Wierd Temporary Paralysis

Oriel

Firstly, I know that this is not a medical board, I and NOT seeking advice here, I'm just seeking similar experiences/stories, or things to put my mind at ease.

Okay so:
I went sleep on Saturday night as usual, woke up on Sunday morning and I couldn't move my left hand. I can close my fist very weakly, but that's all. There is no pain at all, just a slight tingling sensation, it's kind cold too - definately colder that my right hand.

I went to the doctor (A&E), who said it was strange because of the fact that there was no pain, he wanted me to come back in this morning to go to an Occupational Therapist, but I had to go back down to Dublin for work, so I couldn't (I was at home in Antrim for the weekend).
As it happens, my sister is an OT, so I'm going to ask her what's the best thing to do, later today. My mum is a nurse, she said that she thinks the best thing for me to do is to try to exercise it as much as possible but I'm thinking that resting it is the better thing to do to prevent further damage.

Unfortunately, I'm left handed
I'm thinking it's probably carpal tunnel symdrome.

Has anybody heard of something as strange as this happening before?

I'm going on holiday in two weeks and kinda wouldn't mind it being gone before then.

Oh, and before the jokes start, I don't use that hand for 'you know what'

Cheers,
Sinecure.

Havelock

Sleep Paralysis, I get it in my legs some times. I wake up an they are all tense but not sore, can't move them, like they are paralysised or rebling, no idea why. Never had it in the hands, usually fades by end of day for me. But once had it for 3 days in the left leg.

yossarin

I sometimes fall asleep on my arms, and then wake up and can't use them at all untill the blood flows back into them.

freaked me out the first time

Oriel

That's what I thought this was too, but it's still here the next day! I'm now following the "wrist drop" line of enquirey...

...no homosexual innuendo intended.

MoosemaN

It is nothing to do with your blood, if you wouldnt have blood in your hand it would die off directly..

It has to do with nerves beeing trapped because of a strange sleeping position etc..

Redshift

This happened to a friend of mine one night after he got really drunk and spent the whole night lying heavily on his arm. He had not much pain but his arm was pretty useless for a few weeks after that.
He recovered fully though I expect it will be the same for you.

BTW My Mum has Carpal Tunnel and that is a very painfull condition at times.

-ADREN-

I know there is some sort of strange thing where people wake up and cant move.. just completly paralized, its called like a 'blue dream' or something ah fec.k I cant remember it. However the thing with those people is that there whole body goes (usually) .. perhaps in your case its just effecting your arm.

The scientific reason for this 'sleep thing' is that when ure asleep ure brain relase's these endorphines (sp?) that enduce paralysis, that makes you sleep nice and comfortable. What happens to the people who suffer from this is that there brains relases to much of them, and when they wake up they are still in effect.

Hope this helps to some degree, at least on the 'did you know' front.

Regards,
-Coz.

dod

Jesus man go to a GP and have it checked out before you go on holiday. If it's something trivial, at least you'll be reassured, lest it be something a little more serious, or a warning of some more substantial difficulty, at least you can get it sorted out. Better than finding out when you collapse on holiday that, had you bothered to go to a doctor now, it could have been treated innocuously rather than having to pay for expensive emergency medical treatment abroad,

Number6

Someone was bound to do it. Seriously go to a doctor, there could be someting restricting the blood flow to your hand and you may have to get more tests done.

b3t4

Originally posted by Sinecure

I went to the doctor (A&E)

hmm what part of the above sentence did people not read??


A.

GuanYin

Sounds like you just had a dead arm due to restricting blood circulation. Did you have pins and needles at any stage? Certainly your arm could be limp in that case and will take a minute to recover. the arm will have no feeling and will feel like a dead limb. The sensation as it recovers would be a sort of unpleasent tingling (its due to an O2 absorption co-efficient and the nerves firing off in a reaction to the sudden change, but lets just say it tingles).

The alternative sleep paralysis is very unlikely. Simplified (and I do mean simplified) sleep paralysis occurs when a "switch" in your brain that basically stop you acting out your dreams, doesn't switch back on when you wake up. Its usually accompanied by difficulty breathing (like pressure on your chest) and disorientation. I have never heard of it only effecting an arm.

I don't think its carpel tunnel syndrome. It is usually accompanied by an intense burning sensation, not a cold one. There is also a computer related problem that is often mis-daignosed as CTS. basically in people who work at a poorly position keyboard and type in a certain way (non touch typing) certain muscles can be strained which causes a tingling sensation and sometimes numbness.

Crash

Originally posted by Havelock
Sleep Paralysis, I get it in my legs some times. I wake up an they are all tense but not sore, can't move them, like they are paralysised or rebling, no idea why. Never had it in the hands, usually fades by end of day for me. But once had it for 3 days in the left leg.

er thats not sleep paralysis. sleep paralysis is a period when you've semi-woken up, and your eyes are open, but your mind is still literally half asleep. can be quite scary. happens to me a lot. you can get the same thing when falling alseep i find.

tribble

I had somethiing similar - was on a train for 36 hours with my arms on the table. Was a metal ridge around the table top - woke up the next day on the train and my left hand had stopped working.
I could move it and clench my fist feebly but that was all.
Eventually the feeling came back over 4-5 weeks.

could be somethiig similar - incidentally my sis is an OT too

tribble

Oriel

Originally posted by tribble
I had somethiing similar - was on a train for 36 hours with my arms on the table. Was a metal ridge around the table top - woke up the next day on the train and my left hand had stopped working.
I could move it and clench my fist feebly but that was all.
Eventually the feeling came back over 4-5 weeks.

could be somethiig similar - incidentally my sis is an OT too

tribble

Thanks for the replies everybody, especially Tribble - finally somebody knows something 'certain' about it. The top of my left arm is a bit sore now, so I'm guessing that this is where I slept on it, or where something was pressing up against it. I'm not liking the 4/5 weeks bit though! But then I guess I was kinda expecting that...

It's just really wierd having to learn to eat again and stuff like that. The bad thing is - I'm left handed too

Where would we be without OT sisters, eh?

crang

i know it is a bit late posting this but i went to the doctor yesterday complaining of this sleep paralysis. It is vary scary. Usually happens when i am going to sleep. I get a rush to my head, shortness of breath and complete paralysis for about 20 or 30 seconds. the doctor has told me that it could be due to depression ( I don't feel depressed) or a condition known as acute panic attack syndrome. I got some blood test done so will have to wait for the results. Don't think it is anything to be to worried about though. Hope thats helped someone.

Canis Lupus

I fell asleep funny on my arm once and woke up with a cold hand on my face. I almost died of fright until I realised it was my own arm.

DadaKopf

I fell asleep on an EasyJet plane once and woke up with one half of my right hand nearly paralysed. First I felt pins and needles like I had deprived my arm of oxygen. But it didn't go away. Because half my arm and hand was paralysed, and moving my hand made my whole arm feel like I'd whacked my funnybone, I couldn't do the simplest of things.

Went to the doctor, he looked at the symptoms and reckoned that I'd stretched or bruised one of the major nerves in the arm that surfaces near the elbow and continues up into the shoulder. He prescribed time and it cleared up in a week or two.

Besprechen

tribble wrote:

I had somethiing similar - was on a train for 36 hours with my arms on the table. Was a metal ridge around the table top - woke up the next day on the train and my left hand had stopped working.

tribble

twasn't the dublin-sligo train service you were on by any chance?!?