Numbness??????

Updated on September 26, 2006
A.L. asks from Mesa, AZ
31 answers

Hello, I have been waking up at night with my arms asleep and i was wondering if anyone else has had this problem, also through out the day i notice my fingertips going numb....has anyone else experienced this??????? i dont know if this is a pregnancy side effect or should i see a doctor?

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K.L.

answers from Phoenix on

hi A.,
Same thing happend to me...I read that it is normal in pregnancy. Mine went away after having my baby. I would try massaging out the numbness..it helped for me!
good luck,
K.

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I.A.

answers from El Paso on

Hi A.. I went through it with my 2 pregnancies and still have it and was told that it would probably not go away. I got tested and it is carpel tunnel. I was told while I was pregnant that once I gave birth it would go away. I found out that some women continue to have the side effect after pregnacy. This is one of many things that can result from the changes in the body due to pregnancy. I used the braces and it helped tremendously.

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R.B.

answers from Amarillo on

Hi A.

I went through the same. I can't remember when it started but it was around 2 or 3 months close to my due date and it happens after having the baby. It will eventually go away. But I did have it with my 2nd pregnancy and 3rd. My baby is 5 months now and I'm doing ok. (I think its the circulation.)

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S.T.

answers from Phoenix on

Hey A.,

Another thing it could be is Tendinitis, you can always go in and check it out if it gets too painful. It could also be the way that the baby is laying and could be pinching certain nerves. I am not sure what trimester you are in but if you are in your third an exercise you can try is getting on all fours and while laying on your forearms with your bum in the air stay there for like 20 min and see if the baby gets a chance to get in another position. Good Luck!

Happy birthing!
S. Tuke CD, CCBE

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B.

answers from Denver on

Hi A. -- I am also currently pregnant due in December, and although I have never experienced numbness -- I have a friend due in October whos hands were numb when she would wake up through out her pregnancy. Her doctor told her it was a pretty normal pregnancy thing, and unfortunately you just have to wait it out. hope this helps!

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C.

answers from Denver on

You probably have carpal tunnel syndrome. This happens to quite a few people when they are pregnant. Some say it is due to the weight gain. I wore hand braces when I went to sleep and it helped alot. (You can buy them at Walmart) For most people, it goes away after you have the baby and loose some of the weight. Unfortunately for me it stayed with me. Good Luck

C.

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F.W.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hi i am about 24 weeks pregnant myself and i have the same problem. It is always good to consult a doctor but being pregnant changes your blood flow and you will loose circulation at times. It can also be caused by dehydration. If you arent drinking anough water numbness can set in. Like i said you should always ask your doctor though.because dehydration is very dangerous when you are expecting.

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K.D.

answers from Denver on

Hi A. - It looks like you've already gotten quite a few people saying there's a good chance it's carpal tunnel. I had carpal tunnel even before getting pregnant. The thing that worked the best was yoga, it stretched and strengthened my wrists. I would wake up crying every night, after about a month of yoga it started going away, along with the numbness during the day. Of course you shouldn't start any new exercise without consulting your doctor but yoga is usually easy on your body. There are many yoga programs for expecting moms so they won't do any poses that are too strenuous. Hope this helps and that it goes away after you have the baby

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P.W.

answers from Fort Collins on

This may well be an effect of pregnancy, With all the changes occuring in your body--increased blood volume, hormone changes, structural shifts, etc--there may be some nerves being pinched. I would go see a prenatal massage therapist and possibly a chiropractor--you may have great results.
P.
Certified Massage Therapist

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A.W.

answers from Phoenix on

I just read about this in the book "What to expect when you're Expecting" or as I call it the great big book of everything pregnant. They say that numbness and tingling in your extremeties is normal it's caused by the swelling of arteries. I guess during pregnancy there isn't anything that doesn't swell. I would still mention to your ob at your next appointment but I don't think you should be concerned. I personally have had a lot of tingling in my fingertips.

Good luck and congrats,
A.

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M.M.

answers from Denver on

I had this during pregnancy with my first and really bad afterward while nursing. I did not have it during my second pregnancy but have had it postpartum. It's not as bad this time and it's mostly just in one wrist. With the first it was in my shoulder and numbness in my last two fingers on one hand, as well as the carpal tunnel in my wrist. Good news it subsided after I stopped nursing and after the hormone craziness in my body died down. You might also mention it to your doc, though, just in case.

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L.

answers from Phoenix on

I would have a doctor check it out. Might be pregnancy related, but also sounds like carpel tunnel. I would get checked.

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T.F.

answers from Tucson on

I too had the same problem in my pregnancy. It was due to carpal tunnel as other responses have pointed out. If your doctor tells you it is carpal tunnel, I found that sleeping with my hand splints on helped me a great deal.

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L.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi A.;

I had the same problem with both of my pregnancy's and was told it is a side effect.

Hope this helps! Best wishes on the remainder of your pregnancy!

L.

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J.P.

answers from Phoenix on

I had the same thing with baby #2. It was carpal tunnel (even though I don't work on the computer). My doc told me to try the hand splints that you can get at the drug store. I couldn't b/c my hands were SO swollen that even the largest size wouldn't fit but my friend wore them and said they helped a lot. Good thing is it goes away right after you have the baby.
Good luck,
J.

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A.R.

answers from Albuquerque on

A.,
I too had this while I was pregnant and was told by my doctor that it was pregnancy related carpal tunnel. It did go away about two weeks or so after I had the baby. It is no fun though, it would wake me up in the night with the numbness and pain. Pregnancy is h*** o* our bodies but it will get better!

A.

J.L.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hello A.,

I had the same problem with my 3 pregnancies - is due to carpel tunnel. I suggest to limit your salt intake and increase your water intake. I also suggest you talk to your doctor about it so that he may order any extra test that might be needed to make sure is not something else. Good luck and let me know the outcome.

J.

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P.

answers from Denver on

A.,
I had the same problem with my first pregnancy. Mine came on really bad about 2-3 months before I delivered. For some reason it was just my right arm/hand. It is a side effect of being pregnant. When your breasts start swelling as well as everything else, it puts pressure on your nerves in your chest and down your arms to your hands. Don't worry, it will go away in time. My hand and fingers tingled and hurt so badly sometimes I wanted to cry. It didn't get 100% better until I stopped breastfeeding.
You may just want to let your Dr know about it to see if they have any remedies. Mine didn't.

Good luck and congrats on baby boy #2.

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L.B.

answers from Tucson on

Hi A.,
When I was pregnant with my son last year, I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists from the swelling. It was the worst when I woke up in the morning, both of my arms were numb, the palms of my hands turned red, and my fingertips were numb and uncomfortable, so it kind of sounds like you have the same thing. There's not much a doctor can do for it, I found sleeping with those wrist braces helped a little bit but really I got no full relief until my son was born. Hope this was helpful!

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G.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hi A., This has happened to me with all three of my pregnancys...If you go to Walmart or Walgreens and buy a wrist brace and wear it at night, they wont go numb at night or duing the day..(you wont have to wear it during the day, just at night) I'm not sure what causes it, but I feel for you, it is hard enough to sleep pregnant, then to have your hand go numb...Try it, believe me it works. ( you might even be able to get one free from your Dr.)

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K.

answers from Denver on

Hi A.,
It sounds like you are having carpal tunnel syndrome of pregnancy.
I experienced the same thing with my first pregnancy. It started at the beginning of my 2nd trimester. I'd wake up w/severely numb hands, fingers and part of my arms. It got progressively worse. It would go numb and hurt sometimes just using my arms to brush my teeth/hair, wash dishes or even drive. It was very irritating. I tried wearing braces at night on both hands as my dr. suggested. This helped a little bit for a while. Finally at 25 weeks I started seeing an orthopedic dr. and got steriod injections into my wrists about every 4 weeks, through the remainder of my pregnancy. These injections hurt, and usually made the numbness worse for the first day, but after that they REALLY helped. The dr. thought my carpal tunnel was severe and that I might need surgery after I delivered. It took a couple of months, but it all completely went away without further intervention. I am now 33 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. I've had slight numbness at night, but other than that everything has been fine.
Anyway, hope that helps!

Good luck,
K.

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N.R.

answers from Tucson on

IT'S CALLED CARPO-TUNNEL...

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T.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi A.! I was worried when I was pregnant with my son about this too. My fingertips always got numb especially at night. I don't know why they did that but they stopped a few weeks after I had him. So I am pretty sure it is normal.

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D.

answers from Phoenix on

It is more than likely a pregancy thing. My friend arms fell asleep all the time and her toes were asleep also. She always tried to get the babay to move tho the other side and then she would get some relief.

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A.L.

answers from Denver on

I am also experiencing this. I think it is because I have enough swelling that I don't have as good of circulation as normal. If you're really concerned, just call you OB's office and ask to talk to one of the nurses.

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C.F.

answers from Phoenix on

hey A.,

sounds like a classic case of carpal tunnel or thorasic outlet syndrom.

i myself have carpal tunnel and i used to worked at a physical therapy clinic (rehab arizona). yes, you should see your doctor. you should have them refer you to therapy, it will work wonders. i saw john at rehab arizona, he is a hand specialist and he helped me a lot! he can give you braces to wear at night, that helped me sleep through the night.

good luck!
C.

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A.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi A., I too have had the same thing you have during pregnancy. Both my pregnancies i would wake up with severe numbnesss and pain so bad i'd cry. I finally wen tto work and asked one of the surgeons i worked with what to do and he said it was due to carpal tunnel syndrom and recommened me getting so wrist splints and that did help but there were still some times it would come back. I still get that same pain every so often and i'm not pregnant now. It will go away after all your swelling and fluid retention goes away. See whats happening is you are gaining weight and fluid and causing the tissue around you ligamnets in your arm to swell and all the pressure and swelling inturn it hurts like heck!!!!!

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A.J.

answers from Killeen on

i would suggest only sleeping on your left side, NEVER your back! the weight of the baby can put pressure on an important arterie (sp?) while you sleep on your back. sleeping on your right side can do this as well. the best thing is to sleep on your left side with a body pillow or a pregnancy pillow. hope this helps!

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L.R.

answers from Albuquerque on

I had the same issue during my third trimester. My doctor related it to carpel tunnel. You should still see your doctor so that they are aware of this as a side effect.
I found that sleeping with my arms above my head helped ease the numbness (not real comfortable at first)

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N.B.

answers from Phoenix on

I had this problem, too. I am a professional cake decorator and the only other times this happens to me is durring our busy seasons when I decorate more than usual. When I was pregnant, it started happening frequently around 7 months. I could not get my arms to wake up and I did end up crying because it hurt so bad that I could not sleep. In the morning when I went to work, I could not even squeeze the pastry bags because of the pain, but it got better throughout the day. I asked my doc and my lamaze instructor and they both told me there was nothing to do about it, but it would go away after delivery. Comforting, I know, but it did go away. Next time, I will have my myopractor work on it. (Myopractors work on muscles instead of bones like chiropractors) I'm sure it was carpal tunnel related, but I had it in both arms, worse in my right, but I don't use my left as much at work, like computer people do.

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L.K.

answers from Denver on

A.,
It sounds like Carpal Tunnel. I got it when I was pregnant the first time, and have traces of it now (I'm pregnanct again w/ my second) although it isn't as bad. I went to Walgreens and got a couple of wrist braces that really seemed to help with the numbness. I also ended up going to PT to try to help the circulation. Unfortunately, pregnancy does bring little side effects that can't be helped too much. I would talk to your doctor, but in the meantime try getting the braces, it helped me. I purchased the Futuro brand and they were developed to help carpal tunnel.

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