« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...  (Read 1175 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« on: December 14, 2016, 08:11:14 PM »
I'm guessing it stems from when I was taking those SSRIs for my anxiety. One of the side effects was my arm going completely numb for a week. Now, if I fall asleep on my arm, it doesn't go away in five minutes like with a normal person. This goes on for hours. I've been awake for five hours and still unable to operate my right arm/hand normally. I'm lucky that I'm ambidextrous.
Logged

Offline King Postwhore

  • Couch Potato
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 59441
  • Gender: Male
  • Take that Beethoven, you deaf bastard!!
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2016, 08:13:27 PM »
Are you sure it's more than that?  Pressing on the nerve?  If it is the meds see you doc man and let him know asap!
Logged
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2016, 08:21:02 PM »
I stopped the meds but his never happened until I started taking them. I should get it checked out anyway. This shouldn't be lasting this long.
Logged

Offline pogoowner

  • Pancake Bunny
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2872
  • Gender: Male
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2016, 08:23:00 PM »
Interesting. I've been on SSRIs and never heard of anything like that as a possible side effect?
Logged

Offline King Postwhore

  • Couch Potato
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 59441
  • Gender: Male
  • Take that Beethoven, you deaf bastard!!
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2016, 08:23:11 PM »
Maybe it isn't the meds. Get it checked out you.
Logged
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2016, 08:28:02 PM »
I'll have to find a good doctor.
Logged

Offline Adami

  • Moderator of awesomeness
  • *
  • Posts: 36189
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2016, 08:30:11 PM »
That really doesn't sound like an SSRI side effect, unless your body reacted VERY strangely.
Logged
fanticide.bandcamp.com

Offline Hyperplex

  • Evelator
  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2016, 08:31:49 PM »
I've been taking SSRIs and SNRIs for years as well and never heard of any kind of neuropathy as a side effect. Definitely get it checked out. Coincidence doesn't necessarily mean causation.
Logged
"My melancholy wants to rest in the hiding places and abysses of perfection. This is why I need music." –Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2016, 08:33:43 PM »
The psychiatrist said he never heard of someone's arm going completely numb for a week from taking...I forgot the name of it. I was also taking lorazepam at the same time. Maybe a combination of the two caused this unique reaction?
Logged

Offline Hyperplex

  • Evelator
  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2016, 05:20:49 AM »
I take lorazepam as needed, in addition to the other meds. Never heard of that. The SSRIs etc work on the neurotransmitters in your synapses and lorazepam is an anxyolitic, basically a sedative. Highly doubt either would have an effect on your physical nerve endings. At least, not that I've ever heard of.
Logged
"My melancholy wants to rest in the hiding places and abysses of perfection. This is why I need music." –Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2016, 05:32:47 AM »
Lexapro. That's what the other one was called. The other side effects I had with those were typical according to the psychiatrist, but the arm numbness thing was an anomaly.
Logged

Offline Hyperplex

  • Evelator
  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2016, 05:37:10 AM »
Yep that's what I take.  Escitalopram is the generic name. I also take buproprion (brand name Wellbutrin). I really would talk to a neurologist or someone abiut it. I have a feeling it's unrelated.
Logged
"My melancholy wants to rest in the hiding places and abysses of perfection. This is why I need music." –Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline rumborak

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 26664
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2016, 05:38:57 AM »
Another, different explanation might be that muscle tension due to anxiety causes a pinched nerve. I get that occasionally. That said, running around with a numb arm is NOT good. Get yourself over to a doc.
Logged
"I liked when Myung looked like a women's figure skating champion."

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2016, 05:58:47 AM »
I'm going to find one today. This is not only physically irritating but also worrisome since it hasn't even begun to subside.
Logged

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2914
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2016, 07:17:22 AM »
Good luck PS. I've been having issues with my arm as well, though no outright numbness. For me I know it could be anxiety, could be something else. Got myself an ergonomic keyboard, a brace I wear at night, some hot/cold stuff, and a take frequent breaks for stretching and just to stop typing. Feeling a bit better every day.
Logged

Offline El Barto

  • Rascal Atheistic Pig
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 30681
  • Bad Craziness
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #15 on: December 15, 2016, 08:47:40 AM »
By "I'm going to find a doctor today" I hope you mean a neurologist. No point in adding an intermediary step.

Could very well just be that you slept on it wrong. I had a numbness/tingling thing with my left hand after the transplant because of the way they propped me up while I was bombed. Nerves are remarkably slow to heal. In ~6 months or so it was 85% better. Forty months later I've still got a slight numbness in my pinky, though I don't generally notice it.

The flipside is a blood flow issue. That's something that would probably concern me more.
Logged
Argument, the presentation of reasonable views, never makes headway against conviction, and conviction takes no part in argument because it knows.
E.F. Benson

Offline Hyperplex

  • Evelator
  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2016, 09:02:11 AM »
I am no doctor at all, but if you are feeling tingling/prickling in your arm and fingers while it is numb, it might be some kind of neuropathy. Could also be as simply as a pinched nerve that could heal on it's own, but it isn't something I would recommend just letting go. Definitely see a neurologist. Only a professional should diagnose it. And don't go on WebMD or whatever, unless you want to start unnecessarily fearing some exotic and horrible diagnosis.
Logged
"My melancholy wants to rest in the hiding places and abysses of perfection. This is why I need music." –Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline rumborak

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 26664
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2016, 12:16:37 PM »
Yeah, WebMD turns me into Lt. Barclay in a matter of minutes.
Logged
"I liked when Myung looked like a women's figure skating champion."

Offline Hyperplex

  • Evelator
  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #18 on: December 15, 2016, 12:31:43 PM »
Scary story that I can thankfully look back on now with relief....

When Eric was 4, he went in for his annual check-up. I wasn't with him, my wife and sister took him and Emily for joint check-ups. I get a text from my sister (who is notorious for longwinded oversharing of more information than needs to be conveyed, sending fucking novels when things could be condensed into two sentences) who says "something is weird with Eric's eye, it's reflecting white instead of red, like red eye. Doctor calls it leukochoria and is sending us to a specialist. He has a 3:30 appointment."

I'm not there, I know nothing of context, I know nothing of how serious or not serious this is. So, foolishly, to Google I went.

Apparently, leukochoria, or a white reflection off the retina, occurs most often in toddlers and young children, and do you know what leukochoria is a symptom of in 98% of presentations?

Retinoblastoma. Fucking cancer.

Do you know the treatment for said cancer?

Ablation of the affected eye. REMOVING THE FUCKING EYE.

I cannot a recall a time in my life when I felt more like I was going to vomit, shit, piss, cry, cough, choke, pass out, and scream all at the same time. I was at my desk at work. I looked at pictures of my "perfect little guy" thinking he was going to lose his eye, or worse. I was beyond scared shitless. I don't know how I made it through the rest of my work day.

Then I get the phone call from my sister after the specialist. Eric had a mild lazy eye, barely even detectable, and he would need patching and glasses (the patching has been done for over a year now). Oh there was never any worry or fear of cancer, it was completely innocuous, just an irregularity his pediatrician wanted checked out.

A little fucking context and me NOT going straight to the internet for information would have prevented me from losing probably 6 years off my life that afternoon. Fuck.


Sorry for the hijack...
Logged
"My melancholy wants to rest in the hiding places and abysses of perfection. This is why I need music." –Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline Prog Snob

  • DT.net Veteran
  • ****
  • Posts: 16727
  • Gender: Male
  • In the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone
Re: I think I have nerve damage in my arm...
« Reply #19 on: December 17, 2016, 11:16:28 AM »
No need to apologize. I'm the same with when it comes to my daughter and I worry about every last thing with her because of her condition.

Sorry, I haven't come here the last couple of days. I am still having the issues and unfortunately haven't been able to get to a doctor. Someone recommended their neurologist to me but it has to wait until next week.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »