[Erin524]

Anyone else have hands that are numb?

How do you get anything done?

I can barely type right now (good thing I got that iPad 3 with voice recognition software two days before my hands went numb). And there are other things but I won't mention that I'm having problems doing. I'm really missing my opposable thumb and my hands

Other than watching out for hot liquids and other hot temperatures what else should I watch out for while my hands are still numb? I'm trying to exercise my hands so that they don't get any weaker. I'm going to call my physiatrist on Monday and see if I can get some physical therapy, but I kind of think I used it all up already for the year. I turned down the steroids that the neurologist offered me. (starting to regret that)

Does anyone know if it's normal to feel like you're going to fall down when your hands are numb. Like my sense of balance is off. I'm not dizzy, but I feel like I'm going to fall down every time I try to walk across the room.

I got this iPad just in time. I don't think I could have typed this post without a lot of errors without the voice recognition. Just wish I wasn't so afraid of dropping the iPad because I can hardly feel anything, and my hands really hurt. This thing is heavy. At least it's more useful than my computer has been the past couple of days. The voice recognition is really cool, but I want to be able to type normally. It's faster that way. Dictating takes forever, and it not all that private.

[missj]

yea, my hands are numb and have been that way since my first exacerbation 18 years ago. I remember trying to do bead work, making necklaces, etc and my right arm was weak, it was hard to do.

I've since taken up other crafts including cross stitch, and incorporated the sensory changes as best I can

It has been the 'new normal' for so long now because of the nerve damage. But sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and for a few moments, they feel perfectly normal.

My feet are messed up too which are both hyper-reflexive and I fail the vibratory and proprioception parts of the exam.

[Erin524]

My hands have been numb before, but this is the worst it's been.

I can't take Neurontin or Lyrica because those both make my feet and ankles swell.

It's just bumming me out because my hobbies are crochet and knitting. I think that I've had five flares since last fall. I finished two projects in the past year. Getting on my last nerve (ha ha) that I can't do my favorite hobbies.

I'm also having problems with my feet. Having my hands get all screwed up. It's kind of the last straw. Like I've had a year-long series of exacerbations. Just tired.

I didn't hate side effects of steroids so much. I probably would've taken the neurologist up on the offer.

[Erika]

Oh yes, I do get episodes of that and it lasts anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks. I'm just coming out of a fairly continuous week long bout of it; thus the reason I haven't been posting until a couple of days ago.

Even now the feeling and coordination in the fingers are goofy so this is being typed on a standard PC key keyboard into a Word document with extra large font (eyes are off as well). From there it will get put back into a 12 font and then will be copied and pasted into the thread.
I just type as best I can and leave the spelling mistakes & type-o's until I'm done and then use spell-check to fix it at the end. Yes, it takes a long time because my eyes are on the keyboard rather than the screen and it's a blend of 'pick and peck' and standard typing.

It's nasty business for sure and it will keep me home unless I really have to go out.

In my experience the sensation is similar to when the hands and fingers get too cold in the winter. They are clumsy and slow, feeling is blunted and it hurts sometimes. The pain can be similar to when a limb starts to 'wake up' after it has been 'asleep' from holding a position too long, or it can be quite severe and more similar to the pain that comes when one puts those cold winter hands under the hot water tap to thaw them out (you always wish you hadn't).


Because I've had this off and on for quite some time, some accommodations are in place to help me manage until it goes away (so far it always has).
Here are a few suggestions that have worked for me:

- Use both hands to hold things and look at what your hands are doing when lifting or holding onto anything (they lie and let go at the most inopportune times).

- Use an electric toothbrush as they have a big handle which is easier to hang onto than a regular toothbrush and prevents the punching yourself in the face thingy. It also gets the job done better than trying to move your head back and forth while trying to hold the toothbrush still and steady.

- Use pump dispensers for liquid soap and shampoo, dish soap, lotion and even condiments as it is impossible to hang onto a bar of soap or squeeze a bottle of anything reliably.

- Keep a dispenser box of baby wipes in your bathroom (enough said).

- Always have some instant-type foods on hand. I dehydrate vegetables and reduce them to a powder in the blender before storing in vacuum seal bags. When I need it, I mix the vegetable powders that I want, and then add a bit of spice or a bouillon to that for a thick instant soup mix.

- Use the side of the arm or another handy part of anatomy that isn't numb to test temperatures before picking things up that might be hot.

For the dizziness (falling sensation), I have a walking stick with a leather loop that goes over the wrist that I use in and around the house. I don't use it like a cane to lean on unless the legs are in on the episode as well; but rather to provide extra balance. I also keep one in my vehicle and take it with me if I'm going to be walking more than 10 feet from a wall or something to hang on to (bump into), even when things seem to be OK. This is a sneaky, heartless disease and too often I've suddenly found myself viewing the world from a much lower altitude than I like.
The stick makes me look like a misplaced hiker and because it isn't a cane, it seems to prevent people from asking questions I don't want to answer.

Tucking the chin in, keeping the back straight and keeping the eyes focused on walls and other solid objects rather than on the ground helps to prevent the dizziness...sometimes.
Whatever you do, don't look up or you'll be going down.

Hope that this helps and that your symptoms are short lived.

With love, Erika

[Erin524]

Thanks Erika.

I had a bad night last night. Back hurt a lot. Now this morning I've woken up feeling sick. I hope it's because of the lack of sleep and not because I'm actually sick or something.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm going to go see if I can find some way to get comfortable now. Still tired.

[Kitty]

My right hand has been numb now for going on four years. Some days it seems worse - or more numb - than others. But so far it hasn't really been painful. I've gotten so used to it I hardly notice it anymore. It could be so much worse......so I don't really pay attention to it.

[new2net98]

Yes, sometimes just the fingertips, sometimes the whole hand; always mostly the left one. Most all my syptoms started on the left side.

Usually lasts a few weeks & then, magically, disappears for a few weeks. Always after the fatigue starts back in. Ahhh, finally, a pattern I can track, lol!

Funnily enough, the neurontin doesn't seem to help that or balance issues. No clue. Maybe a different med does?

I'm sure that some doctor somewhere has a thought on it; but, honestly, unless they experience it...it's either not real or not important enough. Sorry, feeling a lil blue today. Must have been that 5 hour non*-existent nap my body demanded I have.

[yeti]

My most recent attack had my right leg and right arm go numb and so weak it was nearly paralyzed, especially my hand. I couldn't write, couldn't use a fork, couldn't type except lefty. I've had my right forearm/hand go numb before in the past, but nothing nearly as bad as this most recent attack. Thankfully it passed in a couple weeks (with some oral methylprednisolone which I think helped).

I don't have any advice, just some empathy. It was definitely scary to realize all the things I did without thinking about it were suddenly impossible.

[Erin524]

I called my physiatrist and got an appt for next monday. Hoping PT might help for everything that the MS is picking on. Its not just my hands, my feet were also numb for a week or two and I started wobbly walking again.

I already have an AFO for the right leg, hope I dont need one for the other.

this whole flare is depressing me. I want my *&&^% hands back!

[Jules A]

No advice but sending wishes that your hands improve soon.