Wednesday, January 22

Maybe I'm just used to them not working now

So the problem with my hand for the last year is "handwriting dystonia." I have visited a carpal tunnel specialist, orthopedic surgeon, nerve specialist and neurologist. The neurologist is who gave me an official diagnosis, and who I am currently seeing to treat my issue.
The dystonia is causing my arm muscle to flex uncontrollably, and is thereby flexing my index and middle finger uncontrollably. Hence, my inability to type, and the difficulty I have in writing for more than a couple words.
The first attempt to treat the dystonia was a few shots of xeomin, similar to Botox but purer and stronger, in an effort to weaken the muscle, thereby letting me type and control the fingers better. I had this injection in October, and my ring and middle fingers are still weak, though now I can at least lift and move them. Yes, the first injection rendered my fingers unusable, leaving me with a claw on the right hand. Not at all how I had hoped that would go.
The xeomin is mostly worn off now, but I still have marked weakness in those two fingers. Doctor says they'll be back to normal in another couple weeks. When my dystonia symptoms return though, I have a new oral medication to take for them. The medication may make it difficult for me to pee, give me dry mouth and one other thing I don't remember right now, so that's not good, but it's another option at least.
If that doesn't work, we can try, among other things, another injection at a weaker dose and in a different place. He was skeptical of my suggestion of acupuncture, because it won't help for more than a couple hours or days; and if I decide to try out some of Mom's CBD/THC muscle balm, he wants to know all about it so he can write a paper because there's not precedent for that.
At any rate, my fingers are still unfixed, but they're working just a little better now, and the experiments continue on how best to treat this stupid affliction.

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