I will try my best to explain what is going on.
When I get upset and sometimes for no reason at all my forearm and hand (usually my right arm/hand) feels like I lose strength and I have a strange jello feeling weak tingling feeling in my arm from the elbow down and cannot grip anything tightly with my hand and have trouble making a tight fist. It feels weird like my hand has lost all strength and has turned to jello.
I don't know what is causing this but I am scared. I have noticed if I get upset it happens more often, especially if I am trying to write or hold something and I get emotionally upset I almost lose my grip and can't hardly hold anything or grip a pen to write. If I try to write while my arm and hand feel like this my hand starts shaking and I have to calm down and wait for it to pass.
Does anyone else ever feel like this or know what it could be?
Any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Might want to check into an anxiety issue.. When I get anxiety from stress, my arms get tingly and go numb. Hopefully that's the case with you too. Good luck.

Hi OkiGal,

I too sufferd from pain, numbness and tingling in my arm and hand along with a laundry list of other problems. Anxiety and stress made the condition worse but mine stayed with me all the time. The worst part was the deep throbbing pain that didn't respond to any medications. I'm sure that anyone with nerve or deep muscle pain knows exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, in my case the pain was the result of muscle knots causing refered pain. I forget the exact muscle name, but knots in the muscles directly over your shoulder blade can interfere with the entire nerve system that runs down your arm. It will be on the same side as the arm pain itself. To see if this is a possibility, reach over your bad shoulder with your good hand. Locate the boney shoulder blade then move your fingers up slightly to the softer muscle directly above. Now apply gentle pressure to see if you get a response. That would hurt like crazy on me and change the sensations in my arm.

The technical term is myofascial pain syndrome. I responded to physical therapy and dry needling treatments by a neurologist. You want to find somebody that specializes in trigger point therapy, myotherapy or myofascial release if this is the cause. It took me about 2 months and 14 treatments to really see results but I feel much better. Good luck.

I almost forgot to mention, several weeks ago I posted a list of "dizzy stretches" that are still here somewhere. These stretches also apply to the arm numbness and are worth a shot. They helped me.

[This message has been edited by rgraf8 (edited 01-08-2003).]

OkieGal,
I would recommend seeing your doc about that. I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but weakness in a limb is a sign of stroke or TIA, and if it happens when your upset maybe its because of a rise in blood pressure. Maybe a doc has already ruled it out for you...but if not you might want to talk to yours.