Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

I’ve had carpal tunnel for years since working on a computer. I was wearing a brace for a while. It got better after I stopped working and using my hands constantly for 12 hrs a day, but it’s come back worse than ever since I had the baby. It’s strange and so bad now my whole entire arms get numb. I’m typing this using one finger because my whole arm and fingers are numb. My ring finger has the most sensation now so I use it. Picking up heavy things has become difficult and I get a popping/clicking feeling in my wrist and a shooting pain in my hand. Sometimes when I wake up my hand hurts so bad and there so much pressure it feels like it’s going to explode!!! It take forever for the pressure, pain, and tingling to fade away. I need surgery sooo bad but I don’t know how if I won’t be able to move my hands afterwards for I don’t know how long?! I have to take care of the baby and kids. I couldn’t feel my arm or hand when I was holding her, trying to give her medicine, and make give her the bottle earlier. I’m worried I will lose use of my hands or drop the baby or something!!! I need surgery but need my hands/arms to take care of my family but at the same time am losing use of them. I’m kind of at a loss of ideas 😩 #Depression #Anxiety #CarpalTunnelSyndrome

So… months ago I promised this group that after my move was complete I would start posting regularly again. I have been in my new place a month, so what’s the delay? Well…
I love being here but am not feeling the elation I was hoping would come after escaping my previous living location that I found very stressful. Where is it?
I keep telling myself that I am simply still adjusting, that being a chronic pain sufferer is exhausting, that I am still carrying a heavy stress load being my husband’s caregiver (even though I now get respite two days a week for six hours). What is it that is keeping me from jumping into the excitement of my new town?
Is it that my lifelong depression won’t or can’t just vanish? Did my psyche suffer so much bruising that it is struggling to heal? Am I having difficulty trusting the new family contact I have because of my family-related trauma history? I don’t know. Initially I was excited to be here, but that seems to have run out. Now I just feel tired all the time. I don’t feel inspired to hang my pictures on the walls. There is still 8% of organization needed before my move is truly complete. Two boxes still need to be unpacked.
The graphic I included with this post is depressing to me, even though I can relate. I’m wondering if this is as good as it will get for me… at least right now. Chronic illness is long-term by definition, after all. If so, maybe I need to adjust and stop expecting more.
I don’t really believe that though because I accessed joy prior to my move through Mooji’s Invitation to Freedom video and mindfulness practice. I guess I just drifted off-course. Getting back to those things that I know work will bring around the relief again that I crave.
Come with me. We’ll start with Mooji:

youtu.be/ptcINj_7tcI.
(If the link has expired, just go to YouTube and run a search for “Mooji invitation to freedom”.

#apathy #ChronicDepression #Depression #Anxiety #Fibromyalgia #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #CPTSD #Mindfulness #Trauma #CarpalTunnelSyndrome #Caregiving #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Stress

Ten months after first asking my primary doctor for a rheumatology referral, I finally had an appointment with one yesterday. It didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I have a lot of different symptoms and pain in every area of my body. I have seen a neurologist, gastroenterologist, and orthopedist. I do have tendon tears that are causing pain, but it doesn’t account for most of my symptoms. My ortho and physical therapist think there might be a systemic tendon issue. My doctors ruled out many things with lots of tests. They only want to cover up symptoms, so I was persistent for an answer and finally got a referral to a rheumatologist. Unfortunately, he was pretty dismissive. He said he read my medical records from my primary care, he asked me questions, and he gave me a physical exam. He asked if I had a prostate exam (I am a transgender man) and didn’t know most of my current diagnoses. I also realized later that he didn’t ask me about my cognitive symptoms or check anything but the areas I already know there are tears and push on a few of my vertebrae. I asked about pain management because I am allergic to corn and derivatives which are in most pharmaceuticals. He didn’t know anything about compounding medications or herbal supplements. He recommended physical therapy and to “figure out what works for you.” At the end of the appointment he said he was ordering 4 blood tests. Repeating the 2 inflammatory markers my doctor has tested a few times and were normal, a different RA test, and one to check for muscle degeneration. He said that if those come back normal than I don’t need to follow up with him. He said to follow up with my ortho because my pain is likely due to injuries and micro traumas. And to see an endocrinologist, even though I already had a lot of hormones checked with my primary and doctor who prescribes my testosterone. And to continue with the heart monitor I’m wearing this week and the cardiologist because I could have postural tachycardia. I was nervous and felt pressured to say that plan was fine.

I got the blood work results via the lab’s app today and they were all normal. I am so upset. The doctor said someone would call me with the results. I am not a doctor, but I know there are other tests, blood and otherwise, that can be done to further investigate my symptoms. I’ve been researching my symptoms and connective tissue diseases for over a year. I feel like most medical professionals don’t care enough to dig deep into what’s going on and just pass me off to others or give me meds for symptoms.

I don’t know what to do. Do I tell the person who calls from the doctor’s that I want to follow up anyway and ask the rheumatologist for more testing? Do I go back to the ortho and have him check all of my joints, back, neck, hands and feet? Do I ask my primary for another referral to a different rheumatologist, when she didn’t even want to refer me in the first place? The original referral said “low suspicion of rheumatic cause, patient requested eval.” I don’t know.

I am just so exhausted, feel defeated, and want to give up.

#Undiagnosed #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #CPTSD #Depression #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Anxiety #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #AvoidantPersonalityDisorder #SuicidalIdeation #CarpalTunnelSyndrome #TriggerFinger #Bursitis #Tendinitis #rotatorcufftears #labraltears #sciatica #Migraine #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS #SleepApnea #Asthma #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #Allergies #Folliculitis

I took the plunge and invested in a weighted blanket. There were blankets weighing 7, 12, 15, 20, or 25 lbs. I tend to like more sensation rather than less, so I chose a 20lb queen-sized Hypnoser version. But I seldom use it because it is so intense for me. I usually try it then put it away again for months. My fibromyalgia symptoms are all over my body and I also have carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms, am a large woman, and am developing arthritis in my shoulders and knees. I have depression and anxiety too, but am not having symptoms currently. All of that means that I cannot stand to remain in the same position for very long and typically flop around like a fish while sleeping. When I use the weighted blanket I wake up in the same position as if I have not moved at all, so maybe not moving during sleep is the problem for me.

I just took a 90-minute nap under my weighted blanket and woke up feeling hung over. It is difficult for me to determine if this is a sign of deeper sleep that is good for me or a problem. When I looked up articles about problems with weighted blankets, I found one that said if a blanket is too heavy for someone with chronic pain, lupus, arthritis or fibromyalgia it can increase pain. Am I experiencing worse pain now? I’m not sure. Some of my post-nap fuzzy-headedness has lifted, but my body is definitely still reacting to the blanket. I have lived with chronic pain for over 25 years now and don’t take pain meds, so it is often difficult for me to define the pain I spend tremendous energy ignoring all of the time. I feel like I need to stretch, and that often happens when my pain increases, but it is also true if I use a sauna and warm up my body.

Please share your experience with weighted blankets for me to compare. I’m interested in anything you have to share, but particularly want to know if anyone else had the same result as me but continued to use it regularly and eventually had a positive outcome. It will also be helpful to me if you let me know if you have similar physical conditions as I have described and if you tried a lighted blanket with different results. I am considering selling this one and trying a lighter one. Thank you in advance!

#Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #WeightedBlankets #PainManagement #Pain #Sleep

As a writer, I am nothing without my hands. Regardless if I am using a keyboard or writing with a pen, I need my hands to write to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, many people throughout their lives, including me, begin to feel physical pain in their hands, limiting how much time they can write comfortably.

In order to prevent these aches — either from a physical injury or pain from swollen joints — compression gloves have been proven to be a great help for me and others with hands that ache and cramp. They are an affordable, non-surgical option that can be used not only when I am writing, but for any everyday activity. Preventing these pains that make day-to-day life a challenge will help you live a happy, healthy life.

#compression #Arthritis #CarpalTunnelSyndrome #cramps

www.tommiecopper.com/mens-core-compression-infrared-full-finger-gloves