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Numbness in hand

suckmedry

suckmedry

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
73
I know none of you can actually diagnose what is wrong with my hand, but I was just wondering what you all thought before I go and get it checked out..

For about a year now, I have had a numbness in my left hand, although its only on the side where my ring and pinky fingers are.

I have had some suspicion that it had something to do with my past use of DXM. Is it possible that DXM could have caused some sort of nerve damage? When I used it I would only dose between 300 to 400 milligrams, which is merely a second plateau dose for me. I did do this pretty often though, at most 3-4 times a week. I still occasionally use DXM.

Its just been something thats been on my mind for a while and I am just wondering if this could be the cause of the problem, I haven't found much of anything on the topic and I am well aware that it could be a number of other things, but I thought I would ask.

Thanks for any help you can provide :)
 
The fact that it is ring finger (I bet it feels like half the ring finger) and pinky isolates it to being an ulnar nerve problem. I doubt DXM is causal. I think something is pushing on or compressing the ulnar nerve somewhere.

Does it come and go or is it constant? A doctor can likely rule out some causes and get you to someone who can help. Usually repetitive stress stuff is the other nerve having numbness in the other fingers but is this worsened typing or other repetitive motions? I'd get seen by a Doctor when you can. If it was toxicity to nerves from a drug I wouldn't expect such an isolated presentation.

Sometimes, not with DXM but some other drugs, localized nerve damage can occur indirectly from being passed for a long period in an unchanging position.

I know my suggesting this might get provoke some ire from some folks but after a consultation with a D.O. or M.D I wouldn't rule out seeing a chiropractor or massage therapist.

Homeless------------------------------->Healthy Living
 
I'm not a doctor at the moment (hehe) but It's possible that you pinched a nerve in the past and that nerve never fully recovered. Also, its possible that some sort of drug use could have caused it... Pharma drugs such as Lyrica (Preg), or Neurontin (Gaba) both are prescribed for nerve pain but it's known in in the medical literature that these drugs have caused nerve problems in patients before, its rare of course but it has been noted.

Get it checked out.
 
Get it checked out and if the doctor really has no clue, get your vitamin B12 levels checked--If you eat a pretty standard diet, you shouldn't have an issue. But if your diet is different (vegetarian, vegan, etc), you could be deficient in B12 which can cause creeping paralysis. Not to scare you.

Keep us updated. This isn't something I would let go if it persists.
 
Thanks for all the responses, I am definitely going to bring it up to the doctor the week during my check-up. Although, I am by no means a vegetarian, but I wouldn't say I have a healthy diet either. Im not sure what has caused this numbness, but hopefully the doctor can shed some light on what exactly is wrong with my hand. :)

I hope whatever it is can be fixed, it sure is a real pain when having to do certain things, especially since I can no longer play guitar because of this handicap. But I guess only time will tell. Fuck, its been about a year since I have started having this problem, I just thought it would just sort of go away. Hopefully the Doc can fix me up
 
you may have repetitive motion stress. this is a common symptom. it may have nothing to do with drug use, or perhaps it does. depends on how aware of your own body tension you are. how long are you on a computer, and does it go more numb when you use one?

i actually inadvertently embarked on a career in the martial arts because of RMS. i got it from 10+ hour programming sessions with way too much caffeine in my system, making me really tense all the time. plus when i weightlifted, i was really internally tense too. it crushed the area surrounding my nerves in my forarms, and my hands would tingle and sometimes it hurt really bad. my doctor and therapist said i should take up boxing to toughen up the nerves in my hand (in addition to teaching me tons of preventative measures) so i started conditioning my hands. i decided to take it to another level and study martial arts, and now i have swiss army knife style weapons for hands. also learning to meditate has helped me control the amount of tension in various parts of my body, and i can breathe pain around nerves away.

anyway go see a doctor and ask about repetitive motion stress. tons of people have it without realizing it. ignoring it while your young can result in tons of surgeries and steroids when youre older.
 
is this numbness a constant type of thing, in regards to 'intensity'? if there's any variations, when/why?
/i have something similar, only mine comes on pretty rarely, is extremely mild, and affects both hands (less of a 'numbness' than 'tingling'). tons of tests later, the best that could be determined was pinched nerve (can't recall which), and they essentially told me they could try to fix it, but there'd be a chance it wouldn't fix or would get worse if they did :|
 
is this numbness a constant type of thing, in regards to 'intensity'? if there's any variations, when/why?
/i have something similar, only mine comes on pretty rarely, is extremely mild, and affects both hands (less of a 'numbness' than 'tingling'). tons of tests later, the best that could be determined was pinched nerve (can't recall which), and they essentially told me they could try to fix it, but there'd be a chance it wouldn't fix or would get worse if they did :|
 
Does the area of numberness follow the distribution here:

http://www.massagetoday.com/content/images/lowe02_1581_1_1_699.jpg

yellow area = the area supplied by the Ulnar Nerve. In particular, note the fact that it innervates half of the ring finger! (do you have half of your ring finger feeling as normal, the other half numb?)

Also does it get worse e.g. when arm bent for a while or when leaning on a desk for a while with your elbow? If so, that does suggest ulnar nerve entrapment. Or is it permanent?
 
Yeah the ulnar nerve squeezes through a tight named hole and then splits into 2 branches one up one down and one controls numbness and the other strength. Happened to me back when I used to ride with flat handle bars on my hybrid bike after about 75km but now I've got a trekking (butterfly bar) on it and it is easy to adjust and stay loose.

If it is related to your DXM usage it is likely you are sleeping without moving (knocked the fuck out) and your hand got caught in an awkward position.
 
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