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Enlarged Ulnar Nerve, Pain In Hands When Sleeping
About 9 months ago I started experiencing being woken with pain in my left hand and/or elbow, depending on the night. I have been to a sports doctor, my family physician and a physical therapist; all seemingly to bring no real answers.
The sports medicine doctor did an ultra-sound, found my ulnar nerve ranges between the elbow and wrist from 14 -18 which he indicated is larger then what is considered high for an enlarged nerve of 12. My neck, elbow and wrist have received ultra-sound treatments with no change. The sports medicine doctor checked both B6 and B12 levels. B12 was normal, B6 was slightly elevated. When I was there for the blood draw he stated to me it would not do any good to do a localized treatment until cause of the enlarged nerve was found and treated. After the results of the B test he now is suggesting a carpal injection.
Prior to seeing the sports medicine doctor the attempted treatment by his assistant was steroids and pain pills. Steroid dosage for 5 days showed no change and I stopped taking the pain meds before I ran out as they were not getting me any more sleep then I would get without them.
I can sleep between 4.5 and 5.5 hours before pain kicks in strong enough to wake me. Once I get out of bed and move around between 5-15 minutes, pain gone often returning as between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours. Eventually I wake too often and just decide to get up.
I personally don't think the carpal injection is a treatment to do currently since the enlarged ulnar nerve has not yet been diagnosed for cause or treated to reduce the inflammation.
I am lost, what direction do I go to resolve this? What could be causing it?
When the ultra-sound revealed an enlarged ulnar nerve, especially since in places it is 1.5 times larger then what he said is considered enlarged; he never checked the right arm to see if the same problem was occurring there, nor did he check the size of the ulnar nerve between the shoulder and elbow. Wouldn't finding this size of nerve cause anyone to look deeper and see if it is occurring in both arms and the full length of the nerve?
I have not injured my arm in any location, so injury is out of the possibility of what is causing my issue. I do not have problems during waking hours other then an occasional tingling, occasional I mean maybe, once a week tops and it happens at various times doing various activities so nothing there indicates a pattern. The physical therapist was not able to do anything to cause my symptoms to show up.
Any input here would be greatly appreciated.
The sports medicine doctor did an ultra-sound, found my ulnar nerve ranges between the elbow and wrist from 14 -18 which he indicated is larger then what is considered high for an enlarged nerve of 12. My neck, elbow and wrist have received ultra-sound treatments with no change. The sports medicine doctor checked both B6 and B12 levels. B12 was normal, B6 was slightly elevated. When I was there for the blood draw he stated to me it would not do any good to do a localized treatment until cause of the enlarged nerve was found and treated. After the results of the B test he now is suggesting a carpal injection.
Prior to seeing the sports medicine doctor the attempted treatment by his assistant was steroids and pain pills. Steroid dosage for 5 days showed no change and I stopped taking the pain meds before I ran out as they were not getting me any more sleep then I would get without them.
I can sleep between 4.5 and 5.5 hours before pain kicks in strong enough to wake me. Once I get out of bed and move around between 5-15 minutes, pain gone often returning as between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours. Eventually I wake too often and just decide to get up.
I personally don't think the carpal injection is a treatment to do currently since the enlarged ulnar nerve has not yet been diagnosed for cause or treated to reduce the inflammation.
I am lost, what direction do I go to resolve this? What could be causing it?
When the ultra-sound revealed an enlarged ulnar nerve, especially since in places it is 1.5 times larger then what he said is considered enlarged; he never checked the right arm to see if the same problem was occurring there, nor did he check the size of the ulnar nerve between the shoulder and elbow. Wouldn't finding this size of nerve cause anyone to look deeper and see if it is occurring in both arms and the full length of the nerve?
I have not injured my arm in any location, so injury is out of the possibility of what is causing my issue. I do not have problems during waking hours other then an occasional tingling, occasional I mean maybe, once a week tops and it happens at various times doing various activities so nothing there indicates a pattern. The physical therapist was not able to do anything to cause my symptoms to show up.
Any input here would be greatly appreciated.
Best Answer
I do not feel you input is silly at all.
Unfortunately doctors have given no answer and I still put up with it today. For me though it is beyond tingling becomes outright pain waking me up.
Unfortunately doctors have given no answer and I still put up with it today. For me though it is beyond tingling becomes outright pain waking me up.
Aallord,
I also have ulnar nerve thickening and it sometimes disrupts my sleep as well. I think this has been developing over years since my childhood.
To sleep well, I need to find a position were my elbows are not too much contracted and my arm is not too much elevated, otherwise my smaller finger will tingle so much it will wake me up. I also feel tinglings in the legs while sitting in the same position with legs crossed, and this also disrupts my sleep sometimes. When I wake up, sometimes my foot will hurt when I step, like in mild tingles. My symptoms are not severe but seem to be getting worse over time. I don´t think I can reduce nerve size, but probably I can prevent further thickening.
I´m searching for vitamin/mineral deficiencies in my family, kids and myself, and conditions like Pyrrole Disorder, following the Nutrient Power book, and I think this may have some relation to my nerves, but I don´t have evidence or test results yet.
A larger bed is helpful, in my case. I know this sounds like a silly input, but you said "Any input here would be greatly appreciated". 8-)
I also have ulnar nerve thickening and it sometimes disrupts my sleep as well. I think this has been developing over years since my childhood.
To sleep well, I need to find a position were my elbows are not too much contracted and my arm is not too much elevated, otherwise my smaller finger will tingle so much it will wake me up. I also feel tinglings in the legs while sitting in the same position with legs crossed, and this also disrupts my sleep sometimes. When I wake up, sometimes my foot will hurt when I step, like in mild tingles. My symptoms are not severe but seem to be getting worse over time. I don´t think I can reduce nerve size, but probably I can prevent further thickening.
I´m searching for vitamin/mineral deficiencies in my family, kids and myself, and conditions like Pyrrole Disorder, following the Nutrient Power book, and I think this may have some relation to my nerves, but I don´t have evidence or test results yet.
A larger bed is helpful, in my case. I know this sounds like a silly input, but you said "Any input here would be greatly appreciated". 8-)
Aallord,
I also have ulnar nerve thickening and it sometimes disrupts my sleep as well. I think this has been developing over years since my childhood.
To sleep well, I need to find a position were my elbows are not too much contracted and my arm is not too much elevated, otherwise my smaller finger will tingle so much it will wake me up. I also feel tinglings in the legs while sitting in the same position with legs crossed, and this also disrupts my sleep sometimes. When I wake up, sometimes my foot will hurt when I step, like in mild tingles. My symptoms are not severe but seem to be getting worse over time. I don´t think I can reduce nerve size, but probably I can prevent further thickening.
I´m searching for vitamin/mineral deficiencies in my family, kids and myself, and conditions like Pyrrole Disorder, following the Nutrient Power book, and I think this may have some relation to my nerves, but I don´t have evidence or test results yet.
A larger bed is helpful, in my case. I know this sounds like a silly input, but you said "Any input here would be greatly appreciated". 8-)
I also have ulnar nerve thickening and it sometimes disrupts my sleep as well. I think this has been developing over years since my childhood.
To sleep well, I need to find a position were my elbows are not too much contracted and my arm is not too much elevated, otherwise my smaller finger will tingle so much it will wake me up. I also feel tinglings in the legs while sitting in the same position with legs crossed, and this also disrupts my sleep sometimes. When I wake up, sometimes my foot will hurt when I step, like in mild tingles. My symptoms are not severe but seem to be getting worse over time. I don´t think I can reduce nerve size, but probably I can prevent further thickening.
I´m searching for vitamin/mineral deficiencies in my family, kids and myself, and conditions like Pyrrole Disorder, following the Nutrient Power book, and I think this may have some relation to my nerves, but I don´t have evidence or test results yet.
A larger bed is helpful, in my case. I know this sounds like a silly input, but you said "Any input here would be greatly appreciated". 8-)
Thank you for your response. I greatly appreciate it.
Unfortunately I do question the quality of medical care in the area I currently am living. This is not the first time a doctor has decided on a course of treatment that even I could not come to the logic behind the decision. As another example, I have had a primary care physician claim a diagnosis of COPD from a single x-ray when diagnosing phenomena. Where I also have been diagnosed with environmental allergies having a tested result of 1600 with normal considered <10 in dust and dust mites. After examination by my ENT yesterday the sinuses were so swollen he had difficulty inserting his scope in my right nostril...
Just used as an example... As I know there are additional tests to confirm a diagnosis of COPD such as an o2 blood test, breathing tests and then typically the x-ray to confirm those results....
Again, thank you for your response. I truly appreciate it.
Unfortunately I do question the quality of medical care in the area I currently am living. This is not the first time a doctor has decided on a course of treatment that even I could not come to the logic behind the decision. As another example, I have had a primary care physician claim a diagnosis of COPD from a single x-ray when diagnosing phenomena. Where I also have been diagnosed with environmental allergies having a tested result of 1600 with normal considered <10 in dust and dust mites. After examination by my ENT yesterday the sinuses were so swollen he had difficulty inserting his scope in my right nostril...
Just used as an example... As I know there are additional tests to confirm a diagnosis of COPD such as an o2 blood test, breathing tests and then typically the x-ray to confirm those results....
Again, thank you for your response. I truly appreciate it.
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I am sorry to hear about your medical problems. Yes, you are right. If a part of the nerve was found to be enlarged, the nerve of the other hand should also be checked. Nerve thickening is seen in leprosy, hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, Refsum's disease, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, localized hypertrophic neuropathy, neurofibromas, type 1, von Recklinghausen’s disease (neurofibromatosis). Please discuss with your doctor. Take care!
The medical advice given should not be considered a substitute for medical care provided by a doctor who can examine you. The advice may not be completely correct for you as the doctor cannot examine you and does not know your complete medical history. Hence this reply to your post should only be considered as a guiding line and you must consult your doctor at the earliest for your medical problem.