Loss of strength in hands on laughing!?!

[keeponsmilein]

Hi, wondred if anyone else has had this, since I was a small child
both my hands can loose strength and ability to grasp ect if I've really laughed , sounds weird i know, and 35 years on its still happens, am i nuts or has anyone else had this???

[BiiteMy_Potato]

Like most people here I’ve had this for a long time, never really thought anything of it until it hindered me from taking notes in class a year or so ago. I read about cataplexy and pinched nerbed but I just don’t have the symptoms. Someone misspronounced something and I found this really funny while I was using the PS4 controller and I had to quit the game cause my hands would not cooperate. I really hope someone studies this because there are quite a few posts on this site alone— it’s kind of crazy that no ones done so.

[Parpariwindi]

I have the same experience when ever i laugh

[Themanhimself]

I also have it whenever I laugh I can't even hold a pen properly if I write its as if I'm writing with my left hand and it ain't pretty one day I was taking notes and a kid in my class said something funny ...I started laughing so hard and continued to write but I couldnt..so it's normal for me

[Its_Laughable]

My siblings and I have the same thing, as did our mother, and I think her mother, as well. If I mention it to a doctor, they've "never heard of anything like that."  Seems to be familial in my case!  I don't even have to laugh - all I have to do is THINK of something funny, and I can't write or pick up a teacup.  It's a tad worse in my right (dominant) hand, so I learned early to write with my left hand as a backup.  I remember taking a spelling test in elementary school, and some kid said something funny, and after that I couldn't keep up with the words the teacher was giving us to spell.  Finally ended up trying to hold the pencil with both hands.  I also have this thumb phenomenon when I first wake up in the morning, or if I get very, very relaxed.  LOL - it's kind of a curse!

[redsummer2000]

My son has the problem and he is 11 years old. He told me that he has had this problem for some years now, but he has never told me; or maybe I was doing something else and not paying full attention.  At any rate, I am surprised to see that no one has a diagnosis for this besides "cataplexy," and that so many people have been experiencing this since childhood.  I will continue to do my research.

[ayushee]

yes even i face the samething every time i laugh
but dnt kno the reason behind it .
and my father used face this also , so may b this is heredity!!

[74851923939392]

Nearly every muscle in my body does this, it's not just my hands. If someone makes me laugh and I'm not sitting down I have to fight to stay standing. I always thought this was normal until I told someone and they looked at me like I was an alien. It's really problematic when you're hanging out with someone you like and they make a really funny joke and you drop hot coffee right into your own lap.

[Laurence_page]

I've had this for as long as I can remember and I can't believe that there's no research on it. As far as I'm aware it's harmless for us all and potentially we all have the weakest form of narcolepsy in the world that gives us this catalepsy. Just strange for everyone here it's in our fingers and no where else.

[Camomille14]

Hi, I’m 16 and I’va had this since childhood. It happens mostly when I laugh a bit hard and after that I am unable to write for a few minutes. Sometimes it even lasts for half an hour. I’ve recently started to have this for absolutely no reason and again it can last from 2 to 30 minutes. I’ve even had one episode that lasted a full hour. I’ve done researches but the only thing I could find was also cataplexy except I don’t have narcolepsy. I might try to talk to my doctor about it because I still go to schools and I really need my hands to be functional while writing!

[jambuzz06]

I've had this since I was young through my freshman year of high school, but lately not so much. I would laugh really hard at something to the point of giddiness, and then have fingers so tingly I wouldn't be able to grip a pencil well enough to write--it was more weird than it was frustrating.
Lately, I've had a few instances where oxygen wasn't able to circulate through my body well enough because I was hyperventilating and blood was pooling, and the first thing I would notice that would queue me in before I began to feel lightheaded was that same exact sensation in the fingers. So based on my experience, I'd say it's a lack of oxygen because of particularly heavy laughter. (I don't know about Milliepochet, who said it occurred even during light laughter, though sometimes you hyperventilate completely unwittingly. At first, I swore it wasn't the case until losing oxygen became recurring and I could realize hyperventilation was the cause.)
Wouldn't really explain why only some people have this kind of thing and not others--maybe it's just because of the way we laugh; personally, I know I was the kind of kid to laugh way too much/hard... I don't think what most people are describing on here is a mild form of cataplexy as some have said, but whatever it is, these symptoms seem to be pretty widely reported (and left undiagnosed) online.

[Laurence_page]

I've also come up with my own name for the condition, 'floppy hand syndrome'

[Laurence_page]

Hello, I am 25, and I have had this problem since i can remember it happens especially when I laugh! Suddenly loose strength in fingers and hand, its weird. I'm glad I'm not the only one, Looking at what that person posted about cataplexy i think it might be that. We all have cataplexy.

[bac0812]

I have had the same problem ever since I can remember and have mentioned it to my doctors and they didn’t know what caused it. I notice it when I’m using the laser light to play with my cats and I always start laughing so hard and then I can’t hold the button in because I lose all my strength in my hands.  It will come back in a few minutes but is frustrating when it happens.

[chloedanab1994]

I’m 24 and I get this too! I thought it was due to an from injury years ago but I’ve had countless MRIs and there’s nothing to pinpoint it to! One doctor did say that it could be an anxiety reaction to holding the laugh in and being nervous to be the person to keep on laughing? It happens even when I don’t physically laugh too though!

[Munchkin_7]

I’m 26 and have had this and anxiety since childhood too. It could be some kind of release of emotion/anxiety maybe, interesting!

[darkenobel]

So this is going to sound slightly redundant, but I have had this condition since early elementary school, from what I can remember. I would get the giggles or just start laughing for a little too long, and then have to write some assignment or other down in class and not be able to. Annoying as it is, for me it only lasted for maybe a minute or two afterwards; then I would be fine. Lately, however, it has been happening more often, sometimes when I'm not even laughing that hard. Today, I got a checkup at the doctor's and asked my doctor about it, to which he replied that he had no idea what it was, possible pinching of the ulnar nerve. I've seen some other pages discussing it, but it seems like nobody has a name for it. The best answer I can think of is - as lisa774 suggested - slight cataplexy, while I do not have the usual narcolepsy or other symptoms. Whatever it is, it isn't serious, but if you have it please don't just read, post! I want to see how widespread this is.

[ksl2017]

I have had this my whole life as well! I thought I was nuts! I'm now 29 and I agree with the last comment, research needs to be done. It's a horrible feeling to not be able to write anything or pick up anything just from laughing!

[jeef101]

I have the exact same problem and I'm so relieved that I'm not the only one! I just wish we could spread the word and make this known enough to have research conducted.

[Nonajay]

I literally just googled this as I have had this issue since childhood. Dont have it as often now as I am a misery arse. But still get it even if I THINK something is funny. So glad I am not the only one. Looks like we are all trying to find answers!

[JulianRamia]

Lol I've had this problem since elementary and I'm in 11th grade now. My thumb and fingers would feel ticklish when I would go to write and that just makes me laugh more. I always wondered what it was. Wow this thread is from 2006 :o well hello from 2017.

[Sangrail]

It's a mild form of cataplexy.
"Cataplexy is a sudden and transient episode of loss of muscle tone, often triggered by emotions."

[Phoenixglaid]

I've have the same problem for as long as I can remember. I'm 26 and though mine is the worst when laughing hard, I find that there are times it just happens when i'm angry or sad. It's almost like cataplexy of just the hands. I was hoping someone had found a name for it.

[BozHog]

This happened to me all the time through my school years and years after. It hadn't happened for many years.... until this morning! I'm 49. I used to think this was a common thing, but obviously it's not. I'm surprised at what little information there is on this subject.
I don't do a lot of writing by hand anymore, so maybe I just haven't noticed it.
Now I would really find out what's going on.

[Milliepochet]

Same thing happens to me!  I'm 39 years old and it's happened since I was a child. I convinced myself it was normal, despite all of my classmates always finding it peculiar and laughing at the symptom- which in turn made me laugh and just prolonged the weakness. Sometimes it's not even a hard laugh - even with a silly slaphappy moment (which disproves some theories I've heard about hyperventilating or lack of oxygen from laughing hard).  Not as frequently, it happens absent of laughter too!  Should I be concerned?

[7yoyo7]

Same thing for me. This thread is old but I just realized that I could go around the Internet to see if other people have the same thing.
Glad to see that I am not the only one.

I am 26 years old and I have always had this "symptom", the 2 hands when I am laughing. Everytime I was laughing in class I just could not write anymore until I calm down (which make my other friends laugh).

[lisa774]

I have this same problem, it's so weird! If I laugh in class or at work, I can't hold my pen to write anymore. It only lasts a few minutes, at the most 15 minutes. And it's only in my right hand, my left hand is totally fine.

I found some articles talking about this type of symptom occurring in people with narcolepsy and/or cataplexy, but I don't have either of those problems- just the hand. I hope it's not progressive! Yours never got any worse did it?