it was even worse, I think: I couldn't open a water bottle for myself until around 5-6th grade, and I remember getting teased for asking someone to help me in a later grade. I only wake up like this nowadays sometimes, like today. I can type in my phone easily, and it seams to be better after elevating my arm.
I've always had hypoglycemic episodes as well, and when I wake up like this, sometimes I think it might be a hypoglycemic episode. They feel really similar.

[norainbow]

I think your explanation makes sense in my current situation with waking up with weak hands/forearms. They feel fine throughout the day with some slight weakness, but by the early evening I'm fine until I go to bed.I have been sleep deprived for over 2 months averaging about 2-3 hours a solid sleep a night which just isn't enough. When I lay down in bed my body literally shuts down in 30 minutes to the point where my legs and arms become weak/numb while I am still awake. Quite strange but it makes sense. I'm assuming this is because I am so deprived of sleep that my body is just shutting down. I actually had two good nights of sleep in a row (6 hours each night) with the help of Ambien. I noticed a slight improvement in my hands/forearms when I woke up. They were not as weak, so hopefully with a few more days of solid sleep I will feel normal again. My lack of sleep is due to a tremendous amount of stress, anxiety, and mild depression that I have due to a potential health issue.

[Renters28]

I have had this since I was a child. My mom especially noted I couldn't open doors after I vomited. As a teen a neurologist said I had renaulds syndrome, very boring.
BUT that a possibility was that my column that retains spinal fluid was abnormally wide. His guess was that as the column expands (after sleep cycle and compression/stress of vomiting) that is temporally crushed some nerves. Great explanation, sadly my MRI was normal. Although he said he would really need a scan during an episode. Hope it helps.

[monotrail]

This is my guess speculation. All my tests have been fine, expect my sugars glucose and a1c are close to pre-diabetic (not according to the normal ranges given on the test but by more strict levels, google it). I think it could be from restricted blood flow through shoulder area down to the arms. That could be caused by tight back, neck, shoulder muscles or misaligned skeletal region. Pinched nerves too could be a possibility but I'm always reading tingling/numbness are symptoms of that. Or it could be a blood sugar thing. I've read sugars can affect muscles and nervous system. For me weak morning grip happens after a period of poor posture sitting at work, back pain, tight muscles and not regulating my blood sugar so I don't know what the cause is as I haven't been scientific about it yet. I'm going to start. Posting the info for someone else to be methodical if they have similar possible causes. A silly but possible reason is I notice this happens after using my. Cell phone for extended periods of time typing for a while. I have the droid 2 which has one of the highest microwave levels, it could be silly, just giving every possibility a chance to be evaluated.

[RedHatGramma]

About holding your phone...My house has a smart meter.  Every wire in my house is dirty. When I wake up my hands are blanched, painful & weak. When I use my phone, especially when it is plugged in, my holding hand especially gets worse as you described.

[EBrew]

I've been waking up (for about a month now) with incredibly weak hands, often accompanied by a tingly feeling from my wrists down through my fingers.  Some days are better than others, but no day is "normal".  Today, for example, I had to have my wife pour my coffee for me because I couldn't hold the pot.  Other mornings I'm unable to open the door to take my dog out for his morning constitutional because I'm unable to turn the door knob.  Other mornings I can do just about anything but it does take a lot more effort than ever before.
My blood pressure and blood sugar are just fine...  I sleep like a log!!!  No real stress in my life at this time (although a few years ago I lived on stress)...  My diet is pretty darn healthy...  My activity level not so much.  Yeah, I know, I need to exercise... but I'm 43 years old, 180-185lbs, 6'0" ... I wear the same size clothes I wore when I got out of high school and college...  
My health seems to be fine...
However!  A few years ago I jumped (after having stretched and run a mile) and when I landed my Achilles Tendon completely snapped!  During my last physical I was discussing this with my doctor and he asked me if I was very flexible... I explained that I have NEVER been flexible.  Even in the height of my physical prowess I was barely able to touch my toes (although I could run a 4 minute mile)...
He smiled and said, "Oh, you're just one of those "Tendon People"."  
...as if that was supposed to mean something to me...
He explained that some people just have these kinds of problems more than other people (do).
This is the ONLY think I can think of that gives me any problems... my lack of flexibility and my tendency to be injured as a result.

Strangely enough, I can type on a keyboard all day long (although I don't do this) with no problems.  The mornings after a long day at the keyboard are no different than the mornings after an entire day having not touched a keyboard... so typing doesn't seem to be tied to it very closely...

I am concerned about what's going to happen going forward.  Will this get worse?  Will it go away?  What if it does get worse? Etc...

Any thoughts?

[Jason707]

Just woke this morning with weak gripping hands. Haven't had this for years, that I can remember.
I have worked shifts as an engineer for years, getting up early hours with no problems. I'm also a retained firefighter which means my alerter can go off, and often does while I'm in deep sleep anytime during the night or early hours. This means being up, dressed and to the fire station in under 4 minutes using the car, a distance of a mile from the house. I have never experienced this problem when this happens, maybe it is adrenalin that stops it?
The only thing I did different yesterday was to work quite hard hammering posts into the ground with a sledgehammer, then we visited some friends in the evening and had a Chinese takeaway and  3 cans of lager. I very rarely drink, could count one one hand the number of units I probably drink in a month, and last night did not feel drunk, only having 3 cans.
Never had any pain with this and thought everyone got it until reading comments on here.
I've looked around the web and not found a answer to it properly anywhere.
Not worried, just curious, and now getting more interested that the doctors don't seem to have a clue about it either.

[Deep247]

Same things happenIng to me too .........  i have started workingout can it be because of that....... Anyhow i dont give a damn just wanted to let you know u are not alone ;)

[smd77535]

hi there, did you ever find out what was causing your problems, because i seem to be having the same things happening and cant find anything wrong.  thanks

[frustrated74]

I appreciate the comeback.  My doctors have suggested that as well but didn't necessarily settling for that one diagnosis.  I simply didn't believe that it could be the problem.  I'll speak with my doctor about the sleep laboratory thing you suggested.  Hey, it can't hurt especially since the other test seem to be all coming back normal. Hopefully my insurance will cover it as well (HIGHLY DOUBT IT!) LOL    Again, thanks

Sincerely
frustrated74

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

As you have described your symptoms, and knowing that your scans and blood tests are all OK, the problem might lie in your sleep pattern.  If your sleep is a non-recuperating-sleep pattern, which means that you are not sleeping deep enough or is constantly interrupted so as not to hinder normal body recuperation, then you might feel weak and stressed by the time you wake up.  This is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and also comes with increased pain sensation of fibromyalgia.  This is also associated with anxiety and some mild to severe form of depression.  This is just one angle and I suggest you discuss this with your doctor.  He may require you to be examined in a sleep laboratory to determine any abnormalities.

Regards.