Numbness in the very tops of my fingertips

[harleyfan]

Diagnosed with RA this year after many tablet dose changes it has settled down, managed to go from 30mg steroid to 3mg but now the very top of my fingertips have gone numb. I know it's not diabetes could it be the RA. Has anyone else experienced this?

[popsmith1874]

Yes I get that plus feet can be burning sometimes and then frozen other times

[wedgewood]

It is one of the many symptoms of Pernicious Anaemia( another auto-immune disease ) which is caused by poor absorbtion of Vitamin 12. You need to be tested for the antibodies to the Intrinsic Factor . It is a very unreliable test . But if you test positive you do have PA 100% . If you test negative , you can still have it. You can be low in B12 if you are a strict vegetarian or vegan, as vitamin B12 is only obtained from meat , fish, eggs and dairy products. So could that be a reason? Auto-immune diseases seldom come alone . I have R.A. and P. A.

It's worth thinking about

Best wishes

[harleyfan in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you, not a veggie eat lots of fish n white meat but I will ask ta muse about this

[harleyfan in reply to harleyfan]

Should read ra nurse hate predictive text

[Hidden]

Could it be Raynauds or Sjogren's - both possible bedfellows of RA? I have same symptom but also have it in patches all over my body, including my face, as well as my finger tips and toes.

I was initially diagnosed with RA six years ago, but this was changed to primary Sjogren's last year. My rheumy said that only people with seropositive, very erosive RA would suffer from neuropathy as part of the disease. Mine is thought to be a small fibre neuropathy as part of my Sjogrens - which is something that up to 50% of Sjogrens sufferers get. But I also have mild Raynauds and told this could be the culprit too for numb finger tips and toes - they used to burn as well as freeze. Now they just freeze. Numbness is usually nerve damage -"a negative symptom" as my neurologist calls it.

I do not have pernicious anaemia or diabetes either - have been checked many times. Might possibly have diffuse Scleroderma with secondary Sjogren's - this is still to be tested for -but I think probably not.

[Lesley_ann in reply to Hidden]

Hi Harleyfan,

I was diagnosed with R.A back in 2002, followed a few year's later with raynauds which sounds a lot like you are complaining about though only the rheumatologist or specialist nurse can say for sure. Four years ago I was diagnosed with sjogrens disorder ,were my main symptoms are dryness in my skin,ears,eye's and mouth. Then in the last 18 month's I've developed fibromyalgia and pulmonary fibrosis in my lungs.

I'm sure most people not living with all or some of these illnesses would wonder how an earth we would be so unlucky to get so many health problems, I know it's been said to me before as if its impossible to have so much thing's to deal with. But as Twitchytoes mentioned these conditions are bed mates. All of my illnesses go right back to rheumatoid arthritis. Most people who can get RA under control are thankful that there are drug's etc out there now that can slow the progressive disease down, but I think the problem is when we then develop these oher illnesses and disabilities. Its a hard slog trying to fight this all the time. Luckily some of these illnesses are quite rare.

Take care Linda.

[strawberryshortcake]

The ends of my fingers are going numb. Don't know what has caused it out of all the things I have wrong with me. Could be reyauds or arthritis or cmt. Does it happen with lupus? Made it hard to pick things up, especially tablets or small things.

[pip12]

The ends of my ring finger and little finger on my left hand are pins and needles most of the time, don't know if they will eventually go numb. With this illness i just accept all these other side effects. As long as it doesn't go into the severe pain I have suffered with my right hand I try to ignore it.

[Frankiefarr]

I've got this. Numbness in the pads of my fingers have wondered what it is. The doctors always dismiss it