Dead, numb hands waking me up

[BrendaSouleyman]

Hello, I am eight months post-partum today. About two and a half months ago, I started having numb, "dead" hands which affect me espeically in the morning and wake me up in the night. I also feel a tingling sensation when gripping, clenching or zipping something - not all the time, but quite often in the morning and during the day. And especially at night, the hands go completely dead and heavy and wake me up. It's depressing, when sleep is so precious with am eight-month old baby, i wake up and he's sleeping, and there am I, in agony.
As I said,it started about mid-July and it coincided with the dosage of my anti-depressant, Mirtazapine, being upped rom 15mg to 30mg. I mentioned this to my doctor who as surprised because it is not a known side effect of Mirtazapine at all. He suggested I drop back down to 15mg, particularly as I wasn't feeling much anti-depressant benefit from the medication anyway, but dropping down to 15mg has had no effect on the hand pain. The only other tablets I take daily are magnesium glycine and a Vitabiotics Well woman breast-feeding supplement. I also take several painkillers (Ibuprofen or Paracetamol) daily because of this joint pain. I had a blood test for rheumatoid arthritis which came back as normal.
I'd be really grateful for any thoughtsor advice. Thank you.

How much vitamin B6 is in your supplements? I discovered i was overdosing on it accidentally and the symptoms you describe stopped when I stopped taking them. They put Vit B6 in alot of supplements as an add on.

Are you sleeping on them? I have started to get this and tend to sleep with my hands curled/clenched underneath me. I wake a few times in the night and have to consciously unfurl them and lay them flat. It’s very annoying.
I don’t know if it is causing carpel tunnel syndrome as sometimes my hands are painful all day.

Might be worth looking at Carpal tunnel syndrome. Always much worse at night. Or Radiculopathy.

Could be carpal tunnel. You can buy wrist splints to wear at night - they really help.

Thsnk you @bilbodog and @1009998979695A Do you know what causes carpal tunnel? Can it be got rid of completely? I'll have a look at the wrist splints.

I am not sleeping on my hands @PammieDooveOrangeJoof

Sounds like carpel tunnel syndrome to me as well. Get your Dr to do a few easy tests and perhaps a referral to check.

I have just had my first carpel tunnel release op, have to have both hands done. Numbness and tingling of a night having to shake my hands out to get them moving again, I have had this for around 4 years. Tried the splints at first to sleep in but it gradually got worse.

I felt an instant relief on my wrist when it was done and have not had any tingling or numbness since (8 days ago).

Plenty of info online, especially NHS

I got this and realised I was sleeping with my hand and wrist curled under me in an awkward position.

Carpal tunnel syndrome. It can be a repetitive strain injury. I had to get surgery on both hands/wrists (one at a time). It's a nerve that runs up the palm of your hand that gets trapped. The little finger isn't affected it has a different nerve.

You describe, exactly what my dp suffers. He wakes me up in the night/morning shaking his hands to get some feeling back. He has carpal tunnel in one hand and arthiritus in the other. He has seen a hand dr and been given naproxen injections. For the first 6 weeks this worked, meant to last 3 months but he is due to see her again next week for a review.
Hope you get some help as it's really horrible x

Also check your b12 level because b12 deficiency can cause numbness and tingling in extremities. I used to wake up every day with numb hands before I was diagnosed.

It's carpal tunnel, common after pregnancy. I have/had it too. What helped me was sleeping with arms (elbows and wrists) as straight as possible, with rounded shoulders. The reason being that my nerves were getting trapped at night at these turning points, straightening them realoved the issue. So I lie on my side, round my shoulders (don't lie directly on your shoulder) and have my arms straight in front of me.

I've used AI to show the position I mean.

Also do some stretches at home to untrap your nerves - google/YouTube this and do that routine a few times a day.

Hope that helps.

Yes as others say it says like carpal tunnel syndrome. I saw my GP, was referred for nerve conduction testing and had the op all within three months. It was instant relief and has totally cured it. My other hand is starting to bother me a little bit now and I won’t hesitate to have surgery again if it gets worse.

Others have given good advice but just to add, my worst symptom of menopause was stiff, painful fingers. I'd wake up with them. It was really quite painful. Started at age 41. I started HRT (was having other symptoms too) and haven't had it since.

@BrendaSouleyman

ive read it can happen in pregnancy - my daughter had it - and doesnt any more. Mine came on in my 60s and the splints have helped a lot - if i drive for any distance it feels worse so i take my splints with me in the car.

my left hand has been worse so i got a steroid injection into the wrist which worked well but only for about 6 months so have had a second.

dont know how many injections im allowed before surgery will be offered.

hopefully yours will disappear once youve had the baby.

https://www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/media/914517/Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome-Leaflet.pdf

Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by repetitive actions, maybe holding a device for long periods of time etc.
I had my right hand operated on, I was allowed to watch the operation but obviously you don’t have to. Didn’t feel a thing! 🤷‍♀️

Carpal tunnel syndrome for sure.

Pregnancy can cause carpal tunnel

I am SO glad it is not actually dead hands waking you up!!
Agree with carpal tunnel. I used to sleep with my hands in these Velcro splint things

That's a very useful image, even for people who also have thumbs 😆😆😆

Many thanks for all your replies.

@bilbodog I am eight months post-partum.

@1009998979695A I don't hold a device for a long period (other than my phone, but I have been holding that at length for more than fifteen years!). That said, I do pick up my baby very often because he doesn't walk yet and he weighs about 9kg/20lb.

I wash and dry my hands very thoroughly, obviously multiple times a day (nails, knuckles, with the rigour of what I imagine a surgeon would during Covid!!), in very warm water. My mother has noticed this and says she thinks I'm too strenuous in my washing and drying and that that's what might be causing it.

@Surelynotpeter Thanks for taking the time to wrote all that down and finding an image to illustrate it. I co-sleep with my baby at night and it's sometimes hard to sleep in a certain position- it all revolves around where my baby is, physically, in the bed.

Sounds like Carpal tunnel syndrome, this is common in pregnancy. Often settles post partum without intervention.
Whilst pregnant try splints overnight-make sure the bar is straight.

Google nhs nerve gliding exercises for it.

Gp can refer to hand therapy. Nerve conduction test is not needed presently.

Source: i am a clinical specialist in the nhs :)

Sounda like carpal tunnel OP. I had this months and months after birth and remember thinking ugh what fresh hell is this? Had a splint for a few weeks and it eventually just went away. Hope it's better soon xx

@NeverKnowWhat Some people not reading my posts?! I have said multiple times that I am eight months post-partum! It only started two and a half months ago so it only started post-pregnancy and clearly hasn't resolved itself post-pregnancy.

I know everyone is saying Carpal Tunnel, but I also get this when my ferratin is low, which is also common after pregnancy. Easily checked (with a blood test) and treated.