By the clicking in my thumbs

[lydy]

So, I stayed at the Doubletree hotel last Friday night. Which has a hard bed. I've been having trouble sleeping on harder beds, lately. It hurts my back. But much odder, when I woke up in the morning, my thumbs were clicking. When I bent them, they did this clicking, ratcheting thing. "Weird," I thought. "Must be the bed," I thought. The clicking went away after an hour or two. "Ok," I thought. Then it happened on Sunday, and I thought, "Wow, I really must not like this bed."

So, Monday we came home. (Fourth Street was awesome, by the way.) I got to sleep on my very own bed. Yay for waterbeds. Love my waterbed. And when I woke up Tuesday, my thumbs were clicking. "Must not be the bed," I thought. "It seems to be getting worse," I thought. "I wonder what the hell thing this is," I thought. If it were just the right hand, I'd assume that it was sequelae from having tragically dislocated my ring finger on New Year's Day, but it's in both hands.

So, it's Saturday, and it has happened every day after I wake up. It is very slightly worse than it was. Instead of ratcheting just once, sometimes the thumb will ratchet up to three times. The left one, as of yesterday, came up with a new trick where if I straighten it slightly, it clicks, and then in the new position, it hurts, and then I bend it, and it's ok again. And, after an hour or two, it all goes away. "Weird," I think again.

I called Nurseline, and talked to a nice lady who asked me all sorts of alarming questions about pain and fever and numbness and discoloration, all of which I could answer in the negative. Defeated, she admitted that it might be something called "trigger thumb," although maybe not. It might also be arthritis, but I have no other symptoms, and one wouldn't normally expect it to present in both thumbs at the same time. She suggested that I go see my primary care physician, on the grounds that... Actually, I'm not sure why she wants me to see my doctor, although pretty much any time you call Nurseline, they either want you to go to the ER or the doctor. The best she was able to come up with is that this sounds like a joint issue. Which actually I already knew, what with it happening in the joint and all. At least we were in agreement that there's nothing urgent going on.

Meanwhile, I'm planning on going to bed. I expect to wake up this evening with clicking thumbs. Life is weird.

Comments

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Weird. I'm glad it's nothing urgent. Maybe it's one of those weather-related things people get. It's been humid lately. I feel an old injury when it gets like this.

[quility.livejournal.com]

Life is weird. Indeed.
I hope it goes away and doesn't get any worse in the mean time.

Just a guess

[guppiecat]

Maybe it's adult onset robotetes.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

We can only hope.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Weird. The fact that it appeared in both thumbs simultaneously pretty much rules out things like trigger thumb and osteo-arthritis. I'd guess something in the autoimmune arena (hopefully, something transient and benign).

Or, of course, there's the obvious. Have you been doing anything different with your hands lately, something that involves both thumbs? Like, you know, crocheting?

There are allergic forms of arthritis. You might want to try OTC anti-inflammatories (ibuprophen or naproxen), which might help the symptoms no matter what the cause.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

At this point, anything is possible, but I don't think it is the crochet. In the first place, the hand use is very asymmetrical. The left hand holds the tension on the yarn, the right manipulates the hook, very different movements. And, too, in neither case is the thumb particularly involved. And yet, the problems with the thumbs are symmetrical. Moreover, if it were the crochet, I'd expect slight twinges when I crochet, and I don't get them.

On the other hand, it's getting worse, and when I see the doctor, I will mention starting to crochet again, just as a precaution.

[sraun]

AIUI, Mr. Forste has trigger finger - you might discuss it with him?

[guppiecat]

Ooh! I thought of another possibility.

If both thumbs are clicking regularly, it means that you left your hazards on.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Well, life is hazardous, so that makes sense.

[naomikritzer]

"Might be a joint issue." YOU DON'T SAY.

Medical people who have no idea WTF is going on are hilarious.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

It was clear that she felt the need to say something, but had no idea what that something should be. And she's professionally prohibited from saying WTF? So, there you go.

By the way, I ordered the yarn for your afghan. I bought it online, because there's a place that has a great selection at a better price than Michael's, even when you factor in shipping. It should be here in about two weeks. I chose royal blue for the main panel, lavender blue for accent, and bone for the stripes between the main panels

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

speaking as someone who has had trigger finger (and the surgery for same) and has (rheumatoid) arthritis, you want to go to the doctor. srsly. the ibuprofen in the meantime is not a bad idea. are they swollen or hot or achey at all? swollen/hot/achey/symmetrical is one of the diagnostics for RA.