Carpal Tunnel / Fluid Retention / Dandelion leaf tea?
I just looked up my symptoms, being tingling and numbness in my right hand and fingertips. This is a reply to someone's question which described me exactly:
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Question
I am 34 weeks pregnant. I feel very tired, walking is difficult (as if I had been walking for hours, though my feet are not swollen). My hands are swollen and I’m suffering from a lack of sleep due to pins and needles in my right arm/hand. At night my arm feels like a dead weight. During the day right hand is numb/tingly all of the time.
Answer
Thank you for your question, and congratulations on your pregnancy. It sounds like you are now beginning to experience some of the common yet tiresome symptoms of later pregnancy. They can be quite uncomfortable at this stage.
You are bound to feel tired when walking because you are carrying a considerable amount of extra weight, and your legs may feel heavy as a result of congestion in the veins caused by high levels of circulating oestrogen. It is good that your feet are not swollen but since your hands are, it is even more important that you go for your regular weekly check-up now to make sure there is no protein in your urine and that your blood pressure is not high. These two symptoms, along with swelling of the fingers, can suggest the onset of a condition known as pre-eclampsia, which is potentially serious. What you are describing as pins and needles in your right arm and hand, coupled with the tingling and numbness is extremely suggestive of carpal tunnel syndrome. This is again very common in the late stages of pregnancy and is due to fluid retention and the swelling, which it causes, causing pressure on the median nerve as it runs along the inner aspect of the wrist. The nerve here burrows through a tunnel created by a tough fibrous band that runs around the wrist holding the nerves and tendons in place. When there is fluid retention and swelling due to high levels of oestrogen, there is less room for the nerve and therefore pressure upon it increases. This pressure in turn affects the blood supply to the nerve creating these pins and needles and the numbness in the fingers, particularly the thumb and the three fingers next to it. Symptoms are usually much worse during the night and sufferers often have to hold their hands out of bed to obtain relief. The good news is that carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnancy usually disappears very quickly after the birth of the baby when the fluid retention settles down again. Doctors are reluctant to treat it during pregnancy with diuretics and a surgical incision to incise the fibrous sheath at the wrist would certainly not be appropriate in view of the temporary nature of the symptoms. Should symptoms continue after childbirth, a cortisone injection into the carpal tunnel is often curative although in severe cases a surgical incision needs to be made to abolish symptoms altogether. This is unlikely though. I hope this is helpful and that whilst you wait the last few weeks you can put your feet up, take it easy and get as much rest as you can.
I have also found information suggesting that dandelion leaf tea is a good diuretic to help reduce fluid retention. I've only found one site that suggests drinking this during pregnancy.
Does anyone know any more about this? My blood pressure and urine tests have been perfect at my OB visits, so I'm not really worried about pre-eclampsia. But if I can try to reduce the swelling and get my circulation back up that would be good!
