Pain & tingling in arm/fingers after pre-admission testing...

 I went last Wednesday at the hospital to do all my pre-admission testing for the surgery.  The tech did a arterial blood gas test.  While she was drawing the blood, she must have hit a nerve.  I immediately felt a very painful electrical type shock running through my arm down to my fingers.  She said that arteries are entangled with nerves and sometimes you hit one trying to get the blood.  That it should go away in a couple of days.  Well it's been almost a week and I still have the tingling and pain especially when I straighten my arm out.  Has anyone ever had this happen to them?  If so, how long did it take for it to go away?  Thanks for your help!

Sorry your pre-op is causing pain- gesh shouldn't have to be. But the tech is likely right- she probably hit a nerve. There are a lot of nerves in the redial aspect of the wrist- one reason we don't look to start an IV in that location. I haven'y personally experienced what you described, but know that it will pass. There are many individual variations in how fast it will pass- few hours or a few weeks.

I have been taking sub lingual B-12 for many years now due to carpal tunnel in both wrists.

It really takes the pain away for me. I ended up having surgery on one of my wrist back in 2005 and was supposed to have surgery on the other one six weeks later, but since I am a big woosey about pain. I chose to use the sub B-12 instead of having the second surgery and it never fails to stop the electrical shocks in their tracks. It takes about 3 days to kick in.

Had anyone ever tested your B12 levels when you were diagnosed with carpal tunnel? Many times when people are diagnosed with carpal tunnel, they actually have B12 deficiency.  They symptoms can be very similar. carpal tunnel affects the nerves in your wrists and b12 deficiency also affects the nerves in either your arms, wrists or legs.  So, you may have just had an undiagnosed B12 deficiency and you were just treating yourself without even knowing it.

I had a nerve conduction study on both wrists and they came back bad. The B-12 certainly keeps the pain away when I take it.

A nerve conduction study just shows that there is a problem with the nerves - it can be nerve damage from carpal tunnel but it can also be from B12 deficiency.  If your B12 levels get low enough, it causes nerve damage and you did the exact treatment you needed.  I doubt B12 would have helped carpal tunnel , that makes no sense. Had you had your B12 levels done at the time you were having symptoms of the pain in your wrists and then again after the pain went away?  You want to have b12 levels up around 1500-1800 and anything less than 500 can cause nerve damage.

You say it keeps the pain away when you take it, you need to take it every day or you will get nerve damage and if your levels get low enough and for long enough, the nerve damage can be permanent.  Also, B1 deficiency can cause nerve damage.

The only B vitamin that I have heard some neurologists use to help in minor cases of carpal tunnel is B2.

They never tested my B12 levels before or after the NCS. I will definitely have them do that before I ever consider having surgery on that hand. I know my B-12 levels usually run quite high. I'm starting to cut back on the B-12 because I was told that it was not good to have them too high.

There is nothing wrong with a high B12 level. I had levels greater than 2000 for years and my hematologist - a doctor specializing in all sorts of anemia and blood disorders including iron, B12 and folate deficiency.  He said that any excess B12 that your body doesn't need you will just pee out but some extra is actually good for you since it gives you extra energy and prevents you from some types of anemia.  It is also good to have high folate levels.  IT is more dangerous to have low B12 levels.  Keeping your B12 between 1000 and 1500 for you would be ideal since you are lap band, you don't malabsorb it but you dont' eat as much as the normal person so you don't get as much from your food as you used to.  So, many lap banders don't take any but it is still a good idea.

I don't want to harp on this, I just want to give you as much information so you can go forward and help yourself.  If you ever have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

take care

I don't feel you are harping on me at all. I really appreciate all your help. Now lets talk calcium and stuff.
When I left the hospital two weeks ago they gave me a copy of the labs they had drawn. Here are the ones that were high/low.....What say you ?

HEMOGLOBIN   11.0  RANGE IS 12.0-16.0   Low

HEMATOCRIT    33.2  RANGE IS  36-46       Low

RBC COUNT      4.07  RANGE IS  4.2-5.2     Low

RDW                 14.6  RANGE IS   11.5-14.5  High

CALCIUM           8.5   RANGE IS   8.6-10.4   Low

They don't look all that bad right ? I'm taking calcium citrate 500 mg a day 3 x a day per nuts reccomendations.

I just noticed that you are now a revision to VSG - you now much be much more careful and vigilant with your supplement and getting your labs done more frequently.

According to your hemoglobin, hemocrit, rbc and rdw - you are anemic.  I still need more info though since there are different types of anemia - you might not have that information though.  You said your B12 has been high - how high and when was the last time it was tested?  Also, have you ever had your folate (folic acid) tested?  And another popular culprit is iron - so when was the last time you had your iron, ferritin, iron sat %, TIBC tested and what were your levels? With this info, I can determine what type of anemia you have and what treatment you need.

Are you still taking B12 regularly and if so, what dosage, is it sublingual, injections or a tablet that you swallow?  How often do you take it?  Now that you had the VSG, you need to take either sublinguals or get injections - 1000mcg of sublinguals daily or monthly injections to start and then adjust based on your labs.  In order to absorb B12 in tablets that you swallow, you need intrinsic factor which is in a part of your stomach that no longer exists.  You also get much less in the foods you eat since you eat that much less.  So, therefore you need the sublinguals which go directly into your bloodstream.

Folate deficiency is pretty rare in VSG's but it can happen.

Iron deficiency is very common and you need to take iron every day.  IF you are taking a PPI's to prevent or stop acid reflux, then you need to take certain types of iron that are highly absorbable in low acid environments called either carbonyl iron or heme.  Heme is probably the best but extremely expensive and not usually necessary.  So, I would advise starting with carbonyl iron.  You can either get it over the counter as Feosol but make sure the bottle says carbonyl iron because they also make a ferrous sulfate iron which if you are taking a PPI, you won't absorb it.  Ferrous sulfate is not as good of an iron and much harder on your stomach and very constipating.  Carbonyl is easy on your stomach and non=constipating.  To go with iron, you need to take it with vitamin C to help with the absorbtion - for every 30mg of iron, you need 200mg of vitamin C.  Another option is to go to vitalady.com and get Tender irons - they are 60mg capsules and already have the necessary vitamin C in them.  They are much cheaper in the long run, since the bottle has 400 capsules and they have the C, so you don't have to buy separate C plus they last a long time.  They have really helped my iron, ferritin, hemoglobin and hemacrit levels.  As far as your dosage, I can't recommend anything until I know your iron and ferritin levels. Many start at 60mg, some start at 120mg - my NUT started all patients at 150mg.

Your calcium is really low.  I know your range starts at 8.6 but that is a pretty low starting range and we dont' want to be at the bottom of the range.  We want to be in the middle around 9.2 - 9.3.  When you are below or at the bottom it means you are either not taking any, not taking enough or not absorbing it.  A calcium level too low is not good for your bones just like a level too high is also not good for your bones. 

You say you are taking 500mg of calcium citrate - 3 times per day.  What brand are you taking?  How far apart are you taking them?  How  many pills do you take at a time to get the 500mg?  Do you take your calcium with anything else?  Do you take it with or within 2 hours of your iron or thyroid medication?    I don't have your vitamin D or parathyroid information in front of me, what was your vitamin D and how much do you take?  Did you have a parathyroid level taken and if so, what was it?  Have you had a DEXA scan?  Everyone should have one done at the 1 year mark to see the status of our bones and then every atleast 2 years after that depending on the results - if they aren't good, you need it yearly.