What makes hands swell?

[Circe]

The last two or three weeks, my hands have gone up by, like, half a size. I haven't gained weight ... it hasn't been unseasonably warm (if anything, this is usually the time of year when my hands go DOWN), and though I was in a womanly way during that time, it wasn't for three weeks! I drink plenty of water and I'm not consuming more salt than usual, so ....

... WHY? Does the universe KNOW I got comfortable with my nice little fingers and bought an emerald eternity in the hopes that I'd be able to squeeze it on once in a while? And how do I make it GO AWAY?

Seriously, though - is there any class of medicine or anything that makes people retain water, or that makes fingers/joints swell? No pain, thankfully, so I'm not suspecting anything bad ... I just wants my rings on!!!

 

[SB621]

Circe are you just eating more? Not actually gaining weight but just eating more then usual? I notice that around holiday time when I'm stressed, eat more and work out less then my # on the scale might not change my rings do feel tighter.

 

[Mayk]

I notice when I'm flying my hands and feet swell.. when the flights are long cross country it takes more than a day sometimes...

more salt in my diet will also puff me up

 

[missy]

Could be hormonal fluctuations. As Sarah suggested are you moving less as that will cause water retention- sitting or standing for too long as well as lack of exercise. Dehydration, eating processed foods (tons of sodium in stuff you may not even realize) and certain meds including but not limited to steroids, contraceptives containing estrogen, high blood pressure drugs,antidepressants,and NSAID's. Also, indoor heating causes my fingers to swell. If you don't think any of these are contributing and it doesn't go away I would make an appointment with your internist to rule out any health conditions like hypothyroidism to name one that could cause this symptom however it is most likely something innocuous like increased sodium intake (and not realizing it) and less activity. Hope you can start wearing your gorgeous rings soon Circe!

 

[movie zombie]

salty food seems to be the culprit in my case................at this time of year.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Lifting arm weights? Oh and alcohol.

cheers--Sharon

 

[JewelFreak]

And pregnancy, heh heh.

 

[TooPatient]

There is a lot of salt in foods at this time of year. You may not even realize you're eating it (like food prepared by a family member).
Also lots of sugars and fats in the foods around now.

Cheese gets me. So does sitting more than usual. Oh, and latkes...

 

[Niel]

thats what i was thinking. Salty foods.

 

[minousbijoux]

Funny this thread should come up today. Yesterday, I walked vigorously uphill for about an hour; I was planning on turning right around and walking home. But I was feeling a bit tired, and hot and decided to relax and read for a bit. When I looked at my hands, I was stunned as they looked like sausages. I wanted to take a pic for posterity because they were amazingly plump and round-y looking (didn't bring my phone though). I know it was electrolytes, as I got home, had some water and a few sips of apple cider and my hands were back to normal in 20 minutes. But how weird is that?

 

[Ally T]

Minous - my rings are tight when I exercise too. If I go out for a run & forget to take them off, then there's NO WAY those baby's are coming off for the shower. They're not coming off for a good 2-3 hours afterwards

 

[marcy]

Mine swell when I am warm and after I eat salty food.

 

[arkieb1]

+ 1 heat and/or salt have that effect on me. There are also a whole world of medications that can make your fingers swell too, from hormonal based products to antidepressants.....

 

[minousbijoux]

+ 1 heat and/or salt have that effect on me. There are also a whole world of medications that can make your fingers swell too, from hormonal based products to antidepressants.....

This I did not know but it totally makes sense.

 

[OneFifty]

My hands swell when I work out too. Especially if I run outside when it is cold. Sometimes I can't even close them all the way, but that goes away pretty quickly afterwards.

 

[asscherisme]

too much sodium.
some medications including some high blood pressure medications and steroids
many many other things can also make them swell

 

[iheartscience]

Have you been doing a lot of work using your hands recently? I painted my house furiously every day for a week when we were getting ready to put it on the market and my hands got really swollen, apparently from all the paintbrush gripping. Pretty sure I posted a thread here or in the PS FB group freaking out about how to get them off! My hands also get bigger when I work out a lot, especially when I lift weights.

Could also be salty foods, hormonal, or just general weight gain. I gain weight everywhere, including my hands, when I pack on some extra lbs. (ETA nevermind, saw that you haven't gained weight. Bet it's hormonal or related to medicine or doing a lot with your hands lately.)

 

[Circe]

Y'all have given me a lot of food for thought! And hopefully this is one of the topics that might be helpful to others in the future ....

I *have* had a killer pressure/tension headache the last few weeks, so I've been taking aspirin almost every day ... And aside from that, it's made me disinclined to cook, so there's also been lots of takeout! So methinks I'll try knocking it off with the aspirin and the takeaway and see if that changes things ... seriously, the ring I bought for my ring finger now fits my pinky. Not okay!

P.S. - oh, how I wish I'd been working out or working with my hands ....

 

[asscherisme]

Chinese food take out and the next morning my rings are SNUG. Sounds like the take out could be the culprit.

 

[Circe]

MELATONIN.

 

[missy]

MELATONIN.

Circe, does this mean your hands are back to normal I hope? So it was Melatonin that caused them to swell?

 

[Circe]

MELATONIN.

Circe, does this mean your hands are back to normal I hope? So it was Melatonin that caused them to swell?

Sadly, not yet - that was just my "eureka!" moment. I've cut down on sodium, I've checked all my other medications, and nothing has helped. But a few months ago, I saw melatonin on a shelf in Duane Reade and thought, "hey, I've been meaning to try that!" The one I saw happened to be the extra-strength kind, 10mg. I slept like a ROCK. It was great. I'd pop one before bed, get sleepy inside of an hour, and sleep soundly for 8 hours, which has NEVER happened to me before. I mentioned it to my doctor, who kind of raised an eyebrow and suggested I try a lower dosage - like, say, 3mg? - because there's never any point taking more of a thing than you need to. 3mg did nothing, so I've been taking the 10mg every night.

Googling generally gets you nothing but high praise for it, even when you add "swollen joints" to your search terms, though that IS how I found out that, a) generally people only take between 1mg and 3mg, and, b) that it's usually just a temporary thing to help you adjust to a new time-zone or something, and, c) it can interfere with conception. So, fine, I started tapering down and was doing another random search when I came across a GERD board where somebody who'd been taking it for 7 months had written in with a PSA and some links to medical journals.

Apparently, the stuff can aggravate auto-immune conditions ranging from lupus to rheumatoid arthritis. YIKES.

So now I've gone off it cold turkey (and feel like I didn't sleep a wink ), but, well, that's just too scary to risk, AND it seems like the likeliest cause. The knuckles didn't go down overnight, though I guess that would be to much to expect. Now I'm crossing my fingers and trying to figure out how long an elevated hormone level will take to go back to normal after supplementation ....

 

[iLander]

Have some beer or wine. That usually helps me zonk right out.

 

[missy]

MELATONIN.

Circe, does this mean your hands are back to normal I hope? So it was Melatonin that caused them to swell?

Sadly, not yet - that was just my "eureka!" moment. I've cut down on sodium, I've checked all my other medications, and nothing has helped. But a few months ago, I saw melatonin on a shelf in Duane Reade and thought, "hey, I've been meaning to try that!" The one I saw happened to be the extra-strength kind, 10mg. I slept like a ROCK. It was great. I'd pop one before bed, get sleepy inside of an hour, and sleep soundly for 8 hours, which has NEVER happened to me before. I mentioned it to my doctor, who kind of raised an eyebrow and suggested I try a lower dosage - like, say, 3mg? - because there's never any point taking more of a thing than you need to. 3mg did nothing, so I've been taking the 10mg every night.

Googling generally gets you nothing but high praise for it, even when you add "swollen joints" to your search terms, though that IS how I found out that, a) generally people only take between 1mg and 3mg, and, b) that it's usually just a temporary thing to help you adjust to a new time-zone or something, and, c) it can interfere with conception. So, fine, I started tapering down and was doing another random search when I came across a GERD board where somebody who'd been taking it for 7 months had written in with a PSA and some links to medical journals.

Apparently, the stuff can aggravate auto-immune conditions ranging from lupus to rheumatoid arthritis. YIKES.

So now I've gone off it cold turkey (and feel like I didn't sleep a wink ), but, well, that's just too scary to risk, AND it seems like the likeliest cause. The knuckles didn't go down overnight, though I guess that would be to much to expect. Now I'm crossing my fingers and trying to figure out how long an elevated hormone level will take to go back to normal after supplementation ....

OK got it. Well after initially reading your post about melatonin helping you sleep well I was going to get some for my problems sleeping. Especially now with my shingles when rest is so critical. However after reading your follow up explanation I am going to pass. There's a lot of auto immune conditions in my family (including several that I have) so no need to risk exacerbating what I have or getting another.

I hope you find the source of your hand swelling and also something that helps your sleep. Please let me know if you do!

Have some beer or wine. That usually helps me zonk right out.

I don't recommend this to help one's sleep. Though it might initially help you fall asleep it doesn't allow for a good quality sleep and also might disrupt the length of sleep. I mean, great that it works for you iLander but not sure that's the rule. More like the exception.

 

[Circe]

iLander, if only! My tolerance is sadly high enough that it would take too much for a family night to make me drowsy (probably goes hand in hand with needing ten times the normal dose of melatonin somehow). I've had some luck with chelated magnesium in the past ... let's see if that has any effect.

P.S. 24 hours later, my knuckles aren't quite back to normal, but they are less swollen than they've been in ages. Freaky ....

Missy, try chelated magnesium, if it doesn't disagree with you. It's not as much of a knock-out miracle, but it does make me sleep way better than I do naturally ....

 

[missy]

Circe, glad to hear you are making some progress with the hand swelling. And thanks for your magnesium rec. I have been taking 600 mg of Mg citrate for the last decade though for this very issue. I find it doesn't hurt. I take 400 mg Magnesium with lunch and 200 mg with 4 mg chlorpheniramine (antihistamine) right before bed. I find this combo generally helps. It's just recently within the last 2 weeks I have been having major sleep issues and in fact I am almost sure it is what lowered my immune system becoming susceptible to shingles.

I like the magnesium citrate form for easy digestion.

 

[purplesparklies]

Circe, you might also try cutting the melatonin dose in half again. So, split the 3 and take one of the halves = 1.5. Melatonin can be a bit finicky. For some reason, 3 mg. does not help me sleep but 1.5 does. Can't remember the reasoning but a Dr. once recommended I try the very low dose and it works! Good luck!