I read through this quickly but it seems you are barking up the wrong tree. Have him evaluated for an arthritic profile (blood tests). Also have him see a sports or musician hand specialist. Your primary care doctor is not helping you out. When he gets the blood tests sure they can check for Lyme. Tendinitis is most likely the cause or a muscle injury…Overuse is sorta a garbage term in general. They will also evaluate him for hand /arm weakness. If both arms could be coming from the neck region with a compression on the nerve. So hard to guess when we can’t see him.
But the theory is first rule out the obvious. Don’t go looking for Zebras that aren’t there.
@Knowsstuff , thank you. He was evaluated at the Performing Arts Clinic in Boston, and referred for what ended up being twice-a-week OT (“the obvious,” I think) that did nothing to help him all last semester. They did imaging, but no bloodwork. As many here have pointed out, the low iron/ferritin (as well as D) in a young man who is not a vegetarian by a long shot is very troubling. He is going to get follow-up based on those lab results and the intractable pain. I want to know what is causing the deficiencies, and find out if his inability to heal has anything to do with it…and also make sure that there’s nothing serious going on aside from that.
As far as I know, they just deemed it a garden-variety “overuse” issue, which, I assume, is pretty much epidemic with all the musicians in Boston! But now I will be sure that he gets an arthritic profile, and every test he reasonably can to rule out RA, Lyme, Celiac, nerve issues, or whatever else might be lurking. The bloodwork he got–just on my intuition when he was home for the holidays–has at least given us a new place to start to look.
GI conditions such as bleeding /ulcer can cause this in men with weakness pain etc. I am going into meeting but will send you something on general causes of anemia in men. You can Google it also.
Thanks again! I have actually been googling my brains out on that and pretty much everything else that could possibly be related for days! (Exactly the thing that doctors caution against doing, but until one of them comes up with a real clue I plan to continue )
Good luck. Glad he is happy?. Most everyone is deficient in D and that is easily remedied. The rest will take awhile to untangle but he will find an answer. Hope you can indeed relax however briefly.
Just because you were all so helpful with information and advice, I thought I’d share an update from my son (he just called me). He’s been taking the iron and D supplements for a few weeks now, and he thinks his hands are starting to get better! He said that yesterday he was able to play guitar for ten minutes (broken up into smaller segments–he is being very careful because this means so much to him), and he asked me to send up some of his guitar pedals . I’m thinking that warmer weather may help, too, if it ever comes.
He did go to Harvard Vanguard (Berklee students’ health center) last week and got tested for celiac and h Pylori–both negative. He will return in a few weeks to see if the iron levels are going/staying up, and the doctor advised him to return to the neurologist at the Performing Arts clinic for a follow-up. She also brought up the possibility of an endoscopy (scares him but he agreed to do it if the iron situation doesn’t stay stable). We will continue to explore every possibility. I’d like him to try going gluten-free again now that he’s had the test, just to see if it helps him as much as it helped me years ago.
I know that people don’t see a definitive link between iron deficiency and his pain, but I just can’t imagine that the lack wouldn’t affect his ability to heal within a reasonable amount of time. So I’m feeling optimistic (so is he, apparently).
(I wish I could still have college health insurance!)
And he still seems to REALLY like his Berklee classes and professors. He definitely belongs there.
Please send along prayers/positive thoughts that he continues to improve–your support has been invaluable.
This sounds hopeful. Thank you so much for sharing. Good job on your part and his. He is in our thoughts and so are you Here’s to a great semester developing.
@AsMother so nice to hear some improvement in his condition. Hope to hear more positive news after the next round of testing and care. All our positive thoughts are with you and your son!
Thanks, guys! @Knowsstuff , I THINK that the neurologist he initially saw (and who referred him to OT) did a nerve conduction test, but that was back in September (when I was still thinking that it was a simple overuse issue that would heal with a little rest and therapy, and therefore just assumed they did routine stuff), so I can’t say for certain. I just texted my son to ask him. Nothing a young man in college loves more than a Sunday-morning text from his mother regarding medical issues…again! I’ll let you know.
… @AsMother. At least you have a good attitude about. It. I am also sorry since I think I might of asked this question prior also. But as I said before young male with anemia definitely look at undisclosed GI issues as you seem to be doing. Looking forward to hearing a update and clean bill of health on your son.
@bopper , thank you for asking. He is, thank God, doing SO much better. He told me a few days ago that he feels pretty certain that he is gluten-intolerant (HUGE admission for a guy who never believed me when I tried to convince him that one’s diet can make a difference, and who has always been kind of horrified that I have to be gluten-free!). More importantly, he told me that he’s been able to play guitar “a lot” again (still not overdoing it, because he dreads ever feeling the way he has all year again). He also seems to be feeling better overall…feeling lousy for a week after experimenting with a teriyaki dinner convinced him about the gluten thing.
He just finished his iron and D supplements last week. His ferritin level is back in the normal range (23). Now it just remains to be seen if the level will stay where it should be once he’s stopped taking it for a month or two. If not, we’ll need to investigate further.
Just to be clear, it seems he DID really have overuse injuries from practicing so much in anticipation of starting at Berklee. What was troubling, and made me send him (against his will ) for bloodwork around Christmas was the fact that OT, etc., hadn’t even made a dent in the healing process. I just figured there had to be something else getting in the way.
I guess the moral of the story for other musicians is that if you’ve got an injury that’s not getting better with good management, get a good, thorough bloodwork panel done to see if anything is amiss! I’m still kind of surprised the people at the Performing Arts clinic wouldn’t routinely do that.
@HereWeGoAgain2018 , thanks so much. And the same to you and your daughter and the rest of your family, too. You’ve been SO supportive, and I know you’ve had a lot going on this year as well!
Thank you. We’re still much in the same place with condition being managed but not permanently getting relieved. Maybe D too should look at alternate diets. Will ask her to discuss this with PCP.
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