KCI The Anti_Meth Site

Stiffness in my hands - 3 years clean of Meth

Steven	Physical damage from meth? Hello folks. I'm three years clean and am trying to figure out just what the hell I did to myself. My biggest concern is the stiffness in my hands. Does anybody else experience any thing like this? It almost seems like arthritis (maybe it is), but it's not painful. I don't know what to make of it. I used for about 4 years. Anybody have any similar physical ailments?
Replies...
loveman hate meth1	Re: Physical damage from meth? My addict BF had symptoms very similar to carpel tunnel syndrome. His hands, wrists and arms would go numb and tingle. I looked it up on the net and sure enough that is one of the side effects of meth. I'm not sure about the arthritis thing. Maybe someone else can give you more info.
Penel0pe	Re: Physical damage from meth? Steve - I will have 3 years on January 18th 2007. My entire body has turned into "Stiff," especially my lower legs, which has caused Achilles tendonitis, and makes walking without burning pain in my legs and feet a daily struggle. I feel very strongly that I have damaged myself - and the doctor(s) can't seem to pin it down either. I wish I had an answer for you other than to tell you that you're not alone!
forget suzette	Re: Physical damage from meth? Welcome to the board Steve... ...We all have damage we live with, from it, and we try to understand everyday...and break it down and analyze. ....what TF happened to me?... OMG.. why?! why did I do that? I can't believe it...pain remorse despair. I don't even know why I stay clean sometimes... except for perhaps, I was supposed to ponder it awhile. ....to learn....universally speaking. to tell the story. .....for the purpose of stopping people. so they go NO! ....I'll pass! ...I'll keep my dopamine! I'm crazy...that's my damage. ..........I'm so scattered, I can't find my ass with both hands. ..I've been clean 14 months. .........and I'm 41...so I'm waiting. I did 22 years of damage, that's just now being realized. I'm more afraid to live, than die. ......you are among your own. we totally understand.
paceset	Re: Physical damage from meth? My addict friend probably used for 4 years or so-no needles, and was in jail for 11 days, walked for miles out of jail and ended up with extremely swollen ankles so much so that he couldn't walk. It could easily be overuse and meth use causes extreme stress on the vascular system-every vessel, vein, etc. but it could also be a blood infection from the athletes foot that got terrible and bloody in jail from the heavy carbs-poor diet on the rolls, little washing and little slippers he wore...either way, that was only from 11 days without dope and extreme anxiety and depression. Meth is said so often to be like a Mack truck so... It's so important to try for recovering addicts to love the body, mind and spirit pamper it and keep away the stress
chris gonz	Re: Physical damage from meth? age will give you stiffness in the joints and using does age the body quicker.. how much do you use your hands?? I work with PCs, so I'm always typing or using the mouse. hope you feel better.
imlost inky	Re: Physical damage from meth? Hi Steven and Congratulations on your 3 years clean!!!!! Awesome- really awesome. Care to share how you did it? Always can use another voice on how to recover. On the stiffness in the hands, that could be many things. Have you asked your doctor about it? One thing I have found to help me with the stiffness in my hands is to stretch my fingers. Seriously. I place my 4 fingers on my one hand in between 2 fingers on the other hand and spread the 2 fingers out. Put your 4 right where the knuckles are. That does help. and yes, do see your doctor. Good luck and great to have you here- hope to see you again.
vicky dammit	Re: Physical damage from meth? Yeah 3 years rocks! I don't want to scare you, but i had very similar symptoms, and i knew that something was not right, so i saw my doctor. After a lot of visits and tests, i was diagnosed with MS. Yours is very probably something treatable and you can get some relief, but your first step should be your doctor's office, and be honest! No matter what you tell him/her, i assure you they've heard worse.
Steven	Re: Physical damage from meth? Thanks for the information everybody. I will visit my doctor if I can't manage to shake it off with this ultra-healthy lifestyle regimen I've recently started. I went to a doctor before but when I told her that it came about while I was using meth. it seemed like she sort of blew it off to permanent irreversible damage (which I reckon it just might be). However, I suppose the hand problems have sort of been a mixed blessing because it's the reason I stopped using. I play guitar a lot and am in bands and such. I first noticed the tightness when I was using and then it went away so I used one more time and the hand tightness came on something ferocious so I never touched meth. again. Instead I started drinking. Like a fish. Two years of solid alcoholism later and I'm on the wagon.....it's been 14 days with no booze. So, now I'm pretty gung-ho about staying clean and sober. I've been around friends and band-mates just about every day the past two weeks and they've been getting wasted and I haven't had a sip. I feel pretty good and have been doing lots of stretching, eating healthy, starting in with some exercise. I think AA and NA programs are great for certain people but for me, all that talking about it just makes me want to use again. When I decide that I'm going to stop using something, I just do it. There are moments the first week or so when I feel a little sketchy, get the sweats a little bit, but I know that if I've decided to do it and I fail myself I will hate myself the next day whereas if I make it clean and sober another day and push through the tough moments I know I'll feel so good and proud of myself the next day and I'll just want to stretch ten extra minutes or do something else that's difficult but that I know will make me feel good. It's the same way I quit smoking cigarettes & marijuana, same way I quit hallucinogens and the same way I kicked heroin. Geeez.....no wonder I feel toxic, I am! Admittedly, it took me multiple attempts to quit every single one of those substances but I found that my attitude eventually took a 180 degree turn because when I was using I was hell-bent on using and all my energies were focused on getting high. Now, I'm hell-bent on staying clean and sober and all my energy is focused on staying this way. Only took me 20 years to get here.
a2a home	Re: Physical damage from meth? Try glucosamine chondroitin. It has worked for me.
Steven	Re: Physical damage from meth? I actually tried that for a little bit with some really high grade liquid stuff but it didn't seem to have an effect. What products do you use? How long were using them before you noticed a difference?
nine years clean	Re: Physical damage from meth? Hi Steven and welcome! I just wanted to say congratulations on your 3 years meth-free! That is a great accomplishment. I was wondering how old you are? I think the fact that I got clean after 13 years of hard using at the ripe old age of 40 has a lot to do with many of the physical ailments I've battled over the last ten years clean. So far, though, no problems with my hands, and I can still play piano like I did when I was a kid...TG! Anyway, welcome. We are addicts, recovering addicts, loved ones and family members of addicts, and we welcome you with open arms and open hearts.