Should I give up?

Allergies, blood and immune system
1

Hi. I'm 36 and female. My symptoms started with a numb hand in the morning. I then had a couple of red swollen finger joints (lasting about three days), cold fingers, wrist pain, hand weakness and stiffness. Everything pointed to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Then I started to get pain in my upper back, and numbness and tingling in my feet.

My doctor couldn't see signs of CTS and sent me for a lot of blood tests.

While waiting for the results I developed pain and stiffness in one hip and knee, and then all over. One morning I really struggled to get out of bed and walking felt like wading through treacle.

That lasted a couple of days - bad in the morning but improving through the day - and then only the knee stiffness remained. 

Then I got my results. RBC count a little low but otherwise okay. ESR and CRP normal (6 and 4 respectively). Rheumatoid factor and Antinuclear antibodies results are missing, so I have no idea what they showed.

Anyway, in the last four days I have felt a lot better. A lot of the stiffness and back pain has gone and it feels amazing to be able to move normally again.

The only thing is, my hand is still "numb" - dead but with painful pins and needles - every morning.

My fingers are cold and I'm guessing the intermittent pain in the distal portion is related to this, rather than joint inflammation.

I'd rather wait and see if the whole thing flares up again and, if it does, see a doctor when I'm at my worst. Or maybe it's gone for good.

However, is the hand numbness alone reason enough to seek medical treatment? It's confusing the hell out of me but without signs of anything else being wrong, it seems like I could spend a lot of time running around in circles. I don't want to do any permanent damage by leaving something untreated but as it's not affecting my life so much now the other symptoms have gone, I don't want to have unnecessary tests.

What do you think?

 

2

i had carpel tunnel syndrome and it turned out to be a low thyroid.

TSH needs to be under 2 apparently....falsely 3.5 to 5.5 is said to be the normal range ...but its been updated ...in the USA by functional medecine practioners to around 1.00 and the same per naturopaths and 'Thyroid UK'.

hope this helps x

3

Carpel tunnel treatment usually requires a wrist hand splint. This is by prescription only. It's generally used to keep the hand open while sleeping in order to keep circulation in the hands and fingers. Rarely does surgery help it usually comes back, which it did in my case. 

The other description of joint pain you described reminded me of when I had a rare infection in my synovial fluid. It was so painful all my joints were swollen and I could not move. I hope that's not the issue in your case. I hope you never get all the pain back. It's mind numbing pain.

So glad to hear your better. 

4

strange tho it seems but carpel tunnel is related to a low thyroid (high TSH trying to compensate).

fix that and you address the carpel. all mucles nerves and every cell in the body depends on thyroxin.

our TSH should be at or below 2. Lab results are skewed by all the sick people using laboratories which skews the results!! So your GP may try to tell you that your TSH at 4.5 is in the normal range. He needs updating!! I'm sure you could do this very politely. I think GP's should be paid til they update themselves...but thats beside the point...except that you wouldn't pay your car mechanic if he couldn't repair your modernised car...why should we pay doctors who haven't modernised with all the research !!

5

oops...shouldn't ...be paid !!

6

hi LL

are you taking vit B?

if so maybe ease up.

tingling in extremites is a side effect but these stop if you give up adding b vits for a while then resume at a lower dose and using good quality food grade vitamins and minerals... synthetic vits can cause more harm than good.

try quitting gluten and all grains for a while ...just to see if this improves things for you.

did you have a TSH test? do ask for one and a full thyroid panel.

may i also suggest trying good old fashioned bone broth? or raw cabbage juice added to veg smoothie ...and taking fresh pressed lemon in the am. have you reviewed your diet and all the great advice out there for changes? there is so much that can be done LL. so please don't give up.

love liz xx

7

I was first diagnosed with dermatomyositis in 1956-7 at Sister Kinney's Orthopedic Children's Hospital in Southern California.  My parents thought I had polio.  I am just beginning to recover from my latest bout or episode of dermatomyositis .   Oh, yeah -- today is/was my birthday.

  All of these responses have excellent advice and I encourage you to follow up on these.

However there are two things you mentioned that I saw no responses for so I would like to address them now.

1.  I'd rather wait and see if the whole thing flares up again and, if it does, see a doctor when I'm at my worst. Or maybe it's gone for good.However, is the hand numbness alone reason enough to seek medical treatment?

Absolutely!  Extended numbness or lack of feeling ought to be brought to your doctor's attention.  Although there is a chance it is gone for good (and I hope so), these are possible indications of  a couple of things.  For instance, women frequently present the symptoms you describe - all of them - weeks or months before a heart attack or other heart related issue.  Some of these can be controlled with a simple aspirin regimen.

Also, the numbness in your hand and the swollen joints and coldness may indicate anemia or a lack of blood flow to the affected area.  As for the  TSH mentioned previously -- definitely get that checked and I recommend sooner rather than later.  A faulty thyroid can cause a staggeringly varied, sometimes confusing, set of symptoms.

2.  While waiting for the results I developed pain and stiffness in one hip and knee, and then all over. One morning I really struggled to get out of bed and walking felt like wading through treacle.

This sounds too much like my day.  If/When all of these symptoms are happening at once it could indicate an autoimmune problem or an internal infection (which someone else mentioned too).

The series of symptoms you mentioned and the pattern of pain may be completely unrelated but it could make a huge difference in establishing a correct diagnosis.  If this same pattern recurs, keep track of its progress and developments.

And, even if this never comes back get your thyroid and your heart checked asap.  Don't panic.  Just learn all you can about your own body.

Here's wishing you health hope and happiness.  Good Luck.