Why do my hands hurt every morning?

June 25, 2018 5:56 AM

For the past 2-3 weeks, I've woken up every morning with hurting hands. The pain is pretty mild (~3/10), seems focused in the muscle and not the joints, and dissipates within an hour of waking. Any ideas what might be causing this?

Possibly relevant info:

* 27yo white cis woman;
* Sjögren's Syndrome (diagnosed last year; mild dry mouth/eyes symptoms so far);
* Migraines (well-controlled with daily amitriptyline/Elavil these days);
* Anxiety (fairly well-controlled these days; I take sertraline/Zoloft daily and alprazolam/Xanax as needed);
* Stress has been pretty low recently; and
* I don't think I'm clenching my hands into fists while I sleep, but hard to confirm.

posted by schroedingersgirl to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Are your hands cold, too? My mom wore wool gloves to bed to keep hers warm.
posted by Carol Anne at 6:27 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I was going to ask about cold hands as well. A decent proportion of people with Sjogren's get Raynaud's phenomenon. Check with your doc.
posted by gaspode at 6:45 AM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I haven't noticed cold hands, but TBH I didn't often "notice" my dry mouth or eyes until after my diagnosis. Thanks for the lead!
posted by schroedingersgirl at 7:12 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I have this issue too. My doctor thinks it’s Carpal Tunnel (she tested this by pressing on a nerve in my wrist which caused numbness) so she has me wearing wrist gloves at night. It hasn’t really helped much though, so I need to go back to her.
posted by saturngirl at 7:32 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yes, I wear wrist braces designed for sleeping (you can get them at Walmart) when I had this problem. For me, it was diagnosed as carpal tunnel from clutching my blankets and rolling my wrists in when I sleep, which I totally do without the braces. Pain cleared up instantly.
posted by Malla at 8:52 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have Sjogren's and Raynaud's... sometimes I get this when my hands overheat. Most noticeable when I sleep too much or the bed/pillow incline is awry. Try adjusting the room temp and kicking off a cover.
posted by fritillary at 10:23 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, y'all! I think both Raynaud's and carpal tunnel are possibilities (I just remembered that I got a new desk at couple of weeks ago, and it's at a slightly different height than my old desk).
posted by schroedingersgirl at 1:19 PM on June 25, 2018

This used to happen to me when I drank a lot before I'd gotten a hemochromatosis diagnosis. Once my iron levels were down it stopped - so could be worth checking for if you're Scandinavian. (I also stopped drinking a long time ago, so that probably helped, too.)
posted by BenevolentActor at 4:19 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]