Hello my name is dine and I am taking Humira, on my fourth injection tomorrow.
But I am suffering dreadfully with pains in my hands and numbness.
I did hve the numbness before I was diagnosed , after being diagnosed I was given hand shields with a metal line down the Center.
The did not wok either , if there is anyone who can help or suffers the same thing, let me know
Kr Diane
Morning Diane, I put some thoughts on your comment wall yesterday evening but seeing your mention of hand/wrist splints reminds me of a couple of other things. I suffer with numbness in my outer fingers caused by entrapment of the ulnar nerve in my elbows (cubital tunnel syndrome), this happens whenever my elbows remain bent for more than the shortest time. Entrapment in the wrists (carpel tunnel syndrome) can cause more extensive numbness. Both are helped enormously by splinting, especially at night as this tends to be when this is the worst. I've also been doing some physio exercises to try and help. Unfortunately inflammation in our joints contributes to this sort of problem. Surgery is the ultimate treatment but even this doesn't guarantee complete improvement.
So what does your doctor say is going on?
Do you have/do any physiotherapy or exercising? Have you tried acupuncture, this is something else I've found helpful sometimes.
Other than the Humira what else are you taking at the moment? Tell us so we can then think about other things that may have helped us that we can tell you about.
Hi Diane, sorry to hear about your painful hands. My hands bothered me a lot before I started taking Enbrel last July--the puffiness and stiffness, and fingertips feeling as if they were being smashed. Idk how much Humira you take, but for starters I took 2 Enbrel injections per week (for 3 months) and it started helping very quickly. I think some people take 1 dose of Humira per week instead of the usual once every other week. But, I think a dermatologist needs to prescribe that--not a rheumatologist--don't ask me why.
I had severe pain in my thumb joints at the base of my thumbs. I got braces for them to immobolize--any slight movement of my thumb would cause immediate acute stabbing pain. It caused those joints to enlarge--after which time, the pain almost completely went away. You can try icing them or applying heat, but maybe you'll be lucky like me and the pain will mysteriously go away.
Hot and cold compresses work. If your adventurist try oil of cannibus. I had the same thing happened to me! Humira didn’t work for me.
I have constantly struggled with my hands. Numbness isn't a Stranger either. Anti-inflammatory drugs have helped and icing my elbows to help reduce the inflammtion. Once the Humira kicks in, you should have quite a bit of relief. It will help reduce the swelling/ inflammation that is causing the numbness, and the pain should, at the very least, improve. Remember to try to be patient because it can take some time for improvement to show.
Wishing you luck.