Is this really carpal tunnel?

[Nate_F]

I have been having some symptoms that dont seem to add up. 
- I have been getting numbness and tingling in my hands and fingers, especially my pinky and ring fingers. 

- I have been getting extremely intense pain in my arms, from the top of my deltoid to about the middle of my forearms. 

-i have restricted mobility of my hands, I cannot squeeze hard or I get an electric jolt in the hand. It is also difficult to raise my arms. 

-these symptoms are in BOTH arms, not just one. They are fairly equal in pain, and the pain usually fires up to its worst when i use the arms, ir quickly grab a rail when I trip, or evengrab my dofs collar. 

*most importantly yeah, my neurologist dr said carpal tunnel, but it doesnt really make sense with some of the other symptoms im having. Specifically, my ring and pinky being numb and tingling constantly (my understanding is carpal tunnel is numbness in thumb, pointer, and middle finfers), as well as intense pain on the outside of my forearm (i believe carpal tunnel should only cause pain on the inside of forearm, where for me, it as not as intense on the inner forearm)i So, i have been to 3 drs,all of them have said different things. But i have had 4 ruptured discs in my lumbar spine for 5 years, and sciatica, and this arm pain trumps that back pain, no question. 
** 
** last thing, sorry for the novel, i had an mri and the ER doc said he didnt see anything, but that he thinks its thoracic outlet, but mri was only cervical so we dont know for sure. I had the test with needles in the nerves and electric pulses sent through them, my neutologist didnt say much about the results, other than severe carpal tunnel in the right hand and moderate in the left. 

** i told my neurologist my mom has 4 autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, and that she has fibromyalgia. His response was the statistical probability was 1-20 have carpal tunnel and 1-2300 have rheumatoid arthritis, so its more likely its carpal tunnel. He never once looked at or touched my hands or arms. 

Im 26, male, weigh 215lbs and am 6ft tall. I have had chronic migraines since 1st grade. Also, my sciatica seems to be a little worse since these symptoms started. 

Medications i currently take are gabapentin for the sciatica and migraines, adderall, zomig (zomitriptan) as needed for migraine.

Any help would be amazing, I am a loan and investment officer for a credit union, i type all day but cannot type much withoutbreaks, i am just desperate for anything to help, and I DO NOTwant to follow my neurologists recommendation of surgery for carpal unless I know for sure that is the problem. Thanks!

[mkh9]

Well, I am sorry you have this problem. I have suffered with a work injury and got tendonitis and can't do my job either. I was on workman's comp and then lost my job. I won the law suit but they only give you 6,000 for both hands and also surgery if you want it. It is nothing for the lost of a profession. I was nerve conductivity negative so they said it "probably" wasn't carpal tunnel but if you are positive. Then it most likely is. The test varies from tester to tester so you could have it repeated. soaking your hands in ice water like if you have two sinks fill one up with cold water and put some ice in that side and then warm water in the other. Start with the cold water for 30 second then go to the warm 30 seconds go back and forth for 5 minutes always end in cold. You can get the swelling down. But you have to change your posture and stop typing or what ever aggravates it for a while. wearing a brace doesn't help except if you wear a brace on each arm very very very loosely at night this helps with you not getting numbness at night or sleeping on the arms. Other than that physical therapy. But, I have heard a lot of people get help from the surgery but the recovery takes a while and you have to modify taking lots of small breaks once you get back to work or whatever you do. i didn't have surgery either but it has taken years for me to get better. I just stop anytime I get any tingling,pain, etc. I don't wait for numbness. It is a hard decision. I still feel that I have lost my careers (as a microbiologist and also in biotech). it is tough. So, I'm not sure what the best answer for you is. But there is a book called Dr. Pascarelli's Complete Guide to Repetitive Strain Injury:What you need to know about RSI and Carpal Tunnel by:Emil Pascarelli  M.D.
regards,
mkh9