Neuropathy, Ulnar Nerve Entrapment, or...?

@zil and @brucer
In 2004, living in Winston-Salem NC, I had the numbness and tingling in in left pinky and ring finger. It was accompanied by a bizarre hitting the "funny bone" feeling in my elbow that was difficult to turn off at times. I don't recall it radiating as high as the shoulder//neck. Advil etc helped reduce the feeling, but it wouldn't go away, so I finally got a referral to a neurologist who discovered the entrapped ulna nerve. He referred me to an orthopedic surgeon (hand specialty vs shoulder) who did surgery around my elbow to reroute the nerve so it was no longer trapped. It was believed that my years of biking (gripping handlbars/brakes) was the most likely reason. The surgery did wonders.
However, 5 years later, the numbness & tingling returned. I lived near Johns Hopkins in Baltimore then, and the orthopedic surgeon there entered surgically and found a record-setting amount of scar tissue build up at the site, and removed the scar tissue, and after PT it was much better again.
About 5 years after that, I developed idiopathic PN, and that's how I wound up at this great site. Nobody has linked my severe axonal sensorimotor nerve PN to my left ulna nerve by the way, as it's in both lower leg & arm limbs. But I'll share that I got shingles 2 years ago, sadly when I was near rock bottom going through yet another dilemma with throat cancer treatment. Most folks get shingles on their trunk region; mine was right near the ulna nerve old surgery scar on my elbow. The shingles pain and residual effects mimicked all the entrapped ulna nerve symptoms I had back in 2004, this time radiating up to the back of arm and lower neck. I guess I'm learning that injured nerves are very vulnerable!
I guess I'm saying you sound a bit like maybe there could be ulna nerve stuff going on; my PCP in NC had referred me to a Neurologist which did take time to get in and get the nerve conduction study to confirm. But at Hopkins, it was my Orthopedic doctor who got the ball rolling, and it was a quicker route.

Just a thought - is it possible your insurance provider may require a referral? I'd check with the insurance company.

Hi,
I had leukemia and when my immune system was suppressed, I developed shingles in the ulnar nerve. I have now had pain in my hand for 10 years. I finally got on amitryptiline which has helped but still hurts when brushed lightly by anything or when it is cold. I have tried so many other treatments!! Light therapy, acupuncture,and a needle in neck then heated, Lyrica , Gabapentin all to to no avail. But one that makes my pain feel numb is THC but I have to be careful in how much I take as I don’t like the high.
Any other ideas will be helpful!

Dreamscape, I can empathize. I have been the gambit! I will make this brief. I'm in a health care system that does not condone drug use. That said, they have administered drug after drug but I'm allergic to 85-90 %! Leaving me with an episode of anaphylactic shock and/or prescribing two (2) Rx from the same family-enough said about that nightmare!
Because I am a product of Vietnam and the sixties I finally had to seek other avenues for pain relief. I tried every and all manner of drugs and at the same time walking a tight rope because of the clear possibilities that I would get stoned or I would fail the UA test. But then I found what works <<for me>> I use the edible THC/CBD Candy!
I will not say that it stops all of the pain but it does reduce it to a mild roar. I apologize for not keeping this brief...

Besides gabapentin and cymbalta, memorization....alphabet backwards, 50 states forward and backward and a few others.

Welcome @dreamscape, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion on the same topic so that you can learn what @zil, @dbeshears1, @brucer and others have shared. If you click the link below it will take you to the top of the discussion where you can read through the posts.

-- Neuropathy, Ulnar Nerve Entrapment, or...?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/treatment-of-neuropathy/

It sounds like you have tried a lot of treatments with limited success. The Foundation for Neuropathy has a list of complementary and alternative treatments, along with a list of supplements that are known to help nerve pain here - https://www.foundationforpn.org/treatments/.

Have you tried any supplements to see if they might help?