Pain, numb stiff feeling in the hands and fingers.

[AliceLily]

Three weeks ago I started getting pain and stiffness in my left thumb and now it’s spreading and I’m going out of my mind with worry that it’s rheumatoid athritis. I’ve booked an appointment with the doc to get it investigated but I’m so worried about it. 47 years old, musician to the core. I’m
hoping its just another ME symptom that’ll come and go but the accompanying numbness is telling me it’s not neurological

@TheBassist I agree with what @alex3619 said. My experience also.

Let us know how you get on with your doctor visit - if you don't mind saying. Hope things improve for you.

 

[Trish]

I’ve booked an appointment with the doc to get it investigated but I’m so worried about it.

Best thing to do. None of us here can tell you whether your particular symptom is ME related, as we're all different and ME seems to produce so many symptoms that could be part of ME or could be something else. I hope your doctor takes it seriously and investigates properly. All the best.

 

[InitialConditions]

This was my primary disabling symptom, but over far more of my body than just my hands, for nearly twenty years. I found repetitive muscle use was a problem, but static muscle stress was actually far worse. I found pacing those activities was the only thing that really worked over the long term, but it took a long time to get real benefit, and about fifteen years before the pain started subsiding. Mind you this major improvement was after I became properly aware of pacing and did it more carefully, prior to that I drifted into pacing as it was the best solution, and I kept pushing till I needed to pace. No wonder I never had major improvement ... but proper pacing changed that for me.

During the early years I was mostly a mild patient, so the energy and fatigue issues were dwarfed by my pain. Later I got worse and energy and fatigue became much more important.

I suspect this is because of putting constant energy demands on those few muscles, overwhelming them, but not so much as to cause major general PEM. PEM requires the use of more muscle groups than that for me.

I can relate to this. I had years after my initial trigger but before ME onset where I knew I wasn't well. I would be in work and just unable to sit at the computer without pain in my shoulders for less than an hour. I had to keep getting up, I'd often go swimming midday to loosen up. It felt like this tension that just wouldn't leave, and it left me sore in my right shoulder which was my mouse hand.

I have other areas of my body - including down the outside of my right leg - where there are just persistent muscle problems. It's as iff my body just can't put them right.

 

[TheBassist]

Best thing to do. None of us here can tell you whether your particular symptom is ME related, as we're all different and ME seems to produce so many symptoms that could be part of ME or could be something else. I hope your doctor takes it seriously and investigates properly. All the best.

Soon know. I’ll report whatever the result is.