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pins needles an numbness in my fingers

deb74
deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
at the end of last year i started to have pins and needles in my fingers and they kept going numb. i went to the drs and had a blood test. i was told their was nothing wrong. i put up with it until april when it got worse and my hands started shaking which is very annoying. in the meantime i had changed drs. i was given another blood test and had an xray, the dr thought it was arthritis as i couldn't straighten my fingers and i already have arthritis in my spine and legs. the results came back and i didn't have arthritis in my hands. again i left i finally decided to go back to the dr last week as i am now having lots of pain in my shoulders and arms.finally i have got the answer! i was born with scoliosis as well spina bifida. it turns out my spine is slowly starting to get worse and it is putting pressure on my neck which is causing all the pins and needles and numbness. i have got to go to the hospital for more tests and xrays to see how bad it has got. i am not sure if they will be able to do anything because they have xrayed my spine before and won't operate as they have told me i will walk into the hospital and come out in a wheelchair. 
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Comments

  • anni3369
    anni3369 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
    I just saw your post- am just going out- I hope to text you later 
  • debbiedo49
    debbiedo49 Community member Posts: 2,904 Disability Gamechanger
    It could also be something else so good luck and hope you get your answers. I get those symptoms and it comes under fibromyalgia for me. Let us know how you get on.
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi debbiedo49. i will let you know what happens. i am going for an xray on thursday and then i have got a blood test and some tests at the hospital but hopefully by the end of october i should know something
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Hi Deb74, Just been told mine is a trapped nerve in the cervical bone in my neck. I also have pins and needles in my hands, such pain in my right shoulder (mistaken for a frozen shoulder originally) and I have also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Like you I was backwards and forwards to the drs, had an xray and a scan, one dr even said he didnt have a clue why my arm was so painful. It was a clinical nurse at my drs that just said to me one day 'has anyone ever xrayed your neck' and after 12 months I finally had an answer! Hope you are ok
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. the pain is in my left shoulder and my hands also keep going numb as well as having pins and needles and my hands keep saking all this is driving me mad !!! i had an operation on my right shoulder last year and it has only just healed so i have been in a lot of pain with that. i have got me which i have had for 4 years which has eased quite a lot thank goodness
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    My arm had a life of its own at one stage and of course each time it jerked it caused me a kot of pain. I do think half the battle is having a diagmosis
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hopefully i will know what is going on soon. the shaking is really annoying as i am a craft worker and i can't do a lot if i have got the shakes.
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    I was diagnosed as having a none essential tremor about five years ago which apparently gets worse as time goes on or gets bad when anxious or nervous. Mu Dad had the same which strangely enough back then they diagnosed a trapped nerve in the side of his head. It used to drive him mad. Mine means I cannot safely make a brew, cook or anything that needs doing :/ Its very frustrating though had to laugh when my brother said the other week I would do well as a cocktail shaker :) If you didnt laugh you would cry so laughter is certainly the way forward. I hope you get your answers soon.
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. you are definatley right about laughing. i know what you mean about making a brew. a few years ago i sprained my wrist and ever since i have had problems with the bone jumping in and out and that makes my wrist shake.i sometimes wear wrist splints because of my me as i have weak wrists this does make the shaking a bit easier to cope with.
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    morning susielockett. it looks like it will be another day doing nothing! my fingers are locked i can only straighten my little fingers and my thumbs. my fingers are very painful and tingling like mad and my hands have started shaking,
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Morning Deb74,

    I find doing very small bits of exercising with them helps keep them moving (even thought it hurts) I just flex my wrists, arms, fingers, very small amount of my shoulder, though I cannot rotate it and my ankles. It just keeps them a little more mobile in the long run and it also makes me feel a little better in myself too.... and of course you can do it where you are sat.

    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. my fingers did unlock eventually, i kept trying to staighten my fingers but they would not move. eventually they did straighten a bit but they are still curled over a bit and my hands keep shaking. i do make a fist and straighten my fingers out as much as i can and i do the excersise my physio gave me.
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Hi again Deb74, I have to use my left hand sometimes to move my right because it wont move on its own and of course its painful. I am still waiting to see physio before seeing the orthopedic doctor but have been put on the waiting list. This is what annoys me when you are trying to claim for ESA or PIP, you are on a waiting list for your appointments so cannot always give them the proof they need.
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. the physio exercises were to help with my shoulder after my operation but i still do them. as for pip and esa my esa was stopped just before christmas but i am on pip and it is not being reviewed till 2021so i don't have to worry about that and as for medical evidence they have got a lot of evidence of my disabilities.
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Nice to hear Deb74, they thought mine was a frozen shoulder and sent me to physio. In the meantime I had a cortisone injection and then they tried cream all to no avail. They then sent me for an xray which showed no bursitis so sent me for a scan, again nothing there hahaha it all takes time as you know. It was 'guessed' after a lot of hassle (back xray and hip xray) that I may have fibromyalgia. In the meantime I had an assessment for PIP (I had already won my appeal for ESA) but the assessor lied surprise surprise and said I was seen to be moving arms and legs etc etc as normal. I only got the diagnosis for the fibromyalgia and the trapped nerves also osteo arthritis in my neck AFTER I had the assessment done. I have my appeal date next Thursday for the PIP and have sent all my medical stuff in so fingers crossed the evidence will show she could not have possibly seen me doing what she said I had. Oh she also said I was smoking and was seen to flick ash in an ashtray with my left hand! I dont smoke and havent done for seven years or more but again its in my medical history when I gave up smoking. I offered her my medical papers on the day and she refused to look at them!
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. my pip assesor was brilliant put when i had my esa assessment in november i was told as long as i could lift one arm above my head i was weel enough to go back to work. i lifted my left arm above my head but my right arm that i had the oeration on would only lift level with my elbow like my dad said how was i supposed to work when i couldn't lift my arm properly. i sent a mandatory reconsideration but it was turned down and i had to go on the dole.i decided to come off the dole in may and have been waiting since then to get tax credits but i have been turmed down for them and have had to put in a mandatory reconcideration for that now. thank goodness i get pip but it is only standard so i am struggling at the moment. fingers crossed they let me have my tax credits because i can't possibly work for someone else when i am like this. i am wearing my straps as i am writing this because i cant't use my hands properly! 
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Oh deb74 :( why didnt you appeal? a lot are turned down at a mandatory consideration but a lot then go on to win an appeal. My appeal for ESA was looked at by the judge on the morning it should have gone to court and they overturned it in my favour and they put me on enhanced rate ESA and he also stated not to be reassessed too, lovely person :) It was back dated for me too which was a bonus. This one for PIP is more about lies that have been told (though yes the money would come in handy as I too struggle) but I cannot bear lies and unfairness! I worked for seven years in the disability sector and helped people similar to you and me never thinking I would end up where I am.
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susuielockett. i got the cab involved but got nowhere. when went on the dole i was getting money anyway.as for not thinking abot would ending up where you are i was born with several disabilities which have got worse as i have got older.
  • susielockett
    susielockett Community member Posts: 53 Courageous
    Its so wrong isnt it? I was a lead support worker working with people with mental/physical disabilities and was also learning to fill all forms in for PIP and ESA. I wish I had known then what I know now I think I would have done some things slightly differently. I used to advise people where to go etc. I also went to the CAB and have been dealing with someone right from the beginning. He wont be at court, my sister is going to be with me but I also found this site helps too. I do think you have to be a strong person to follow things through to the end and to be honest after the stuff I dealt with getting my ESA I wasnt going to appeal my PIP but shear anger has taken me through it! I just feel so much for people in the same position that have no one to support them. I have also got my M.P. involved and they are following my case.
    susielockett
  • deb74
    deb74 Community member Posts: 814 Pioneering
    hi susielockett. i was talking to a friend of mine who has got oestoporosis he was turned down for pip but appealed it and he told me they have now decided to give it to him.

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