mzacha
Yesterday was a long day. I woke up at 6:00 AM to a numb left arm. My first thought was that I must have slept on it and I just needed to give it a moment to get the blood flowing again. I got up and hopped in the shower. Turning on the water, opening bottles of shampoo and soap, and even brushing my teeth took forever. My hand felt weird. You know when your foot is asleep and it feels like its gigantic? My hand felt like that through the entire time getting ready for work. “Honey, it is almost 7. You are going to be late.” My wife called out to me. I opened the bathroom door and told her that I think I should call my doctor and see what to do because my arm was still numb. As I lay down on my bed my wife called my doctor. He unfortunately was not in and I was told to come in immediately to get checked out. My wife asked if we should got to the ER instead but the nurse on the phone said that they could check me out faster there. We headed over to the doctors and got there at 8:30. We sat in the waiting room. And then we sat some more. In fact, they have a CNN Health DVD playing. I watched it all the way through. The kids in the waiting room thought I was a genius because I knew all the answers to all the trivia questions. When we finally got into the doctors office they gave me an EKG which turned out normal and told me to check back with my doctor in 2-3 weeks. After exchanging words with the doctor on duty I left very upset. She did not want to check anything else and even told me that going to the ER would be a waste of time. I told her that my worrying was worth it and left. At this point it was just after 11AM and I still had not eaten anything. We went home and I ate breakfast. I called my endocrinologist to see what he would say. He was out on medical leave. I hung up and my wife said, “Let’s just go to the ER. I want to know what’s wrong or at least rule out big stuff. 12:20 was our arrival time at the hospital and they got me in pretty quickly. The did another EKG which was fine as before. They sent me out to the waiting room until they called me again a hour or so later. They put me in a room and took 5 vials of blood from my hand. Ouch! After a while a Physicians Assistant came in and told me he would find out what was going on before we left. He was nice and understood that we were both pretty concerned. A chest X-ray was ordered which came back okay. The blood work also came back all clear. So my heart seems to be okay. Thank God because I have a terrible family history when it comes to heart problems. The PA decided that he wanted to check out my brain and neck to make sure nothing was happening there. I remembered this was about 4:40 when I was sent to have a CT scan on my head and neck. I had never had one before so that was kind of freaky. Just before 7:00 the PA came in and said, “Everything looks good. I hate to say it but it looks like it may be neuropathy. You should see your regular doctor and get a referral to a neurologist.” I left as soon as they pulled all the monitors off of me. I was glad that it was not a life threatening issue but I am bummed because neuropathy has already attacked my feet and the thought of my hands feeling like this is a bummer. I have an appointment tomorrow with my doctor so I will update you all when I find out the next steps. If any of you have any advice I would GREATLY appreciate it.
I have no idea how one would check for a pinched nerve... but that could certainly cause those feelings.
George, from reading your posts,you have been under a lot of stress lately. I hold tension and stress in my neck and upper back, when it gets the best of me I get numbness and tingling down my left arm- just like a heart attack, but thankfully, not. I see a chiropractor and do lots of stretching.
Be well.
George, I think the recommendation to see a neurologist is right on. Not to scare you, but that's exactly how my Guillain Barre Syndrome started. If you've had any recent vaccines or viruses, be sure to mention that to the neurologist, because those are common triggers. Back in the day, a spinal tap was used to detect it. Hopefully it's neither neuropathy or GBS! If it does turn out to be tension, you might want to try a massage therapist - mine does wonders for my neck and shoulders! Keeping good thoughts for you.
Deb
I was thinking pinched nerve when I was reading your tweets. If it was neuropathy, it just sounds like too weird of a way for it to begin - all of a sudden like that.
Have you been checked for carpal tunnel? This is one of those fun complications that can go along with the beginnings of neuropathy. If it is carpal tunnel then sleeping in wrist guards helps tremendously as does physical therapy. Hang in there!
I wouldn't think it would be neuropathy if your sugars are under control and you have been on top of your diabetes. The way it came on so fast tells me it may be a nerve issue or tension. From what you posted, I'm sure you're fine. Has the numbness gone away? Keep posting!