Re: CMT Hand symptoms

[Guest guest]

Hello Matt and All,

Welcome to the club. Dropping things comes from a couple of things

including loss of kinesthetic sense, relaxing of weakened muscles, and

stray signals. One of the indicators for the neuro-docs is the atrophied

muscle between the thumb and forefinger which results in a skin web

bridging that location. That muscle is the primary opposable thumb muscle

which makes for a soft grip.

EdM from NH

____________________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Matt,

 

What you describe with your hands is very similar to what I experience -

clumsiness, dropping things, spilling things, inability to hold heavier objects,

lots of finger cramps, difficulty opening things I used to be able to open

easily.  Getting those caps off containers where you have to twist & push at

the same time - forget it.  I also have difficulty writing - the bank has

rejected my checks saying my signature doesn't match what they have on file. 

Writing takes a lot of effort and isn't smooth anymore.  The fine motor skills

are a challenge, trying to hold a piece of food in my fingers, for example,

very challenging...fingers can't figure out the right pressure needed - lots of

instability.  I also can't detect hot or cold with my fingers anymore.  To

test the temperature of water, I have to run it on my arm - near my elbow. 

Also I can't detect wetness or dryness anymore.  Things feel wet when they

aren't, and vice-versa.  And, of

course, my hands get very cold in the winter, just like my feet. 

 

Sounds like what you are experiencing could be caused by CMT.

 

From: Matt <tbobematt@...>

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 3:52 PM

 

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit

[Guest guest]

Hi, Matt

It sounds like even the effect on your feet is pretty mild. My left hand has

always been weak...especially in the cold. I'm 52 now & starting to see more

weakness in both hands. About the time I started noticing increased weakness, I

had what you described as muscles in my hands locking up too. I'd say CMT is

probably progressing to your hands. I don't know how old you are but I hope it

doesn't get to be too much of a hardship on you. I'm finding that dealing with

weak hands is more difficult than weak legs. You can find other ways to get

around, but it's hard to do many things with weak hands. It's a good excuse not

to do much cooking though! I never liked cooking anyway...I love eating out.

Jan

>

> I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

>

> I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

>

> Matt,

> from the good old Detroit

>

[Guest guest]

That is how mine started.

[Guest guest]

Matt I have serious numbness in my hands mostly my right hand,and Yes they

are weak and I often drop things.

Geoff in Phx

CMT Hand symptoms

>I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect

>their hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer

>toes,weak ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have

>noticed that I have been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't

>have any pain in them except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer

>bottle my fingers kinda lock in place for a few seconds. I also get

> " cramps " in my hands, but this usually only happens when im in the cold or

>I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many hours at atime .

>

> I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

> slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue

> is a bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input

> would be appreciated.

>

> Matt,

> from the good old Detroit

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

matt, i have most of my problems in my feet also and i have noticed that latley

i have started dropping things. i think it;s part of the progression of cmt.

best bet if it really bothers you is to see the doc. good luck and do not be to

hard on yourself. it's what we have and when we have to bend down to pick it up

we get exercise.  love and light francine in california. used to be sunny cal

but it's cold and raining.

________________________________

From: Matt <tbobematt@...>

Sent: Tue, January 26, 2010 3:52:26 PM

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

 

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit

[Guest guest]

I've got creeping compression paralysis of the my hands. Regarless of my best

attempts I manage to wake up with numb arms at least once a week. The pinky on

my left hand is sort of hanging there and my ring finger isn't much better. The

pinky on my right hand sortta works but not really. My thumbs are no longer

opposable which makes picking up a pencil a chore, picking up a dime a faint

memory. CMT sucks.

From: Matt <tbobematt@...>

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 6:52 PM

 

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect

their hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer

toes,weak ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed

that I have been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain

in them except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers

kinda lock in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but

this usually only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand

for too many hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit

[Guest guest]

Hi Matt,

I have had CMT since childhood, and it does affect my hands too, but a lot less

than my feet! I drop things and have weak hands. Need a jar-opener, and for cans

(I don't like beer!) I use a spoon to lift the hook first. But there are not

many things I can't do with my hands. I used to work in a lab, with genetic

experiments, so it did not affect my hands more than that. Now I work with

computers, mainly because I hurt my right hand, and after that it became

harder (but not impossible) to do the lab tasks. But also in science, you

start in the lab, but advance away from it, you let the young ones do the

labbing for you.

For me the main issue is that I don't feel with my hands. I do feel pain, heat

and cold normally but not touch and vibrations. (I do feel it to some extent

though). So it is easy to test. Close your eyes and let someone use something to

touch your hand. The doctors use feathers and vibrating instruments. (In Sweden,

at least). Test if you can feel which finger was touched for example. I am not

sure that everybody with CMT gets this loss of sensing touch, but for me it is

like this.

Beata

 

________________________________

From: Matt <tbobematt@...>

Sent: Wed, January 27, 2010 12:52:26 AM

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

 

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit

[Guest guest]

Hi Matt -

While my usual feet issues only involve a high marching-like gait, constant

cramping, and being always cold, but no drop foot or hammer toes, I have

noticed a significant diminishing of feeling in my fingers over the last

year. I worked as an IT consultant until 2008 until the balance issues and

typing and writing issues got to a point where they negatively impacted my

work.

Now, especially when it's cold, I drop items all the time and now I'm

getting cramps and " lightning strikes " in my hands, wrists, and fingers. My

writing has gotten very poor, my typing is " 4 letters typed and backspace 2 "

for corrections. I get cuts on my fingers and don't know when or how they

happened. I have shifted to an electric razor because I have cut myself

using my Gillette because I don't " feel the pressure " I put on my face.

I think the key to navigating the diminished feeling is to know that it is a

potential part of CMT and adjust accordingly.

Last snow (December 2009) we had 24 inches here in land and are

expecting something significant (but less) this weekend. I'll have to see

if things get better when things warm up.

Good Luck.

-wheels

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Matt

Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 6:52 PM

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect

their hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer

toes,weak ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have

noticed that I have been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't

have any pain in them except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer

bottle my fingers kinda lock in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps "

in my hands, but this usually only happens when im in the cold or I have a

fishing rod in my hand for too many hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue

is a bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input

would be appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit

[Guest guest]

" We " are still uncertain whether I have any variety of CMT or not. However, it

is being called CMT or SMA for " lack of a better term " .

So, while I may be atypical WRT CMT, here goes ...

I am right-handed. There is wasting of the interosseous muscles (the muscles

between the bones in the hand) of both hands. There is wasting in both upper

and lower arms.

I can make an adequate fist with my left hand, but the right hand the fist is

not as strong and the thumb 'rests' above the index finger rather than resting

between the index and middle finger. Finger pinch stength is extremely low for

both hands, right worse than left. For the left hand, I can touch the thumb to

all other fingers but with some difficulty. With the right hand, I can touch

all fingers but for the little finger.

I once had hand and arm cramping but that has decreased through the years.

Openinging Zip-Lock bags, potato chip bags, hars, etc., is difficuult if not

impossible. Buttons on shirts are a real load of laughs.

Handwriting has deteriorated significantly. I now use " Pilot Dr. Grip " pen and

pencil because the barrels are large.

Other than that (with the exception of the lower extremities and cancer), I'm in

pretty good shape.

>

> I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

>

> I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

>

> Matt,

> from the good old Detroit

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Matt from good ole Detroit!

I have always had hands that would swell up at the drop of a hat and have one or

two fingers that were very cold while the rest of my hand had a burning

sensation, carpal tunnel syndrome that waxes and wanes depending on how careful

I am, and I can have fingers go numb for weeks after bike riding or using

scissors. That's all since childhood. Now that I'm getting to be an old bat

(mid-40s) I have a lot of tingling and parasthesias as well as all the rest. I

always feel like there are ants on my hands (every now and again I find a real

one and get surprised). I am having trouble with my handwriting, it's getting

increasingly illegible and I can't write for long without my fingers starting to

hurt. Typing, so far is fine and I'm very fast at it.

Recently my right wrist was really aching for over a week. So I went in to the

CMT specialist here (Dr. Pfeffer) who was very interested in my ankles -- yes

lot's of problems there, but relatively speaking, not my issue then. He said

that CMT had to be really advanced to affect the hands, and I wasn't that

advanced so he didn't think it was the cause of the wrist pain. Hmmmm. I'm

thinking it's CMT. The wrist resolved itself on its own in a few more weeks.

Back in my 20s I had a nerve conduction study on my ankle after I broke it,

because I was complaining of parasthesias (water dripping on my toes inside the

cast). That was when they discovered my nerves run slow. They used my other leg

and both arms as a control and found it was slow everywhere.

The good news is that for the most part you can cope and be normal but I feel

better knowing it's my old friend, CMT and that it's not going to kill me.

Holli in stormy Tarzana

[Guest guest]

I have CMT 1B. I have muscle wastage in both hands {worse on the right hand}.

The muscle has wasted away between the bones of my hands and around the area of

my thumbs. I also can touch my thumb to all my fingers but not my little finger.

I can't hold cuttlery properly as I my little finger and the finger next to it

freeze and are very painful. I cant feel tempratures well with my hands. I have

trouble with buttons, zips. ect. I can't squeeze a clothes peg with my fingers,

I have to use my whole hand. I can't open ring pulls on.

Hope this helps

[Guest guest]

Thanks all for the input...from the symptoms you all described, it sounds like

the same issues i have. I totally forgot about all the bad marks in handwriting

I received back in elementary school! It now all makes sense...again thanks! it

was quite helpful...

[Guest guest]

Matt,

Take a look in our Files section about Hands. Might give you some info.

Gretchen in muddy So. Calif

[Guest guest]

I have the same problems, its aggravating when opening a zip lock frustrates

me and especially in cold weather, my hands just lock up and are useless, I

can barely screw the cap back on my gas tank.

,

also from Good old cold Detroit

[Guest guest]

,

I carry channel locks(large pliers) to open and close my gascap.It is

like a box lined with razor blades with a glued on gascap in it.

Geoff in Phoenix

[Guest guest]

Oh Barb.....I so know what you are saying!

Blessings,

Geri

[Guest guest]

I am 63 years old and I have both feet problems and hand problems. I have lost

most of the muscles in my hands, and I have a real hard time trying to do

anything with them. My right hand is almost closed and fingers are like claws, I

am right handed so you learn to do things with your left hand. I can't button, I

can't hardly use a pencil, it becomes harder and harder every day to cope. I

don't have hardly any pain in my hands or feet, but do have with my hips. But as

I see it,for some reason GOD gave us this CMT and we have to live with it.

I made up my mind along time ago that it's something that I have to live with,so

bring it on.

Barb

[Guest guest]

Hey Matt,

 

Yup, around the age of 25 I began to lose strength to the muscle between the

thumb & forefinger. This progressed to the point that I could not make the " OK "

sign, Now at age 41 my left hand is doing the same. I cannot do anything like

starting a screw  or anything that requires dexterity.

  I've lost alot of money in the Supermarket, due to the dimes I've droped in

the checkout isle

  Best thing that I can suggest is to:

 First educate yourself of CMT. It is a degenerative disease. That means that,

if you are like me with 1A it IS going to get worse. Not better. Sorry for being

blunt.

defman

 

Second, pay attention to what is happening to your body NOW. Think of ways to

accomodate the changes.

 

Third, DO NOT LET FEAR BECOME THE EMEMY.

 

And fourth Think of tools and things that can assist you. I get the " droppsies "

so I have to be more aware of the smallest thing that I am doing. Little things

that a normal person would take advantage of may require more attention while

you do. Example: If you are grabbing a jar in a hurry to put it 12 " away, make

SURE you have it under a controlling grip BEFORE you move it.

Tools: needle nose pliers, Scissors with a spring load, Don't unbotton your

shirt all the way when you take it off (wasyh buttoned) buttonholers. Think of

others.

  I don't chime in much and when I do it's usually long winded diatribes, but

when I see someone who is closely experienciong what I am I chime in.

Thank you

From: Matt <tbobematt@...>

Subject: CMT Hand symptoms

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 3:52 PM

 

I was wondering if people could share their symptoms of CMT that affect their

hands. Up to now I've only had the usual feet issues (i.e. hammer toes,weak

ankles, drop foot...the usual) but the last few weeks I have noticed that I have

been dropping alot of stuff around the house. I don't have any pain in them

except once in awhile when I open a jar or a beer bottle my fingers kinda lock

in place for a few seconds. I also get " cramps " in my hands, but this usually

only happens when im in the cold or I have a fishing rod in my hand for too many

hours at atime .

I havent had any nerve tests on my hands, only my legs and those came back

slightly below normal range. So I am wondering if my dropping things issue is a

bit of progression into my hands or me just being clumsy....any input would be

appreciated.

Matt,

from the good old Detroit