Hands

[ritter]

Hi every one,been doing reasonable well down to 1mg of preds and still reducing few aches and pains but nothing i can not cope with bit tired too been on 1 mg for a few weeks now,but 2 months back started getting pins & needles in hands and pain as well so bad it wakes me up at night, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,ps went to docs friday and he suggested carpel tunnel,any help would be nice, many thanks Anne

[Loco99]

My PMR started with hand and wrist pain which was diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome, the pain then spread to my neck, arms, shoulders and legs and it was then diagnosed as PMR. There is a possibility that your hand pain is PMR related but hand pain does seem quite rare. Perhaps you could try a slightly higher dose of preds for a few days to see if it goes away although if you are fortunate enough to have got down to 1 mg you might not want to up the dose, I'm not sure I would.

[raymck]

Hi Hands, Cannot offer any solution to the withdrawal symptoms as you come off Preds, but my GP gave me Paracetamol in huge quantities with licence to take as many as needed to kill pain! Am now in Club Zero with legacy of stiff joints and muscle cramp but just assume this is the price I have to pay to keep sight in remaining eye. Lost other one due to GCA not being diagnosed quickly enough. Hope this makes sense even though not a great help other than knowing others have the same discomfort! Good luck coming off steroids and hope it doesn't get any worse for you.

raymck

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to raymck]

I find this "paracetamol is perfectly safe" attitude of GPs really rather concerning. There is a very narrow line between a safe dose and overdose. One lady with PMR found pain returning at low doses and her GP insisted it was OA so pred was no use and she should use paracetamol. After 2 months of within the daily dose limit her liver blood tests were raised so the GP sent her for a liver scan in a panic. It was normal - it was the paracetamol doing the damage. Just because it is available OTC doesn't mean you can take as much as you like without risk.

Death from liver failure due to paracetamol overdose is not nice believe me.

[ritter in reply to PMRpro]

Hi PMRpro, I have just put up with the pain as I do not like taking pills when I was extremely ill last year I was taking codeine & paracetamol but it did not work very well the pain was excruciating so the pain from my hands is nothing compared to that will just put up with it I think I was more perturbed that it might be something nasty,thank you so much for your reply it is very much appreciated hope you are feeling better,thank you again Anne

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to ritter]

The same lady has invested in a wax bath which she finds very soothing for her OA hands - perhaps you could find a physio where you could try one and see if it helps. If it is carpal tunnel - did the GP offer any solution? There is an op - but it is a bit inconvenient I believe!

It depends which fingers are affected but I did have a period when the ulnar nerve was being trapped and I had pins and needles in my ring and little finger. As the pred dose reduced it improved - but you are already on a pretty low dose. In carpal tunnel syndrome it is all the other fingers that are affected.

I find it such a pain when my hands hurt - it's like feet, you use them all the time!

[ritter in reply to PMRpro]

You are right about my hands its every finger and palm and back of hand too, Doc is sending me to have a scan he thinks its carpel tunnel,just waiting for letter I was reading on this site that someone held hands out of the bed down over and that does help. many thanks for your time, I do get scared easily now days.thank you Anne

[Bagshaw]

Hi, I'm down to 2 mg and have carpal tunnel problems in my left thumb and right ring finger. Pharmacist suggested Deep Heat as it is paracetamol based, and recommended more paracetamol for the pain when it gets too intense. The ointment gives some relief, but the main problem is that my thumb does not work properly and I can't press on it without pain, or use it much at all. I hope it will go away, as the same pain in my right thumb eventually did. I don't know if it is connected to PMR, so you are not alone, Hands.

[heli13]

Hi, I had carpal tunnel for 25 years, my hands used to go numb as well as pins and needles. Maybe it could be a trapped nerve from your neck, if not carpal tunnel? Mine was so bad, in the end I had a small operation and it was cured instantly. Hope you get it sorted soon x

[ritter]

Thank you to all,I do have 10 disc that have collapsed starting from neck down so guess that could have a lot to do with it,many thanks to you all for reassuring me that does make me feel much better,I do hope you all are having a better time in 2015 roll on the sunshine dear friends.Anne

[piglette]

I had carpal tunnel problems before PMR was diagnosed but it went away when I started pred. I am currently on 12mg though.

[Zoesquare1]

HI Hands,

The PMR flare that finally gave the MDs the diagnosis was the arm/shoulder/neck pain, but in addition, my hands became very swollen and then red on the "soft side" of my wrists (around the artery line where you feel the pulse). That hand pain was like fire at night and I found I had to stand and let them hang to get any relief. I couldn't make a fist and had to use two hands to pick up an empty glass. From my understanding this is a known but somewhat unusual aspect of PMR.

I guess I just wonder if carpal tunnel symptoms are an aspect of that? I think carpal tunnel pain comes from a nerve that is "trapped/squeezed" between mildly inflamed/swollen tissues. So maybe PMR and carpal tunnel are related in that way? I just wonder... I think I've had tendonitis in almost every joint over many years (ankles, elbows, knees, hips and thumbs!), along with a diagnosis of hip bursitis and "snapping hip syndrome.... I now wonder if those were all aspects of and autoimmune tenovitis/synovitis....

Just my thoughts. I fervently hope that your symptoms are manageable and pass without any need for an increase in pred!

Zoe