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What Causes Intermittent Hand And Leg Pain?

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Posted on Fri, 6 Mar 2015
Question: I need some advice.. I have been having on and off left hand and leg pain for months and months now. I just had an MRI on my spine and brain done and everything came back normal. I had a neurology exam and everything seemed fine. It seems as though my pain is getting worse. My blood work has all come back clean, also had a lyme test done that was negative as well. when i went to see my ortho a few months back he took an x ray and noticed that two of my carpal bones are infused together, hes not too sure if that is what is causing the pain or not. I just dont know what to do because all of my tests seem to be fine. The leg pain is bad at night, my hand pain seems to be persistent throughout the day. Also have some tingling in my hand, pain has been moving up my arm and when i lift my arm it has a weird tension sensation.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (31 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Exclude vitamin D deficiency and hypothyroidism

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Welcome to healthcaremagic

I'm Dr Sudhir Kumar

I have gone through your query and understand your concern. As all your blood test and MRI are normal . Your neurological examination is normal. You has fused carpal as said by you. It can be cause of pain locally at wrist but in whole arm pain is not explained by it.
You are probably having deficiency of vitamins and trace elements along with calcium. You can take calcium and multivitamins and trace elements supplements. For pain relief you can take analgesic such as ibuprofen.
You are advised to get your vitamin D level as its deficiency is important cause of unexplained musculoskeletal pains and if found low supplements of vitamin D3 can be taken. You are advised to get your vitamin B12 and if found low you can take supplements of Methylcobalamine. Another important cause of such pains is hypothyroidism so you can get your thyroid function test (T3,T4 and TSH) to exclude it.
Arteriography and venogram exclude vascular causes. You can discuss with your doctor about it.

Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will be happy to help you.

Wishing you a good health.
Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (16 minutes later)
im going tomorrow to get an evoked potential test done on my visual field but my eye doctor has told me before that my optic nerve looked fine, so what would be the liklehood of MS? also, i have thought this had been a thyroid problem but my doctor wont do a complete thyroid test because my basic levels show up normal, although i know there are many missed thyroid diagnosis due to the doctors not doing every thyroid test possible. all of my vitamin levels are fine, im just trying to rule things out . could it possibly be fibromyalgia? thank you for your speedy response. my doctor keeps telling me its nerves and anxiety but i dont see how that would cause all of this pain.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (26 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
MS and fibromyalgia are less likely.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Welcome back
As your brain MRI is normal and eye examination is normal so you are less likely to be having MS.
I also think that your symptoms does not fit in diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Your doctor may be right as anxiety , nervousness and overwork inceases musculoskeletal pains . Anxiolytic such as alprazolam gives relief in such pains.
For exclusion of hypothyroidism TSH levels is important.
Rest has already been discussed.

If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.

In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
https://www.bit.ly/askdrsudhirortho

Wishing you a good health
Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (23 hours later)
thank you. im going for an evoked potential visual test, although i asked my eye doctor a few months back and he said my optical nerve was fine, can the eye doctors see everything? also been having weird wet sensation on my arms and legs, could that be an anxiety effect? im just hoping no ms and no lupus. is ms common if there is a clear mri? and is lupus common if there is no ANA in my blood work? thank you. also wondering if my leg pain at night could be due to low arches or restless leg syndrome. thank you for your answers
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
MS and Lupus are unlikely.

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Welcome back
Eye doctor can see end of optic nerve which ends in posterior part of eye during fundus examination. Weird wet sensation on arm and leg can be due to anxiety effect.MS in uncommon if MRI is normal. If there is no ANA in blood test then lupus is uncommon. 98percent of lupus patients are ANA positive and 2 percent are ANA negative. Your leg pain at night are unlikely to be due to low arches but restless leg syndrome can be cause of this.
You can discuss with your doctor about it. Rest already discussed.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.

In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
https://www.bit.ly/askdrsudhirortho

Wishing you good health
Take care
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Practicing since :1993

Answered : 3356 Questions

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What Causes Intermittent Hand And Leg Pain?

Brief Answer: Exclude vitamin D deficiency and hypothyroidism Detailed Answer: Hi Welcome to healthcaremagic I'm Dr Sudhir Kumar I have gone through your query and understand your concern. As all your blood test and MRI are normal . Your neurological examination is normal. You has fused carpal as said by you. It can be cause of pain locally at wrist but in whole arm pain is not explained by it. You are probably having deficiency of vitamins and trace elements along with calcium. You can take calcium and multivitamins and trace elements supplements. For pain relief you can take analgesic such as ibuprofen. You are advised to get your vitamin D level as its deficiency is important cause of unexplained musculoskeletal pains and if found low supplements of vitamin D3 can be taken. You are advised to get your vitamin B12 and if found low you can take supplements of Methylcobalamine. Another important cause of such pains is hypothyroidism so you can get your thyroid function test (T3,T4 and TSH) to exclude it. Arteriography and venogram exclude vascular causes. You can discuss with your doctor about it. Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will be happy to help you. Wishing you a good health. Take care.