@valj224 Thanks for sharing this. One thing I’m curious about: when your hand cramps, do your fingers actually curl or twist into an abnormal position, or is it more like an extremely painful muscle cramp without the fingers being forcibly pulled out of position? Mine will curl inward and sometimes twist sideways so violently that it feels as though someone is trying to break my fingers, so I’m trying to understand how similar our experiences really are.

I have completely eliminated alcohol because I discovered an almost frighteningly reliable connection. After a weekend of moderate-plus drinking, I could almost count on a devastating hand cramp occurring, sometimes regardless of what I was doing and even in the middle of the night. Stopping alcohol has helped me significantly, but I want to emphasize that the problem has **not gone away**. It often feels as though the cramp is lingering on the sidelines. On certain days my right hand is naturally weaker, the fingers are noticeably less dexterous, and I know I need to be careful. And regardless of how good the hand has been feeling, I can reproduce the problem very reliably by driving for more than about an hour.

That driving connection made me wonder whether blood flow might be involved, especially because my right hand frequently feels colder than the left. I recently had an arterial Doppler ultrasound of the right arm and hand, including positioning the arm somewhat like I hold it while driving. The blood-flow study came back completely normal, so that theory has become much less likely.

I’m also not convinced yet that taking baclofen regularly is preventing anything. I can still provoke the cramping by driving long enough. What does seem to help is taking baclofen when I first feel the cramp beginning, although the medication can leave me very tired.

The one medication that has been remarkably reliable for me once a truly debilitating hand cramp starts is a very small dose of cyclobenzaprine. It seems to shut the episode down, but unfortunately the tradeoff is significant sedation and it can essentially wipe out the rest of my day.

I’ve even tried pickle juice after reading about studies and anecdotal reports that a small shot can sometimes interrupt muscle cramps. Unfortunately, so far it has not done anything noticeable for my hand cramps.

I’d really be interested in hearing exactly what your fingers do during one of your episodes, because your combination of neuropathy, ulnar symptoms, hand cramping, gabapentin and baclofen sounds unusually similar to parts of what I’ve been dealing with.