Is there anything I can take to stop this from happening again??

Im awaiting diagnosis at the moment…a week before Christmas just gone my right arm went numb from the elbow down. It felt very cold and pins and needly and as though I had slept funny on it. The day before Christmas Eve I ended up in A&E in the most severe pain I’ve ever had (bar giving birth and this was a close second) all through it, from the shoulder through to my finger tips. After a week on Amytyptaline and Gabapeptin the pain finally eased and I was able to function properly again.

Im really freeking out now as in the past hour the numbness and ache has come back from nowhere, more around more elbow joint but this time from my shoulder somewhat as well. I can also feel it starting in my left arm but more mild than the right. I’m terrified this is going to result in that pain again… is there anything I can take to stop this from happening? My Doctor has said only this morning that my neurologist told me to take Amytryptaline every day and I have got a prescription to start tonight, would that help? Im so scared of going through that pain again!!

hi daisy

take both the meds you have been given, they are both for neuropathic pain.

make sure you tell your neuro next time you see him/her.

you could ask your gp if there is anything else you could try.

carole x

Hi Daisy

Were you tired and/or too hot when the symptoms showed up?

I find that if I get too hot/tired the intensity of my symptoms increases - yesterday afternoon/evening I had raging/burning/ pins and needles from the fingertips of my left hand up my arm, through the shoulder, down the spine and up into the left hand side of my neck/face along with tinnitus that had cranked up the volume. All because I walked way too quickly to and from the shops at lunchtime, and the office got really warm in the afternoon.

An icepack on the back of my neck (on and off) for around 3 hours got it under control - If I hadn’t got tired/hot I would have been ok.

I’ve been on gabapentin and amitriptyline for over a year now - no side effects to speak of really, just a bit of a dry mouth from gabapentin. Taking the amitriptyline has sorted out the pain I used to be in at night - I take it at around 6 pm (give or a take a bit), I don’t feel drowsy with it now but I go to sleep very quickly once I’m in bed and don’t usually wake up until the alarm goes off, which is great.

Hope things settle down for you quickly.