Can Lyme cause numbness in arms, shoulder, or upper chest?

I've never seen anything to support that - well other than my own experiences. I too dealt with that, although as my nerves are healing I'm finding that it's getting less and less severe.

I spent years with my hands/arms going numb whenever I raised them above my shoulders - or trying to keep them at shoulder height became very painful, very quickly! Just not cool!!!

I have to sleep with a pillow between my arms and between my knees, plus have one of those "contour pillows" - the funny looking ones. But those things have really helped me.

Cppoly, I have the problem as well. In addition, I have a problem where if I have my wallet in my back pocket, my leg goes numb on that side while sitting on my butt. Also, if I cross my arms on top of my chest while laying down, they begin to get tingly and after 5 minutes or so they go numb.

There is a symptom of Lyme sufferers that may be due to a co-infection that thickens the blood. It sounds logical that if the blood is thicker, that the circulation system would have a hard time keeping pressure on raised arms or on veins that are being pinched.

As a side note to blood circulation--My local hospital offers a very nice and informative test (Stroke & vascular screening) in which they do an ultrasound of the arteries in my neck, heart, chest, legs, and arms. They also check the heart. I would post the link to it but I am not sure if it violates forum policy.

The ultrasound helps determine the buildup in your arteries to see if you are prone to arterial blockage or strokes. For people who are at high risk, the cost is free. I paid less than 100 dollars and you don't need insurance. I am sure that other hospitals offer a similar service. It may be a good idea for us Lyme sufferers since sometimes Lyme or its co-infections can harden our arteries, thicken our blood and cause other abnormalities.

Did not have it in chest but had tingling, numbness and pain in shoulder and pins and needles all the way down the arm into left hand.

Healing,
I hadn't thought of it as being an issue with thick blood before, but it does make sense!! Great idea! And if that were the case, it would definitely be part of the issues that can be attributed to Lyme disease.

I couldn't raise my arms above my shoulders at all for a very long time, as the pain that it would create was unbearable. Of course I was in a lot of pain during that time anyway.

And please do post that link! I would like to see it!!

I also would get this pain towards the front of the arm, just about to the bottom of the deltoid muscles. I wonder if that was due to think blood or a nerve issue? The pain got quite intense at times!

Yes, for me, these symptoms all went away some time during my Lyme treatment and have not returned.

Considering how many have posted about having had the same issues, I would tend to think that your issues with this are also from Lyme.

Healing, do you know which of the coinfections can cause thick blood. Just wondering if it's one that I've been diagnosed with(Lyme & Bart), or if I should look into another culprit. I think I have Babesia, too, but my dr said we'll address that one later, because the Bart is leading the show right now, and needs to be tamed.

Besides the tingling/numb extremities, I also feel like I'm going to pass out. The passing out feeling only happens a few times a week now, but before I started treatment it was multiple times per day. Thick blood definitely makes sense.

I see this is a older post - For a month now I am having numbess/tightness down left arm, shoulder, hand neck and chest - I came across this while researching Thoracic outlet syndrome/Brachial plexus - I too have Lyme disease -
My numbness comes also without raising arm - Only affects the left side -

As far as thickness blood - makes since but - my BP is not high

Did everyones subside?

This is been going on for 1 month now - with maybe 3 days of no numbness/tightness

cppoly - any relief for you?

This was surely a major problem for me. When I was at my worst with lyme, I couldn't handle being on the phone for too long, because holding the phone up to my ear would make my arm get numb. It also was a major problem for me sleeping - as I woke up several times a night because my hand would get totally numb. I like to sleep with my arm under my pillow - so when I would rest my head on my arm, it would happen. This still happens now in spurts.

Both Lyme and Bartonella hit the nervous system pretty hard as it attacks the myelin sheath - the protective covering of the nerves. There are some things that can be done to help heal this better though. One that seems to have helped a lot of people that have tried it is Lion's mane mushroom. Lion's Mane extract has been shown scientifically to repair the myelin sheath.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12675022

www.livestrong.com/article/509385-lions-mane-mushroom-for-nerve-damage/