Waking up with dead arm?

[MrBlue]

I've had this problem before, obviously it's becuase I've been sleeping on my arm or something in the middle of the night but this week I've been getting it A LOT!
I wake up once a night in the middle of the night with a completely numb arm (I mean seriously numb, like when I touch it it feels like someone else's arm, freaky) but I can however manage to get it back to normal by hanging it off the bed or getting up and shaking it etc and I do manage to get back to sleep quickly but the other night it happened twice in one night!

Is this to do with my anxiety? I kind of have a theory that my anxiety has made me SO tired during my sleep that if I sleep on my arm then I don't notice it, therefor making it numb.

Anyone else got advice or have this problem as it can't be good for you!

[nomorepanic]

Not anxiety for me.

It was a back problem and I had physio for it. It is all to do with posture. Mine still isn't fixed but they discharged me and told me to improve the way I sit.

The other thing it could be is carpal tunnel syndrome.

[MrBlue]

ok is that dangerous?

[Fly away Katie]

Hello Mr Blue. I also have had this on MANY occasions, I wake up and my arm feels dead.. and I touch it, and it grosses me out, cus it feels like im touching the skin of someone else.. WEIRD. It doesnt cause me anxiety though.
When it happens, close and open your fingers slowley, more and more and more, and that will return the blood flow to your arm. Also a good rub is a good idea.
Its not dangerous atall. ;) x x x x

[nomorepanic]

no - i have a wrist support for mine that I can wear at night if it gets bad but it annoyed me too much.

[MrBlue]

Thanks Katie :)
Yeah I've had it before but only on the odd occasion but this week it's just happened basically every night which just alerted my anxiety!

[nomorepanic]

Mine happens every night and wakes me up hence I went to get physio for it.

It is just as bad now but I know that it is my back that causes it

[Fly away Katie]

Its just the way your sleeping... to me, if I wake up with it, I know ive had a good old sleep! Hehe. Sometimes it will happen alot, and then youl go for nights and nights without it! Try not to focus on it, cus its such a small natural bodily function.. go on, sit on your foot now, it will happen! lol :P x x x

[MrBlue]

Yeah mine wakes me up every time it happens :(

[nomorepanic]

The doc can tell if it is carpal with a simple test done at the surgery. They can also refer you to physio like me if you say it is keeping you awake all night.

[MrBlue]

Oh ok that's good, I read carpal is the wrist but my problem is the whole arm up to my shoulder. It's not keeping me up all night as I say I can shake my arm around and it will feel normal again within 20 seconds with slight pins and needles but other than that nothing too bad, I was just wondering if it was dangerous :) sorry that yours causes you so much both :(

[nomorepanic]

No it isn't dangerous. I did ask them this at physio and he laughed at me and said of course not.

[MrBlue]

Ok that's cool then, thanks :)

[dodo]

I used to get this loads and it was all to do with a trapped nerve in my shoulder. I would wake up and my arm would be dead and I would have to shake it to get the feeling back. Trapped nerve and after a visit to the chiropractor all was sorted.

[breese]

MrBlue, I also occasionally wake up in the middle of the night with my arms completely numb. Like you, I believe its my anxiety and stress that causes it, as it is more pronounced after days of being stressed by something or socializing with large groups of people. I also think it has to do with sugar intake, as it occurs more frequently if I had some sweets or a sugar-sweetened beverage the day before.

On some days afterwards my eyes are sore due to high blood pressure during the dead arm episodes. Otherwise it hasn't caused any lasting problems. However, I am worried that if it gets worse, I could one day need my arms amputated if, for instance, they weren't able to recover after I awake.

To attempt to reduce the occurrences, I avoid consuming too much sugar and try to de-stress by exercising and drinking tea.

I will let you know if I find any breakthroughs on my situation. If you would, please provide an update on your situation.

Kind regards,
~Steve

[Carnation]

So, glad someone posted this. I have had this for years!!!!! Sometimes I have it a few nights in a row and other times it may be once in a blue moon.
I now have some tips to help reduce this. I drink a glass of water before I go to bed, apparently this helps blood flow?? I do stretching Yoga exercises to get the blood flowing round the body. I make sure I don't put my arm under the pillow before I drop off to sleep; (I have a habit of doing this for some strange reason), and I do several deep breathing exercises in bed before I go to sleep. Haven't had it since doing all of this. It may help you? As I have had it for years and I am still alive, I wouldn't have thought it was anything to worry about.

[breese]

UPDATE to my July 17th post:

I have found a solution to my dead-arm problem: XANAX!

To recap, I have been suffering from un-diagnosed social anxiety for likely all my life. I have experienced problems during my sleep since my teen years, but I never solidly connected it with my anxiety until just recently, when I got my first Xanax prescription.

At first, I would grind my teeth and did it throughout most of my adolescent years. I put a stop to that by wearing my orthodontics retainer. But soon after I started biting my tongue while I slept. I bit my tongue so hard sometimes that I would have constant pain for weeks at a time. I put a halt to that by wearing Doctor's Night Guard. However, soon after I started experiencing numbness issues with my hands and wrists at night. So, I went to the drug store and bought right & left wrist braces (the kind that carpal tunnel sufferers wear). That provided relief for a while. But, like before, my anxiety would need an outlet and so it moved on to a new target: my whole arm! Many nights this past year, my entire arms up to the shoulders would start "feeling dead" and would occasionally completely loose circulation. This would increase my blood pressure in the rest of my body which caused by eyes to bulge out.

Everytime I would put a stop to one of these nighttime pains or discomfort, (i.e. by wearing a mouth guard, wrist braces, etc. ) my anxiety would just find another way to cause major stress on my body. I could only conclude that my subconscious was torturing me at night in retaliation for making it deal with the previous day's social interactions!

Last month I finally brought this up with my doctor. She prescribed a trial amount of Xanax pills to use prior to attending social gatherings. I did not take any the first week and actually attended a wedding and where I chatted with a lot of new people. Big mistake... the next two nights I experienced excruciating tingling pain in my hands and wrists. I believe it was the same pain that those suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome suffer. As usual, it would wake-me up and I'd needed to wait an hour or more to let the stress dissipate before I could fall back to sleep.

A couple nights later I felt my arm becoming dead. This time I took a Xanax pill in response. Voilà! My arms soon felt normal and I could sleep the rest of the night like a baby! Now I take a Xanax at bed time after any social situation where I talk with anyone outside my immediate realm of family and friends. (The reason I don't take it before these situations is that I often have 1 or 2 drinks and I heard that combining alcohol with Xanax = bad news) With Xanax, my hand, arm, and tongue-biting problems have completely gone away and I can finally sleep peacefully!

On a related note, my earlier beliefs that sugar consumption was partly to blame for dead-arm problem turned out to be false. I now enjoy the occasional cappuccino, soda pop, or dessert without worry that it will cause my arm pain and discomfort at night. The Xanax has taken care of that completely.

In conclusion, I have suffered way to long (25+ years) with un-diagnosed social anxiety. Here I was trying to self-treat all these awful stresses on my body as if they were each separate, physical problems. I am so glad I finally determined the source of all of my nighttime problems... it was an anxiety disorder all along!

[aangel]

I have had that happen before with both of my arms at different times of course. One time I even had a dream and in it my arm was hurting and I gasped and woke up to my arm dead asleep.