[breezeonby]

Can neuropathy affect just one hand? I have neuropathy in both feet, but I think I have neuropathy in just one hand. I had carpal tunnel release surgery on it in February and I am still having problems with my left hand. The tingling and numbness is the worse and it keeps me from falling asleep and wakes me up. I am on Gabapentin for my feet and I can only take so much of it due to side effects. When I was on a higher dose, the hand did not bother me as much. I sleep on my left side and was wondering if I may have a pinched nerve or something. Would it be best to see a neurologist? Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[onaughmae]

I would think neuropathy could affect any place. I have a spot of neiropathy on my thigh. My first thought was maybe a pinched nerve or something. Thats is often the most common thing I think. Have you ever used a chiropractor?

 

[Richard157]

I have had carpal tunnel and ulnar nerve surgeries on my right arm and we are watching my left arm for possibly surgeries. I have had pinched nerves in one finger of my left hand and in the back of my neck. Two frozen shoulders and neuropathy in the left foot, but not the right foot. The neuropathy was attributed to diabetes, but the doctor said the other problems were not necessarily due to diabetes at all. I do a lot of carpentry work and i think that caused most of my problems.

So it is possible to have neuropathy on one side of your body, but not the other. I certainly recommend a neurologist and testing to determine the cause of your problem and whether surgery is needed. I waited too long to get some of my surgery so I will always have the pain caused by carpal tunnel. The surgery only caused the problem from getting any worse and causing some paralysis.

Pinched nerves are very common and usually take care of themselves. My pinched nerve in my neck stopped bothering me in a few weeks. The one in my left index finger has caused tingling for about 20 years. It has never gone away.

 

[kooshbal]

Nerve conduction Study

Can neuropathy affect just one hand? I have neuropathy in both feet, but I think I have neuropathy in just one hand. I had carpal tunnel release surgery on it in February and I am still having problems with my left hand. The tingling and numbness is the worse and it keeps me from falling asleep and wakes me up. I am on Gabapentin for my feet and I can only take so much of it due to side effects. When I was on a higher dose, the hand did not bother me as much. I sleep on my left side and was wondering if I may have a pinched nerve or something. Would it be best to see a neurologist? Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

Most likely you have a pinched nerve in your neck or herniated disk. Make an appointment with a neurosurgeon and go from there. Wife had similar problem. Fusion + carpol tunnel solved one of her many problems.

 

[breezeonby]

I wear a wrist splint at night and this no longer helps the burning and tingling. Is this something that will never go away? The burning and tingling is waking me up at night. At my next doctor appointment, I will diffently be bringing this problem up at the beginning of the appointment. This is about to drive me crazy. I have tried sleeping on my back and I still get the sensations.:flame:

 

[onaughmae]

I wear a wrist splint at night and this no longer helps the burning and tingling. Is this something that will never go away? The burning and tingling is waking me up at night. At my next doctor appointment, I will diffently be bringing this problem up at the beginning of the appointment. This is about to drive me crazy. I have tried sleeping on my back and I still get the sensations.:flame:

out of curiosity...since you have had carpal tunnel issues...have you ever taken B6? When it flares up fro me B6 usually does the trick (along with splinting). Couldnt hurt to try it until your next appointment...

 

[breezeonby]

Pam, I take B-Complex and folic acid and then my multi-vitamin. Should I add more B-6?

 

[onaughmae]

Pam, I take B-Complex and folic acid and then my multi-vitamin. Should I add more B-6?

I really dont know that more would help if you are already taking it. Sorry...was just a suggestion *sigh* Hope you get some relief soon!

 

[breezeonby]

Pam, that is OK. I appreciate your help. This past week, I have been having trouble trying to grasp things with my left hand. My fingers and hand is so numb, especially when I get out of bed in the morning. I can't turn on a faucet with my left hand. I hope it is just neuropathy.

 

[onaughmae]

Hope so too...sure sounds like carpal tunnel or pinched nerve though Are you going to see someone for it soon?

 

[Richard157]

Breeze, my hand was that way many years ago until I had carpal tunnel surgery. I hope you will be examined for carpal tunnel, just in case. Except for some arthritis, my hand is great now.

 

[breezeonby]

I have a doctor's appointment the first week in June. I am dealing with so many different health issues right now. It seems there is no rest for the wicked!

 

[breezeonby]

Breeze, my hand was that way many years ago until I had carpal tunnel surgery. I hope you will be examined for carpal tunnel, just in case. Except for some arthritis, my hand is great now.

I had carpal tunnel release done in February of this year. Not sure how much it helped.

 

[breezeonby]

Changing Treatment For Neuropathy

Went to the foot doctor today and since I am not able to take any more Gabapentin, because of the side effects, we are going to switch to Lyrica. My Gabapentin dosage will be decreased every week. In 3 weeks I should be able to start Lyrica. The foot doctor said that the Lyrica will help with the neuropathy in my hand. Right now, I need to be able to get through the next 3 weeks with the dosage of Gabapentin being decreased. I don't have seizures and don't want to have one. Anyone ever been on Gabapentin and switched to Lyrica?

 

[onaughmae]

Went to the foot doctor today and since I am not able to take any more Gabapentin, because of the side effects, we are going to switch to Lyrica. My Gabapentin dosage will be decreased every week. In 3 weeks I should be able to start Lyrica. The foot doctor said that the Lyrica will help with the neuropathy in my hand. Right now, I need to be able to get through the next 3 weeks with the dosage of Gabapentin being decreased. I don't have seizures and don't want to have one. Anyone ever been on Gabapentin and switched to Lyrica?

what side effects of the gabapentin are you having?

 

[breezeonby]

what side effects of the gabapentin are you having?

I get really dizzy when I take more than 300MG in the AM. I have developed fecal incontinence at night at any dose higher than 600MG. My insurance also requires that you try Gabapentin before they will pay for Lyrica. The incontinence is more than I can deal with.

 

[onaughmae]

I get really dizzy when I take more than 300MG in the AM. I have developed fecal incontinence at night at any dose higher than 600MG. My insurance also requires that you try Gabapentin before they will pay for Lyrica. The incontinence is more than I can deal with.

Thanks. I have developed vertigo over the last couple of months severe enough that I am having to take antivert on a PRN basis. They tell me it is likely an inner ear or sinus problem, but I guess I am just looking for anything else that might be causing it

 

[Richard157]

Pam, I have had dizzy spells and headaches for a long time, especially bad in the morning. Many tests have been performed, no solution found. The newest attempt is autonomic neuropathy. I have an appointment with my neurologist in July to see if that is my problem. The first symptom in the list of symptoms is dizziness from blood pressure that drops when going from a sitting to a standing position. Mine has dropped as much as 40 points after standing, in the morning.

 

[onaughmae]

Pam, I have had dizzy spells and headaches for a long time, especially bad in the morning. Many tests have been performed, no solution found. The newest attempt is autonomic neuropathy. I have an appointment with my neurologist in July to see if that is my problem. The first symptom in the list of symptoms is dizziness from blood pressure that drops when going from a sitting to a standing position. Mine has dropped as much as 40 points after standing, in the morning.

Hmmm interesting. I do have some issues with autonomic neuropathy already in the form of GI issues, most notably pretty bad gastroparesis. I wonder if that could be the problem. When the vertigo comes on, it is very sudden and the room absolutely just starts spinning to the point I have to close my eyes or it feels like I will pass out. Then soon after I get very nauseated. So far at least the Antivert has helped. It sure would be nice to know what is causing it. M blood pressure is fine usually and they even did a CT scan of my head to be sure it looked OK....could find no reason for it. I will ask my endo about it when I see him in July
for sure.

 

[breezeonby]

Last July, when my high blood sugar finally caught up with me, I started having really severe dizzy spells. I was in the ER several times because I was also very weak and felt like I was going to fall down. The tests that they ran did not show anything but they gave me Meclizine to take. When I finally got my health insurance, I went to a new internist who diagnosed me with vertigo and told me that it could take months for the vertigo to go away and to keep taking the Meclizine. After another month of dizziness, I was concerned and went to see an ENT who told me that I probably had an inner ear problem, but he wanted to run some tests to see if there was any other issues going on. He ran a hearing test, which did show that in my right ear, I did have some hearing loss. He performed balance testing in which I was given a series of tests. One of the tests was to check my blood pressure, an orthostatic hypotension screen was positive, BP standing was 155/95, supine was 135/81. I was also given oculomotor tests which showed high frequency headshake testing revealed right beating nystagmus, pursuit testing showed mild saccadic responses, OPK-fixed showed reduced response in both directions. The ENT then sent me for an MRI of my brain and tacs. The MRI impression was no enhancing mass lesion including no evidence of an acoustic neuroma. After all of this, his suggestion was to eliminate the last medication that was changed which was Lexapro and to send me for gait training/therapy. I stopped the Lexapro and within 1 month, most of my dizzy spells stopped. The gait training/therapy was a great help. For the orthostatic hypotension, I was told to drink more water, take a daily salt tablet and to get up from a lying or sitting position very slow and to wait for 15 seconds before moving. I still have to watch how fast I stand up after sitting or lying down. I still take some Meclizine for dizziness. I obtained copies of all of the testing that was done. All of these tests were very technical and some were hard to understand. You might want to see an ENT for further testing.