A couple of months ago I began to notice my little finger and ring finger are totally numb when I wake up at night, and I have to use the other hand to grab and pull them and in a few seconds they'd come back to normal.
I didn't think it's a big deal at first, and only mentioned it to my doctor today. He ordered a spine MRI (around neck) and I'll have it done next week.
Have you had similar experience? I did see some red scratch marks along my spine that went away in a few days, meaning bart is now in my spine?
Thanks!
Posted by roro (Member # 13383) on :
I have this too. its amazing how many symptoms I have that other people on this board have!
I have severe neck and back problems. I dont know if its was actually caused by the lyme, or if the lyme weakened my spine and made me more susceptible to injury or if its not related to the lyme .
In my neck I have a herniated disc at C3-4, a slipped vertebrae at C2, a bulge pressing on my spinal cord at C5-6 and bone spurs. like everything else, they dont know whats causing the symptoms because I have many possibilities
I am seeing a neurosurgeon on 4/10, hopefully he will be able to help me
Posted by stymielymie (Member # 10044) on :
this symptom is from bad nerve conduction of the ulnar nerve from the brachial plexis.
it is the nerve that you hit when you hit your funny bone.
try sleeping with a pillow uder the arm. if you sleep with your arm under the pillow, then put your arm between 2 pillows and try sleeping on 2 pillows instead of 1.
docdave
Posted by psano2 (Member # 11711) on :
Are you on antibiotics for Lyme disease? In my experience, this is a sign of neurologic involvement by Lyme disease. I had/have this as well. It took a long time for a diagnosis for me, and while I was waiting, this little symptom began to involve larger and larger parts of my body. After the little finger and ring finger were affected, then I woke up w/a whole hand affected, later both hands, then a leg, and so on, until one day I woke up and my whole body was "paralyzed". Scary stuff.
The good news is that long term antibiotics has eliminated most of this symptom, although I still get it a little bit once in a while. My big toe still gets it too.
Posted by klutzo (Member # 5701) on :
This is how my illness started. I thuoght I just had the flu, until one morning I woke up and could not move my arms or legs.
It took ten minutes for the feeling to come back enough to move,and when I dragged myself out of bed, I saw that a lot of my hair had fallen out all over my pillow during the night.
The arms would also burn on one side like a blow torch was being applied, while the other sides would be so cold I had goosebumps and the hair stood on end.
The problem gradually went away over the years without ABX, and now only happens to the same two outside fingers you mentioned and extends up the arm to the elbow, and only when I rest my arms on a hard surface, like a chair arm.
My doctor did say it was "misfiring along the ulnar nerve pathway caused by the ANS dysregulation".
I don't know which of the many things I've tried have helped it, but getting deep sleep and not repeating the same exertions with my arms or legs too many times seems to make a big difference.
Klutzo
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
The last three fingers on my left hand go completely numb on me quite frequently. I worry that it's somehow linked to cardiac involvement.
Posted by NMN (Member # 11007) on :
Me too.....same 2 fingers on both hands. Was my first symptom along with ciatic nerve pain in lower back. still happens every now and then on treatment. Its very dis-heartening when it comes back. Also go numb from knee to hip on right side.
Posted by ralph (Member # 9189) on :
It is the ulnar nerve, for sure, because in most people that is the nerve that goes to those two fingers. In some people it may go to three.
And it can be compromised anywhere along its path, from the brachial plexus - where the nerves from the spine mix together and then split apart to go their own seperate ways - all the way to the wrist.
There is an ulnar tunnel close to the inside of the wrist, like the carpal tunnel on the outside. And the ulnar tunnel can cause some of or all of the problem. Some people respond well to ultrasound (with the wrist underwater) which decreases inflammation and may be tried a few times to see if it helps.
Nerve conduction tests can also confirm if there is that specific problem, if I remember correctly.
Hey Klutzo, good to see you again. I do have some ???s for you as I am picking up more patients with lyme from a large Amish population in some parts of OH. Gotta run now though as I have some commitments and one is taking my two girls to Barnes and Noble. Posted by Greatcod (Member # 7002) on :
I think the general term is peripheral neuropathy. My four fingers on each hand and part of my palm go numb. I was tested, and diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Vey common is Lymies.
Posted by Lymen (Member # 6882) on :
Vitamin B6 100 mg per day should help or fix the problem. Give it a few weeks try guys.
Posted by bejoy (Member # 11129) on :
If you take B6, make sure to take it along with a B complex. B6 is great, but by itself long-term can actually cause nerve damage.
I used to get numbness in my hands and arms, due to neck tension and disc problems.
Craniosacral Therapy solved the problem, and kept me functioning until I got my lyme diagnosis and treatment. I highly recommend it.
Posted by Lymen (Member # 6882) on :
bejoy, Could you resist the temptation of distorting the meaning of my post?
B6 is a vitamin and can be taken alone.
Problems with nervous system may appear if somebody takes too much of it.
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