Prednisone and tingling hands

Today I was in a gyno's office when my blood pressure became very high. My hands were tingly and my heart was pounding like crazy. I decreased to 15mg on Tues. It was just a regular ole annual exam nothing for me to be worried or excited over. The nurse was worried I was going to have a heart attack. I went home and after about three hours I was fine. Normally, my blood pressure is extremely low. I have no heart problems or family history of heart problems. Has anyone else ever had this?

Yeah, I've had the 'tingling hands' (mainly round the finger tips). Sort of in a sporadic way. Just happened to be whilst I was on prednisone.

Coincidence? I suspect not.

Though I'm sure there will be a plausible explanation somewhere.

I never noticed having that issue any of the times I was on pred, but I did have tingling sensation (pins and needles) in my fingers (when I wasn't on pred), my doc checked my B12 levels and sure enough they were dangerously low....pins and needles in the fingers are the first sign of permanant nerve damage due to lack of B12, so it's always good to get that checked just in case.


:)

pb4, I take a B12 supplement but I'll ask the GI about the possibility when I see her Monday. Thank you.

Scrap Girl, It is good to know that the tingling was very temporary for you. I think the nurse's reaction to my blood pressure and pulse rate scared me more than necessary. Pred. works so well for me but I hate the scary (temporary) side-effects. Thank you for letting me know about your experience.

Christine1946,
Your suggestion make a lot of sense for me. Both my parents were diabetics too. I have my blood sugar checked every year at my annual. So far there haven't been any problems. I didn't know blood sugar could be effected by Pred. That is an extremely helpful bit of information. Thank you.
Cynthia

prednisone will give you the shakes, sweats, dizzy spells, in addition you often get a low grade fever with a flare up.
I am having the worst time with acne all over my shoulders and back from the prednisone, and I've been off for three days now. but had to taper off from 80mg per day. ugh. good luck to ya.
anyone also have any suggestions on getting this acne under control fast? I've never had this problem before. its pretty bad.

This is a very old question. One possible answer is that Prednisone promotes fluid retention. It may be that is why your hands are tingling. Fluid shift or retention can create a kind of carpal tunnel syndrome situation. Carpal tunnel nerve compression occurs b/c the tunnel has a limited space. Tendons, ligaments and nerves pass thru the area. Adding bodily fluid to the area, or weight gain, squishes the nerve. The nerves is the softest tissue in the tunnels which is why it is the thing that is compressed, hence you get the nerve sensations. Hope you were able to get off the Prednisone soon. NB It can also happen with some thyroid issues and pregnancy. Both also can cause fluid retention. If it happens again, wear the nighttime wrist splints to bed. They should be shaped in a 'neutral' position, not like 'cocked' wristguard styles used in sports.

Just a belated chime-in -- I finished up a course of prednisone in September and wow, did I have both dizziness and tingly hands during the last few weeks of the taper down. It wasn't painful at any point, but it was annoying and extremely distracting. I'd be curious to know if this is something people have experienced only after multiple uses of prednisone, or if the incidence is a lot more common/widespread as a side effect.

I’ve been off prednisone for less than a week now. I have been very upset about how fatigued I am (blaming a flare that pred probably didn’t fix, believing I’ll be fatigued for the rest of my life , etc etc.) just this morning I thought it could take some time for my body to adjust hormone , Cortisone levels etc. And I could feel better with time.

What I thought was completely unrelated though, until I read this thread, is for just the last three or so days I have been waking up with painful foot cramps and leg cramps and my foot will lose feeling - cramp up - or tingle (like extreme pins and needles) after seconds if sitting on it.

Hopefully your fatigue will lesson with a little more time, Rosie. My circulation definitely seems worse lately. I feel like my hands and feet fall asleep really quickly. I have no idea if it's from the prednisone or not though. I couldn't really find a lot on the topic when I Googled it. I'm trying to exercise when I feel up to it (short walks and trying to add strength training back in). I just quit smoking again not too long ago so my circulation should actually be improving. My blood pressure is a little higher than normal on pred, too.

Remember that while you are on prednisone, your blood sugar numbers are through the roof and you essentially look like you're diabetic (if a blood test were drawn). They're powerful at converting food, fat, and body mass into sugars which go straight to the blood and raise our blood sugar levels. Tingling in extremities is often associated with diabetes.
Once you're off of steroids, your blood sugar returns to normal levels. So it is a steroid-induced symptom, temporary while you are on steroids.

emmalouwho said...
This is a very old question. One possible answer is that Prednisone promotes fluid retention. It may be that is why your hands are tingling. Fluid shift or retention can create a kind of carpal tunnel syndrome situation. Carpal tunnel nerve compression occurs b/c the tunnel has a limited space. Tendons, ligaments and nerves pass thru the area. Adding bodily fluid to the area, or weight gain, squishes the nerve. The nerves is the softest tissue in the tunnels which is why it is the thing that is compressed, hence you get the nerve sensations. Hope you were able to get off the Prednisone soon. NB It can also happen with some thyroid issues and pregnancy. Both also can cause fluid retention. If it happens again, wear the nighttime wrist splints to bed. They should be shaped in a 'neutral' position, not like 'cocked' wristguard styles used in sports.

I just asked my doctor today about my hands and feet falling asleep and if it could be due to pred and if so, if I should be worried about it at all. He wrote back and told me he has never heard of that before from pred but that what I was describing was neuropathy and he said if it is in my hands at night (which it is, but that's because I fall asleep and then if I raise my hands above heart level while sleeping, they tend to fall asleep, but it's also during the day and in my feet during the day if I sit on them for even a very brief time), it could be a carpel tunnel deal, which he said conceivably could be made worse if I'm getting a lot of swelling with the steroid. Anyway, this answer makes quite a bit of sense to me. Regardless, it has to be from the pred because it started right after I took 60 mg. Can't wait to drop to 30 next week (hopefully).