Hands Swelling In Morning

[melisadki]

Anyone have this as a symptom. I am back to square one with the diet but I notice when I wake up my hand...left one mostly swells so bad, it hurts and i cant move it. It takes about 10min to shake it so I can even squeeze it. Maybe something totally unrelated but I was just curious.

Thanks

[zakismom]

I had a similar thing with my hands before I was diagnosed. It was the last straw really. When I woke in the morning my hands would be swollen and cramped into a wierd postion. My husband would try to massage them back to shape but it didn't really help. I tried the chiropractor at that point which felt wonderful but didn't really help either. I was diagnosed a few weeks later and my hands improved within a week of being gluten free.

[melisadki]

OMG........thank you so much for the reply. DH swore I was sleeping on my hands but I said no because I lay with a pillow under my arm so it is above me..duh. This has got to be it then. Since I started back on gluten I have felt like sh*t and this is one of the many things to hit me again. Also the nerve in my leg goes numb....my doc said it was meralgia parasthethica (sp?) or something. I disagree though because i have lost weight it didnt go away. Then I went gluten-free and I noticed it didnt flare up as much but it didnt completly go away. Now it is back with a vengeance again. It must be similar to what is happening to my hand in the morning. Gluten attacks my nerves I guess?

[Canadian Karen]

I also have that, only in the right. It is especially tender around the thumb joint, even to touch it or push the thumb in even the slightest sends a knife like jab right through the hand up the arm..... It comes and goes for me....

Karen

[Rusla]

My hands would swell so bad that I could not bend my fingers or pick up the telephone. I had to use both hands to pick up the phone. It hadn't occured to me, until it was mentioned, but my hands have rarely swelled up in the morning since being gluten-free. I will wait and see what happens when the weather gets really cold.

[melisadki]

That is exactly how mine feel like I cant pick anything up......like they are puffy, sore, and frozen. I have to shake it off for about 10 minutes just to get feeling back in them. Mine did improve going gluten-free and then silly me went back to gluten.. Working on getting back on track.

[Silver-naki]

Oh... this is an interesting Post here!!! HANDS SWELLING UP? {gee,... & I only **thought** it happened to ME!!!}

Let me tell you a story here:

When I was in Junior High School, my Mom would always make us eat those "cheap" cereals in the mornings, like the "Wheaties" and most especially the "Shredded-Wheat!" At the time, I never thought much about it, but as I would be walking to School after breakfast, (especially after consuming the "Shredded-Wheat" cereal) my hands (both of them) would swell up like "balloons," mostly in the joints, and they would get so "fat, puffy, & sore," that I could NOT BEND THEM! It was like I was "crippled!"

To further the "misery," my "puffy" joints & fingers would "burn like fire," and within a few hours time, the swelling would start to go down. (always after I got to School!) Once the swelling would start to go out of my fingers, they would burn, just as if I had gotten "frost-bitten" and like when you try to thaw your hands out & warm them up.... (you all know the feeling!) After the swelling subsided, they would "itch" like crazy too. This was incredibly PAINFUL~

Topping it all off, not only would my HANDS swell up, but I would start to get this "rash" on the back of my legs, in which "itched" & "burned" like fire as well. This all occurred at the same time, after eating "Shredded Wheat" cereal!!! At the time, I never told anybody about this, because I just thought it was something WEIRD that was happening to my body, or that I got too "cold" while walking to School in the early mornings! This lasted for quite a few years, at a very severe stage too.... I had no clue what was happening, & figured I'd just "grow out of it."

It wasn't until I went "gluten-free," that all of these memories came back to me, and it {duh.} "dawned on me," that I was highly intolerant to WHEAT PRODUCTS!!!!!!! ---- > Yikes!! The "Shredded-Wheat Cereal!" I was actually having a severe allergic reaction to the wheat at the time!

I still suffer with the swelling of the "fingers" and the hands & also the "puffiness" in my ANKLES when I get "glutened." Of course, through the years, it's not been as bad as it was when I was a kid! I had never heard of this happening before, (except for to ME,) so I was very glad somebody else has Posted in regards to this!!! Like I say, I think what this is, ... is an "alergic reaction" of some sort, and of course, everybody is different, in what takes place in thier bodies & all.

When I get "glutened," the first place it attacks me, is on the "palms" of my hands, and I start itching & scratching like crazy, and it will spread to my fingers, and all the way throughout my body, on down to my toes...... this includes not only the itching, but the swelling as well~

I couldn't resiste sharing this Story with all of you, because I honestly thought I was the only one that suffered with the "swelling of the Hands!" I'm so glad you all have Posted.

[jnifred]

that was my first symptom 10+ years ago when I realized I had some auto immune thing going on. I was diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis back then.

I couldn't grasp a jar/bottle, could barely open the doors and had trouble pulling on my clothes in the AM. I also had a lot of other joint pain, felt like a 90 year old getting out of bed every morning when I was in my late 20's. Pretty much sucked. A HOT shower first thing in the morning and a lot of movement would get me loosened up so I could make it through the day.

I would definetly see your doc about it. It is no fun dealing with that.

[jerseyangel]

Wow--this affects a lot of us! I woke up with puffy hands more often than not before my Dx. The last 2 years or so, the left one would be worse and the thumb joint on that hand would be red, swollen and very painful. That would not go away with the hot shower and movement--it would last several days.

[jnifred]

Yep, my right thumb was completely useless for 5-6 years. It was always swollen and never went away. Even now, all the swelling is gone, but it is more stiff than the left thumb and I can not bend it as far. My hands flare up in the heat/humidity. Cold weather I do fine in, but when it gets hot and humid, its not good for me!! So I do my best to not get sweaty, great excuse!!!

[jerseyangel]

Yea--come to think of it, mine are worse in the hot months. In general, I don't feel as well in hot weather as I do when it's cooler.

[Canadian Karen]

They tried to convince me that I had DeQuervain's Syndrome, but I knew it was celiac realted......

Karen

[debbiewil]

Yep.

Usually the left is worse, but I'll get some in my right - also sometimes the arm or my legs as well.

Debbie

[Canadian Karen]

I also sometimes get extreme pain in my left elbow. When I go to lean on it for anything, it absolutely collapses and it's so painful it feels like it is going to break. What's weirder is that my bone density test indicated my bones are strong.....

Karen

[Ursa Major]

My hands and ankles have been swollen for years. My hands would be swollen in the morning, and my ankles would swell terribly over the course of the day.

With the gluten free diet, my ankles are never swollen any more (I hope that they won't in the summer either, I can't tolerate heat and humidity at all). And my hands are rarely swollen and painful any more. Today they are, and I'm afraid I might be intolerant to pork (I ate pork chops for breakfast, and it shouldn't have been the veggies I had with them, even though it's possible). One of my brothers is very intolerant to pork, and will get severe body aches if he eats any.

[melisadki]

This is so interesting. I know its allergy related but I wonder if the swelling is from the nerves or circulation. This always confuses me. I thought it was carpal tunnel but when I looked up the symptoms I dont have them like that..

[Packard]

Anyone have this as a symptom. I am back to square one with the diet but I notice when I wake up my hand...left one mostly swells so bad, it hurts and i cant move it. It takes about 10min to shake it so I can even squeeze it. Maybe something totally unrelated but I was just curious.

Thanks

I had that condition (still do, but it is well controlled).

Do you have any psoriasis any where on your body? If so, you might want to see a rheumatologist.

I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis; it was very painful and rapidly progressive. It was a long time in figuring out what it was. Ask your doctor about this.

This is an auto-immune response. If left un-treated it will leave your joints damaged. My finger joints are permantently damaged (I cannot make a tight fist). It is treated with immuno-suppressant drugs (not as strong as for psoriasis, but powerful drugs). The Embrel is quite expensive and it took 6 months to convince the insurance company to pay for it. It costs about $25,000.00 to $30,000.00 per year. By the time the insurance company agreed to pay for the treatments, the damage had been done.

Try to get a diagnosis early.

The only good thing about this is that:

1. It is treatable

2. The treatment reduces the psoriasis

3. The treatment reduces the severity of the celiac

On the downside, the Embrel reduces your immunity to infection, and the Methotrexate requires constant monitoring of the liver function.

But if you have this same condition that I have, then these are very fair trade-offs.

Ask your doctor.

[melisadki]

Do you have any psoriasis any where on your body? If so, you might want to see a rheumatologist.

No I dont have psoriasis but I do get patches of something ever once and awhile on my hands like dry skin patches that wont go away. My doctor just said dry skin but who knows.

[Packard]

No I dont have psoriasis but I do get patches of something ever once and awhile on my hands like dry skin patches that wont go away. My doctor just said dry skin but who knows.

That's what I thought I had, but the doctor said otherwise. The patches of dry skin were in fact psoriasis. And the condition is psoriatic arthritis.

My condition was quite bad. I had swelling in the knuckles, wrists, and elbow. I had tendinitis in the elbow, jaw and neck. It was so painful that it kept me from sleeping.

There is a worrisome aspect of these forums: Going on a gluten free diet is clearly indicated for celiacs. There is no scientific evidence that the diet has any effect on other auto-immune diseases and in fact maybe denying people the treatments that they should be seeking.

There is a lot of anecdotal stuff floated around here about diet helping this or that. Largely because there is a substantial improvement in how we feel as celiacs by going on this diet there is a feeling that the diet will, by extension, help all the auto-immune issues. Where is the science? There is none. I can find nothing in the scientific reports that supports these thesis.

The worst is that some members here will go on a diet for 6 months to no purpose and not get the treatments that will truly help. And then the "diet gurus" tsk, tsk those who use the medicines that have been proven to help.

I find this very distressing.

When discussing diet as a benefit, it would behoove the poster to state whether the information put forth is annecdotal, from a doctor, or from a recognized scientific journal so that other members can make an informed opinion regarding the information put forth.

[jnifred]

Packard... I agree with you. I was on Enbrel for 3+ years and it worked wonders for me. Before that I was on a bunch of nasty things the still made me have flare-ups. I have been off Enbrel for a couple years now and was on a varying dose of prednisone, as needed. I haven't needed prednisone since going gluten free in November. Longest I have been off all drugs in I can't even think how long.

My arthritis was clinical, all my tests came back normal, but my rhuematologist said there is a large percentage like that, he saw enough of my swollen joints and new me well enough that he felt confident he was treating me correctly, and I did have great success on Enbrel, no flares at all for a long time. I still had sleeping issues, which I think were accerbated by this gluten thing. My tests are all in the normal range for celiac also, but I haven't eaten enough gluten for it to come back positive in years. My normal diet, before I had even heard of celiac, was extremely low in gluten. And once I started watching my diet, I did notice a correlation to my RA flares and ingestion of gluten.

I think sometimes people think "oh it;s a diet, it can't hurt" when it fact some of them can have serious side effects. I know there are bad doctors out there, but I also know that most doctors trully want to help people. And sometimes you just have to search a little harder for the right doc for you. A lot of times it can be a personality issue that doesn't set well with a patient and then they label that doc as "bad". or they do not see the appropriate "specialty" for whatever issue they are dealing with, and then there are the constraints of insurance, don't even get me started on that!!!

Anyway, you kinda put your neck out there and I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you "The worst is that some members here will go on a diet for 6 months to no purpose and not get the treatments that will truly help. And then the "diet gurus" tsk, tsk those who use the medicines that have been proven to help."

and have been in your shoes.

[Packard]

Anyway, you kinda put your neck out there and I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you "The worst is that some members here will go on a diet for 6 months to no purpose and not get the treatments that will truly help. And then the "diet gurus" tsk, tsk those who use the medicines that have been proven to help."

and have been in your shoes.

Putting my neck out there is one of the lesser documented side effects of celiac sprue.