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Avatar universal

Pain in hands and fingers

I have had fibromyalgia for the last 2 years. Just recently I started waking up in the middle of the night with extreme pain in my fingers and I can't bend them. Usually by morning, once I flex them enough they loosen up. I did start doing light weight lifting to give me more strength and I think thats when the pain in my fingers and hands started up. I don't grip the weights at all. I notice to when I do push ups I have alot of pain in my wrists.  I'm not sure what is going on.
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172715 tn?1285494490
Are you sleeping on the side of your painful hand? You could be cutting off your circulation if so. The pain and pins and needles will wake you up in the night or be there when you wake up in the morning. You may have to lift less weight and do less reps until the problems subsides. If it doesn't after some home care of ice, heat, Advil and rest, then you should tell your doctor all of your symptoms and when and how they started. Best wishes for a quick recovery, Hurtin
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172715 tn?1285494490
Yes I was going to say it sounds like you took too much on and too quickly. Don't stop all of you work our, just do a couple of your easiest exercises up to about 10 minutes 2x a day to start. If that is too much do it 1x a day until your flair subsides abit.  Please know that whatever you do, you should expect to feel the bad results in 2 days. See if that is correct for you, as it is for me. Listen to your new body and try to forget what you used to be able to do. You need to embrace your new body more and say goodbye to the old you too. Start fresh with your new body with a new attitude. I hope something here makes sense to you and helps you in the future.  Hurtin
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Avatar universal
You have alot of good suggestions which I am going to try. I already know that doing too much at once will wipe me out because I'm feeling the after effects very much now. I just want to get stronger and be able to do more things, but it seems like I am getting weaker and more tired as the days progress. I know I need to be patient because my body keeps going against me. Thanks again for all your suggestions. I will try them right away.
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Avatar universal
I'm also sorry to hear about your pain.  I also have fibro (as well as other chronic pain issues) and I do also get pain in my hands and fingers, however, I do also have arthritis in my hands, so I'm not 100% sure how much of the pain is fibro pain and how much is arthritic pain.  It IS typical for fibro pain to be worse in the mornings, so that part of your pain description is not surprising to me for fibro.  In addition to the flexing of your fingers that you're already doing in the morning, you may try either using some warm compresses as you move your fingers, or even soaking your hands in some warm water.  Another thing I do sometimes if my hands/fingers are really bothering me - at night when I go to bed, I roll up two towels (one for each hand) and lay them alongside me on the bed - then I can rest my hands/fingers on the rolled up towels so that when I'm sleeping (IF I sleep!), my hands and fingers are in a very relaxed position while also having some additional support.  It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does - not necessarily for the morning pain and stiffness, but to help me get a bit more comfortable at night to hopefuly be able to get to sleep.

I would also definitely make sure that you start your weight lifting VERY slowly and also when you go to increase the amount of weight, do that very slowly also.  With fibro, you may not notice pain or difficulty immediately after working a part of your body - it may not actually hit you for a day or so afterwards, so it's sometimes quite easy to overdo it without realizing it.

I'm glad you're going to have it checked out just to be sure that nothing else is going on.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your imput. I've been tested for everything you can think of and nothing shows up. I do have alot of shoulder pain and neck pain since lifting weights, but I stopped for a week and the pain in my hands and fingers didn't get any better. I will be going to my doctor's next week to get this checked. Again, thanks for responding.
Helpful - 0
547368 tn?1440541785
Hello Iss,

Welcome to MedHelp's Pain Management Forum. I am glad that you found us and took the time to post. I am sorry to hear about your painful joint symptoms.

Have you been checked for arthritis? Another possibility could be carpel tunnel (CT) IF you have some tingling or numbness associated with your symptoms. Admitted it could also be attributed to Fibro but I do not have a huge amount of information on your condition.

You are always welcome here. However I encourage you to also post your concern in MedHelp's Fibromyalgia Community. They may offer you more information in Fibro related symptoms. Here's the link:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Fibromyalgia---CFS/show/44

I had similar symptoms when I had CT. Warm soaks and massage helped relieve my hand and finger pain.

I wonder also if this could be related to a spinal issue. Do you have arm or shoulder pain or stiffness? Obviously your PCP would be your best consult to begin the diagnostic process.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. I will look forward to your updates. Best of luck to you.

Take Care,
~Tuck
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've had fibromyalgia for the past ten years.  Six or seven (maybe more) years ago I started having a lot of trouble with arthritis in my hands.  Fast forward to now, and it's really debilitating.  I'm not sure if your trouble could be arthritis or some other condition.

If this started with weight lifting, maybe you should stop and see if the pain abates.  If it doesn't, then you need to look at other causes.  If the pain is waking you up during the night, then it's fairly significant pain.

You may want to check this out with your doctor and see what they think.
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Avatar universal
I do not  lift weight or do push ups but I have been having terrible pain in my hands and finger, exactly like you described.

I'm 32 with fibromyalgia.
Helpful - 0
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