Hello Nigel,

I am happy to hear that you are not considering any type of hand surgery at this time. You still have plenty of time for your hand to come back. Just keep working with it everyday and try to do the many normal things you did with the hand before GBS. I do hope that the ENG does not show CIDP and you have continued recovery.

Jim

Fran,

I would not even consider any type of hand surgery until you are at least 4 to 5 years post GBS. I had surgery at 2 years and it was a BIG mistake. Just keep working those hands as much as possible and give your body a chance to heal them.

GB

Dave-n-t,

It is way too early in the game to be even considering surgery on your hands. You are only 14 months post GBS. Sounds more like you need more therapy to get those joints moving again because you must not have gotten the right therapy to begin with. I had very little use of either hand at the two year mark, but all joints were very flexible (due to very good therapy) and then made the mistake of allowing two surgeries on my right hand out of desperation to get some use of my hands. They totally screwed the hand up! And the kicker is that after I had the surgeries I started getting the use of my hands back very slowly. When I got into my 4th year post I became able to do many things even though my hands are very weak. I am over 20 years post and still do not have a lot of fine motor skills, but can do just about anything I need to if given enough time to do it. The right hand is nothing but a claw due to the surgeries, but I still can do a lot with it. The left hand is the best because I would not let them touch it after the botch job they did on the right hand.

Get those joints loosened up and try to use your hands as much as possible all the time, even if your fingers don’t do what you want them to do. Most of all, give your hands time to come around and stay way from that knife. This is just my opinion…

Good luck in what ever you decide.

GB

i had the same thing happen to me. i was misdiagnosed in 1999 with carpal tunnel. the symptoms didn’t quite fit that of carpal tunnel, but the ortho. proceeded with the surgery anyway. there was no improvement whatsoever. of course in 2001 i was walluped with gbs and was completly paralyzed. it was then that the (partner) of my neurologist said i had gbs back in 1999 and it was not carpal tunnel. drs. should really listen to their patients and their symptoms. it was after a 2nd and third opinion i was properly diagnosed. as for the anxiety, i personlly take effexor and xanax. it works wonders for me. unfortunatley antidepressants need to be experimented with, so you can deal with the side effects if any. i finally found the right one, and you will too. don’t give up hope. something will work for you. feel better.:)

jquinny,

I totally agree with you concerning having surgery on your hands after having GBS. I feel that the doctors I had were more concerned with experimentation than my welfare. Below is a paragraph of a past entry that I posted on this forum about a year a one half ago. The surgeries I mention were performed in 1988 & 89.

[COLOR=”Purple”]After two years I was desperate to get the use of my hands back. I had no movement in the thumbs and could not extend my fingers. I could drag my fingers open and then close them around what ever I wanted to hold onto. I was referred to a Hand Specialist through my Occupational Therapists. This specialist told me that I would never regain anymore use of my hands than what I already had. He said that after 2 years there would be no more improvement. So, trusting in his knowledge, I consented to having surgery on my right hand (I’m left handed). He actually wanted to do both but I said no to this because I remembered what it was like to have no use at all of my hands, and unable to do anything for myself. Turns out that this was a wise move on my part since my hand ended up being a very screwed up mess after two surgeries. I then found out that after two years your hands can come back to some degree. I can now use my thumbs and am able to extend my fingers completely on my left hand. Although I have lost most of the strength in both hands I can now do almost anything that does not need the use of a lot of fine motor movement or heavy duty strength. I mean, forget about picking up a coin off the table or opening a packet of ketchup at the local fast food restaurant! The surgeries that were performed on my right hand hampered its use considerably. I would have been able to do a lot more if I had decided not to have these surgeries. It’s a pretty good claw now! The doctors wanted to do another surgery to try and correct the damage that had been done, but I decided that I did not want to be a guinea pig anymore. I guess what I want to say is that it took over 4 years for me to get the use of my hands back to any degree and that if I had it to do over again I never would have let a doctor start cutting me.[/COLOR]

GB