Very Mild Carpal Tunnel Symptoms?

I’m 23 years old and recently I’ve been experiencing symptoms of Carpal tunnel syndrome. My hand minus the pinky goes numb and it seems to stem in particular from the large muscle at the base of the thumb. Doing Carpal tunnel exercises like making a fist and bending it in, then extending my fingers and bending it out helps.

The numbness is very mild, there is no actual pain, but sometimes it does seem slightly hard to control my hand. It only happens every now and then and for the most part I don’t even notice. When I wake up in the morning it’s worse but goes away soon.

I think that something happened due to my doing a large amount of work in my backyard that involved a lot of deconstruction, so use of axes, sledgehammers, and saws. I think that the slamming actions of the axe and sledgehammer handles hitting my right hand/the impact onto my wrist has caused these problems.

Every website I’ve read suggests that carpal tunnel is something you’re stuck with and you just have to do exercises to keep it under control. I don’t understand how that can be the case if it’s 100% mechanical, since it involves a pinching of the median nerve that can be permanently fixed by a simple surgery. In addition, prior to this I’ve never had any of this numbness of these problems. So obviously before my wrist was in good condition/position, and now the nerve is being pinched by something, either it got moved or the tendons are swollen or whatever. So shouldn’t I be able to do something to return it to how it was before?

I use the computer quite a lot during the day but as I said, I’ve never had these problems before. I’ve stopped working in the yard as well. I also lift weights on a regular basis which I’ve stopped due to this pain as well. I have been lifting weights for years without ever having this problem, so I would really prefer not to have to stop this for long.

My intention is to stop for a week or so and see if the symptoms go away. If this is due to swelling of the tendons in the wrist putting pressure on my median nerve then this should solve the situation I would think; I don’t understand how I could be stuck with this for life when it’s purely mechanical and not a “disease” and is also something I never had before now.

Any suggestions or what? Thanks.

Does this seem like good pain management ‘doctoring’?

I’ve had radiating chronic pain for two years, and after I had some tests done, it turned out I had carpal tunnel (I used to work on the computer 10 hours a day). I also had MRI’s taken that showed maybe some spinal ‘spurs’. This being my first contact with doctors other than the usual family doc, here’s what happened regarding a pain management specialist.

1. Went to see a pain management doctor (a recommended one), & brought along my MRIs.
2. The doc walked into the examining room where I was sitting, said, ‘Just saw your MRI’s. I expected to see a crippled person when I opened the door. You look normal.’ (Wow, great bedside manner).
3. Then he said, ‘There’s nothing I can do for you, but you can try this electrical nerve stimulation device. The salesperson is right here,’ then walked out (huh?). Salesperson walked in. Showed me how the thing worked, said I could use it while watching TV (I don’t watch TV), and it would have the same effect as aerobic exercise without having to exercise and reduce pain via raising brain chemical levels – i.e., serotonin. (I said, ‘I but I do aerobics.’) He laughed, and said the treatment was free of charge because it was still ‘experimental’. I said, OK.
4. Went home, tried the thing out. Felt OK. Maybe helped the pain, maybe didn’t.
5. Went back to same pain managment doc for follow up. He rushes into examining room. Asks how the electrical stimulation thing is doing. I said, “I think it might be helping, but it could just be a placebo effect.’ He said very quickly, “Placebo effect is fine. Placebo effect is fine. Keep using it.” Rushed out and disappeared. Luckily my insurance paid (even though it seems that was one easy way to make money).

End of my adventure with the pain management specialist. (BTW, he’s Prez of my State’s Pain Management Association. Is this a good example of a pain management consultation or was this guy overworked, stressed out, on crack, an idiot, or all the above?)

Need an exercise for really fat arms?

Over past 10 years of working in office, I have kept weight down on most of my body with walking and dieting but my arms are huge, mostly because I cannot weight train due to carpal tunnel and tendonitis. My dr suggests swimming, but I cannot afford gym membership right now, I need exercise that I can do they won’t be lifting too much weight(no more than 2lbs each arm) and I can only do for a few minutes at a time or the pain from tendonitis is too much.

undiagnosed, and untreated thyroid disease symptoms?

My mom, her two sisters, her mom, her sisters kids (my cousins) all have some sort of thyroid disease, it’s only the youngest and newest addition girls in the family that have not yet been diagnosed with some form of thyroid disease. I started loosing hair and feeling gravely depressed when I was 11. When I was 11 I also started my period, my very first one was very painful, made me sick, it was very heavy and I clotted for the first few days. My periods were like this and lasted for two weeks before finally giving me a break. My mom took me to the doctors for my hair loss, I had blood tests done (I can’t even remember what they were) but when they came back my doctor told me my iron was a little low, but that‘s all that showed on the results. He said my depression and stress was probably what was contributing to my hair loss.

I’m 23 now, and haven’t been to the doctors since then, except for an occasional physical for employment.

My symptoms have increased since then, and only now have I realized that they are symptoms of thyroid disease. My symptoms include,
I’m tired most of the time
I have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, or falling back asleep when I’ve woken in the middle of the night.
I get occasional ringing in my right ear
I have dry bumpy and/or scaly skin on my arms, parts of my back, my neck, sides of my thighs and on my buttocks.
I am depressed
I have a terrible time concentrating or staying on topic, as well as memory problems.
I am overweight and am having a really hard time gaining the bodily and emotional energy it requires to exercise
my toes are 80 percent of the time cold
I sweat 24/7 but only in my underarms, private areas and under my breasts
I used to have an increased menstrual flow, but now I’ve been so light, I can only see very little pink on toilet paper when I wipe, and some months I go without a period which is a huge change from how my periods used to be. But whether they’re light or heavy, I get terrible cramps in my ovarian area.
I am extremely irritable, and my emotions are all over the place one second happy the other sad…
I feel anxious and nervous, and can never stand still for long
my hands shake for a couple days after any sort of exercise
I have had panic attacks and nervous breakdowns
I have frequent bowel movements, which are usually loose
my appetite is outrageous
my blood pressure always used to be low, but with a fast heart rate, now its high with an even higher heart rate
i get to where i feel that i hate myself at least a few times a month, and its taking a terrible toll and making my depression worse
i get light headed and i get dizzy every time i use the elevator at work
i have very little desire to do anything but lay in bed
i have a puffy face, although i am overweight, but i lost a good deal of weight once before and even then my face stayed puffy
im snoring more lately
I have developed carpal-tunnel syndrome
Things that I have going on with me, that I’m not sure have anything to do with thyroid diseases are my butt cheeks stay cold all the time, even if I’ve been laying in bed for hours on them, my knuckles and toes have been bothering me, my breasts are swollen and tender no matter what time of the month it is, ive developed a cough that wont go away, my inner right ear itches and swells, goes away and then itches and swells again, my inner right ear tends to hurt sometimes too…. and i’ve read that a loss in sex drive or no sex drive can come from hypo, but i have an increased sex drive, like want it all the time, could that be a symptom too?

but so basically ive been all kinds of jacked up, and my symptoms keep piling, but i never thought about thyroid until recently when my memory has been foggy. I’ve been trying to conceive and with my missing periods and sore breasts I was searching to see if a foggy brain was a symptom too, and then i came across thyroid symptoms. and now that ive had them laid out in front of me i realize how bad ive felt, well i guess i always new, but i put it in the back of my mind, and just lived with it all, but im getting too depressed, too forgetful, and i only ever sleep well with a sleep aide, and its all becoming too frustrating, and too much to live with.

I get insurance with my new employer this month and will be going to the doctors, but what im wondering until then is, if ive had these symptoms for so long, and it turns out i do have some form of thyroid disease, what sort of things could of by now gone wrong with my thyroid gland, or other parts of my body by now. I mean…. I’ve gone undiagnosed and untreated for so long, what could this mean for me? any one know from experience?

Hypothyroidism… Am I crazy? Or convince the doctor?!?

Since around age 17-18 I have begun experiences very profound changes in my body; the most noticeable of which being weight gain and decreased sex drive. I think what tipped me off to something being “wrong” was that I just don’t feel right over all, I’m convinced something is the matter and that I’m not depressed without cause or getting fat from over-eating. I have researched many medical conditions and many of my symptoms keep coming back to Hypothyroidism…

I have gone for blood tests from the walk-in clinic which found nothing to indicate hypothyroidism- I went to the walk-in because my family doctor more or less thinks I’m nuts… Now, I know for most people a negative result is a negative result… But I have researched more thoroughly and found that blood tests often miss Hypothyroidism because while the blood might be A-Okay, on a cellular level things still aren’t working out.

MY REAL QUESTION: How do I convince my doctor to allow more tests? He thinks I’m nuts already- but I’m convinced this is the problem and he’s just not looking for obscure options because he doesn’t think there is anything wrong. It’s my body, and I KNOW there is something wrong! It might not be Hypothyroidism (I’m not a doctor, after all!) but this is to me the most likely culprit for ALL of the symptoms I’ve been having.

I do also live in Canada, so the “It’s your health and your money” adage doesn’t really apply- sure it’s my tax dollars… But my Doctor is a crunchy old Jewish man who practises in a Mennonite town where sex doesn’t happen before age thirty and condoms happen to other people.

EXTRA:

These are some of the symptoms I have complained about over the last 4+ years, and are continuing… (Taken from a Hypothyroidism check-list)

X I am gaining weight inappropriately
X I’m unable to lose weight with diet/exercise (NOTE: Some weight, but not what is expected)
_____ I am constipated, sometimes severely
_____ I have hypothermia/low body temperature (I feel cold when others feel hot, I need extra sweaters, etc.)
X I feel fatigued, exhausted
X Feeling run down, sluggish, lethargic
_____ My hair is coarse and dry, breaking, brittle, falling out
My skin is coarse, dry, scaly, and thick
_____ I have a hoarse or gravely voice
_____ I have puffiness and swelling around the eyes and face
X I have pains, aches in joints, hands and feet
_____ I have developed carpal-tunnel syndrome, or it’s getting worse
_____ I am having irregular menstrual cycles (longer, or heavier, or more frequent)
_____ I am having trouble conceiving a baby
X I feel depressed
X I feel restless
X My moods change easily
X I have feelings of worthlessness
X I have difficulty concentrating
X My hair is falling out
X I have more feelings of sadness
X I seem to be losing interest in normal daily activities
X I’m more forgetful lately
X I can’t seem to remember things
X I have no sex drive
_____ I am getting more frequent infections
_____ I’m snoring more
_____ I have/may have sleep apnea
_____ I feel shortness of breath and tightness in the chest
X I feel the need to yawn to get oxygen
X My eyes feel gritty and dry
X My eyes feel sensitive to light
X My eyes get jumpy/tics in eyes
_____ I feel dizzy or have vertigo
X I have regular headaches
X I have strange feelings in neck or throat
X I have tinnitus (ringing in ears)
_____ I get recurrent sinus infections
_____ I have vertigo
X I feel some lightheadedness
_____ I have severe menstrual cramps