Re: Hands...not sure if they're affected..

[Guest guest]

Hey folks:

I've had some weird experiences with the hands and I'm not sure how

much of it is CMT related.

To start with, I've always had a minor tremor in my hands. I'm not

sure if it is the tremor that affected my handwriting or something else, but

in first and second grade I had beautiful penmanship - by third or fourth

grade, my handwriting was really bad. It still is really bad, but I don't

think its gotten much worse over the years. I also never gripped my

pencil/pen correctly and pressed down too hard on the paper - thus my arm

gets really tired if I have to hand write a lot. I MUCH PREFER typing. I

have also never been able to thread needles (my home-ec teacher hated me -

thought I was faking), or sew very well. My hands and fingers are pretty

small and dainty looking.

However, other than the above, I have not had too many hand problems,

except for a three month period of time I'll tell you about now. Back in

September, I went to see an Orthopedist for the first time in years. At that

time, I had been diagnosed w/ neuropathy in feet and legs for years but never

with a cause (not with CMT). I had heard of CMT and suspected that was it

and told the doctor so. This orthopedist took a look at my hands and said:

" The CMT is in your hands too: I can tell by the atrophy (flap) between your

thum and index finger! "

Well, I had never thought that I had any serious problems with my

hands before, and immediately became very distressed. Within three days of

this visit, my arm was experiencing pretty bad pain, my right hand was unable

to grip many things and my hand began hurting after a lot of typing. My

right hand and forearm also felt numb up to the elbow. This lasted for a

few months. In November I went to see the MDA Neurologist, he said that my

hands seemed to be fine (I was able to move all my fingers, grip, etc.). My

symptoms immediately began to improve and dissipate. In January I had an

EMG. The Neurologist did the NCV on my right hand/arm and found that it was

TOTALLY normal!! Within another week or so, nearly all my hand/arm pain,

fatigue and numbness was totally GONE!!

Clearly, in my case, much of the hand stuff was psychosomatic - a

result of the hyper orthopedist's suggestion (he saw me in a rush, seeming

excited about me as a " specimen " of CMT, and when I appeared distressed by

what he was saying he just kept saying " Don't worry sweetie. " That

" sweetie " thing drove me nuts!

Nonetheless, my hands do have that " flap " , are quite skinny and I do

have horrible handwriting plus the sewing problems (these could be due to the

tremor). Does this mean that I will have more hand involvement later on in

life????????

Right now, I am able to button, stir, zipper, etc. without a problem.

Necklace clasps have always been difficult for me, as have some bracelet

clasps. My grip is also pretty much okay.

So, what I wonder is, do I have CMT involvement in my hands or not??

Whatever the case, I will adapt.

: ) Marti