Carpel tunnel syndrome

[gebs]

I thought I was having a relatively easy ride until about 25 weeks. 30 weeks tomorrow and I've got pregnancy eczema (looks like hives on my bump, have been tested for bile acids), piles, heartburn all the time and carpel tunnel in my hands and wrists! Carpel tunnel being the worst of them all, I went to my gp on Friday who was pretty blasé and told me to buy some ibuprofen gel and his comment when leaving was 'at least you don't have too long to go!' Helpful. Has anyone got suggestions that helped them with carpel tunnel? I work in an office job, typing isn't bad, it'll catch me off guard when I do something like put fuel in the car. Third trimester is not fun.

Hopeful bump for the evening crowd 🙏

I have had it since about 25 weeks too. I mentioned it to the midwife who has referred me for physiotherapy. Is ibuprofen gel safe? I’ve been taking paracetamol... Midwife said that wrist splints might help too.

My midwife said there was nothing you could do! She even said she'd had it herself whilst pregnant. I read about the splints which was why I went to the gp, I also questioned the ibuprofen gel as I thought it wasn't safe either but he read through a huge text book type thing and said it was fine. I tried it last night and didn't really feel any different, going to give it one more go tonight then I won't bother if it doesn't help me sleep...

Thats a bit annoying from the midwife - maybe it’s worth trying her again, and asking directly if she can refer you to physio? I also found some suggested exercises on babycentre. And interesting that the doc thought ibuprofen gel was ok - I might try it!

Er they shouldn’t dismiss it. I’m not a medical professional but I had this during late pregnancy and it carried on post birth. My wrists were so weak and would suddenly “go” I was worried I’d drop the baby. GP referred me for tests (some kind of electro pulse tests), confirmed it was particularly extreme in one wrist and I had an operation which though a ballache with a child (hand left in a kind of boxing glove bandage, I had to call in my mum for a few days to help) made it (post a two week recovery window) so much better. Please persevere with the GP and see if you can ask for tests to be set up. Having the baby won’t necessarily make it go away. There are injections you can have in the site ... not sure if compatible with pregnancy and/or breastfeeding. Incidentally my surgeon said if I stopped breastfeeding the carpal tunnel would go away but a breastfeeding specialist called bollocks who knows. I wasn’t about to stop breastfeeding my child to find out, and the op was straightforward enough.

Push it again with GP or midwife. I had it with both pregnancies, was absolute misery, honestly my worst pregnancy symptom. By the end of my pregnancies I couldn't hold a pen to write more than a word or two.

It never went and I used to weep with pain doing up the buttons on the babies' onesies. Eventually got referred for surgery, they were aghast at how bad it was and said I could have had cortisone injections whilst pregnant if only the GP had taken my seriously .. ..

Sorry for you pp who had it so terribly you needed surgery!

I had it for the last few weeks of pregnancy and the most helpful thing was a £10 wrist splint from amazon. It didn't go completely but was much more manageable.

The pain/buzzing/numbness went completely by 4 weeks postpartum.

Hope you manage to feel better soon OP - it was rubbish and stopped me from sleeping.

I feel your pain. I had this, it was the worst part of my pregnancy. It actually got worse after I gave birth but it had progressed onto something called De Quervain's tenosynovitis. It was pretty painful and my wrist would kind of click. I went to my doctor and got a private referral for it but in the end it cleared up on its own. At about 5 months pp.

I'd keep pushing your midwife and get physio. My consultants just said it would go after I gave birth but it wasn't the right thing to do and it was very painful picking up the baby etc with a locking wrist.

The wrist splints that you can buy in pharmacies did really help. I wore them every night in bed.

I think I will look at getting some splints next off amazon, I really hate going to the gp and making a fuss but felt I was really fobbed off last week. Wouldn't even prescribe pile cream, just recommended a brand to buy! It's not the money side, I just want to feel a bit more human/myself...

Oh no OP, pregnancy piles have hit too? Well aren’t you getting all the fun sides of being pregnant good luck with the splints and fwiw anusol cream, not the ointment, is the absolute bomb, and get some witch hazel wipes too, for post poo

I had it with all my pregnancies. It was so bad in my last pregnancy it was affecting my sleep so gp gave me a steroid injection. Haven't had it since

@Popskipiekin I know! I thought I had it easy until a few weeks ago 😂 had a relatively easy first trimester too! Now I'm just falling to bits.

If it gets worse I will go back to the gp and see if I can speak to a more sympathetic one!

I had it in my last pregnancy, I found sleeping with my palms spread under my pillow really helped.
And then getting your hands under a warm tap/ shower when you wake up.
It’s awful!