4/30/20: Still Managing Numb and Tingly Fingers

The baseline condition of my hands is that they are always very mildy numb and tingly. They always feel worse in the morning, more puffy and tight, and I have to open and close my fingers repeatedly to loosen them up. I also usually wake up with my arms feeling tight on the insides of my elbows (specifically, in that space between my elbow and biceps), and in my underarms, so I have to extend my arms and straighten them out, which also helps my fingers to feel better. My hands are especially sensitive to temperature now, and holding a cold drink or a hot dish makes my fingers feel super tingly.

Yesterday and today, I had a couple worrisome mornings. I woke up suddenly and my hands were VERY numb and tingly, to the point that it felt like something was squeezing some of my fingers so tightly that it hurt, like my circulation was being cut off. Yesterday it was both hands, but today it was just my right hand. Yesterday it was my middle, ring, and pinky fingers that felt squeezed. Today it was my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. Both mornings this happened before I was ready to get up, so I was still so tired, I didn't want to get out of bed, but I sat upright and extended my arms and moved my fingers, trying to get my hands back to baseline. 

The feeling gradually wore off in about half an hour to an hour. Getting out of bed, walking around, and doing nerve glides definitely helped, but it was so hard to bring myself to do those things when I felt so tired, not ready to start the day.

Of course I've been brainstorming possible explanations for this new problem. I'm still walking, drinking lots of water, and doing nerve glides, but I will admit that I have recently been slacking off on my physical therapy stretches. I need to make a point to get back to doing them every day. 

Something similar, but to a much lesser extent, actually happened a couple weeks ago; I woke up one day with my right hand feeling noticeably more numb and tingly than baseline. That time, I wore my wrist brace the next night, and it helped. So, I'll try that again, too.

For the record, my hands continue to be puffy, my left more so than my right. It's hard to know for sure, but I still figure the root problem is water retention from Lupron (not exemestane, because all of this started before I started taking exemestane) causing my nerves to be pinched. I'm a little worried that it might be lymphedema, but I remember my physical therapist saying that lymphedema tends to get worse as the day goes on, and my symptoms always get better over the course of each day. I will definitely ask my physical therapist about it at my next appointment, once I can get that scheduled.