Hello All,

I'm a 48 year old female who was diagnosed by a rheumatologist with early Duputren's in my right hand about 5 years ago. I went to see him because my finger joints were occasionally inflamed and he showed me a very early node on the palm of my right hand, diagnosed me, and said and that I might need hand surgery at some point, but I was far from that.

Since then, I have noticed slight contraction in my right palm, but i can still lay it flat. Here's the thing I'm wondering about however--my fingers seem to have the opposite problem that I read about associated with Duputren's (finger stiffening versus pulling in.) The finger joints stiffened so I can't bend them quite as far. But still, no biggie...my right hand is fully functional. Maybe in a stabilizing period?

But THEN, my left hand started and seems to be progressing quickly. I have been a long-time user of low dose benzodiazopenese for sleep (big, big, huge mistake of my life..more dependency-creating than Heroin and messes with all your body systems.) I have had extreme difficulty getting off them. I was interested to read this on the site: See: J. Rothmeier and W. Froscher "Connective tissue changes during longterm anticonvulsive therapy" Fortschritte der Medizin 107(1989) p743-747 und P. Coral et al. "Dupuytren's and Ledderhose's diseases associated with chronic use of anticonvulsants"

Benzos are anti-convulsants and in fact I'm dealing w/lots of muscle spasms as I taper. Anyone else see a correlation w/benzo use and Duputren's? I did read about Phenobarbitol, but didn't see benzos so I wondered.

Anyway, at last I am having success slowly ditching the benzos by doing a two year daily microtaper in milk w/the medication (if you can believe it.) One year to go. But before I started that, under a neurologist's strong recommendation, he had me aggressively cut the Ativan I was on at the time and that's when the left hand contracture started quite quickly.

Mostly, what I have noticed progressing at an alarming rate, is that my middle, ring, and pinkie fingers on the left hand are bending less and less, making it difficult to grasp. (Thumb and index finger totally fine.) Recently, I notice that if I fan my hand, I experience pain in the tendons on the top of my hand (not palm) above the ring and pinkie fingers. Is this experience consistent with early Dup? What I read seems to describe the opposite: fingers pulling in. My joints are hyperflexible so I can still hold my fingers at a 90 degree angle to my palm.

My priority is ideally completing this medication taper over the next year before considering other treatments or procedures since the taper is a dicey process already and all kinds of things seem to complicate withdrawal. BUT I would like to have use of my hand when I am done, partciularly since I am a writer and need my fingers for typing. I was interested to read about the radiotherapy and wonder if I should investigate this now. I'd appreciate any advice or confirmation that this in fact Dupuytren's and not something else. (For instance, a side effect of long-term benzo use can also be movement disorders. I wonder if this is that?)

I related to the story I read about Dup and poor circulation as my hands are always freezing so maybe that has paid a part as well.

Thanks for any info!

Chris

spanishbuddha:

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You mention a lump four years ago, but no further mention of nodules or cords which are the main symptoms of DD that lead to contracture. Do you have nodules or cords in the palm, or fingers on the palm side or even along the sides?

You say your fingers are stiff, presumably you cannot curl them into the palm so easily? Can you do so with assistance from the other hand? If not is it the joints, or perhaps you have knuckle or Garrod's pads that might inhibit closing the fingers? There can be other causes than DD that cause 'stiff fingers'.

I would visit a hand specialist for a diagnosis.

Chris,

I had a nodule in the middle of my palm and a cord that went from the base of the middle finger through the palm. RT got rid of the nodule but the cord remains. I can't close the hand as tight as the non DD hand. My middle finger is stiffer and I can not bend it as far as the other fingers. My grasp in the DD hand is not a tight as the non DD hand. Finger stiffness can also be caused by osteoarthritis. I have arthritis in the DD fingers. The arthritis occured at the same time as the DD.


Lori

lori:

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Chris,

I had a nodule in the middle of my palm and a cord that went from the base of the middle finger through the palm. RT got rid of the nodule but the cord remains. I can't close the hand as tight as the non DD hand. My middle finger is stiffer and I can not bend it as far as the other fingers. My grasp in the DD hand is not a tight as the non DD hand. Finger stiffness can also be caused by osteoarthritis. I have arthritis in the DD fingers. The arthritis occured at the same time as the DD.


Lori

Edited 03/18/13 16:14

In my case, I had RT and didn't feel or notice anything but improvement. The nodules have gone down in size considerably and the active growth has diminished.

I don't think the RT will affect your hand stiffness.