Unbearable and invisible pain in my hands
Hi all, I’m 22F with hypothyroidism, and I’ve had this horrible pain in both of my hands for many years. It started when I was about 15, beginning with my right pinky finger. The pain is excruciating and internal, and would slowly spread to the rest of my hand and onto my left, starting with thumb. I’ve been to many doctors and had many tests done, but to no avail. The doctors can not diagnose me or do anything for the pain.
Details on the pain
Causes: almost anything, but mostly the cold, any sudden movements that cause my hand to tap and hit anything (like grabbing something to fast or something small dropping on my hand). Anxiety (normal anxiety like the feeling right before giving a presentation or a jump scare). Right before I fall asleep, when my body relaxes and goes slack, the pain starts to shoot up my hands, causing me to lose hours of sleep every night.
Duration of pain: about 1-2 minutes. as soon as my body adapts to whatever cause, or as soon I get used to the cold, the pain goes away.
Frequency: since anything can cause it, I get this pain every hour or every other hour.
What helps: super warm water, rubbing my hands on something rough or scratchy (sand paper-y) like lace on my clothes.
The pain is the worst pain I’ve ever felt. when it’s really bad, it makes my whole body ache and sore, I get light headed, knees weak, and sick feeling in my stomach. With the pain and stress, I can’t help but bawl my eyes out occasionally.
My theory is that getting goosebumps correlates with the causes of my pain (colder temperatures, anxiety or getting scared, right before I fall asleep and my body relaxes).
Doctors say that my muscles, nerves and CT/MRI scans are all ok. My hypothyroidism does not relate to this pain, doctors say.
I’ve tried everything. This is taking over my life and I don’t want it to limit my potential.
Could there be any pain diagnoses for something the doctors can’t see??
Let me know if I missed any important information or if I can answer any questions.
Posted Dec 6, 2018, 1:08 AM UTC