Severe carpal tunnel out of nowhere at lower than previously well tolerated dose

[AllGoodThings]

I began taking rHGH for the first time ever in March. Started with 3iu, and over the course of weeks, increased by about 1 or 2iu every week or two, until I got up to 14iu. The full dose was taken at bedtime. Throughout the upward titration, I noticed occasional tingling in my hands, but this would be relatively minor, and would resolve quickly at each dose, maybe lasting a couple of nights at most, and didn't even occur with every dose increase. I did move up from 14iu to 18iu for about 2 weeks, and had literally no adverse effects at that dose beyond one night of tingling arms/hands, but realized it was too much from a long term financial standpoint, so I ended up settling on 12iu as a long term dose. Overall, it seems I was very tolerant of GH when compared to what I've heard from others. The first week of August, I injured my bicep tendon. As part of the healing protocol, I switched from 12iu at bed time to 4iu three times a day to help promote healing. I did this for about 6 weeks, until mid September. Again, I had zero negative effects during this protocol. After mid September, I switched again, but only to lower my dose a bit as the disappearance of SSA made me more frugal again with my GH supply. I went to 3iu three times a day; morning, pre-workout and before bed. That's the protocol I've been following for the past several weeks. About 5 or 6 days ago, I woke up feeling like I had severely sprained my left wrist. My left hand was essentially useless for the next 3 days, to the point where just holding my arm perpendicular to the floor and forcing my wrist to support the weight of my hand was extremely painful. My wrist and hand felt swollen, and was somewhat visibly swollen, and my knuckles felt very tight and I had difficulty making a fist there was so much swelling in my fingers. My right hand did have some similar yet milder swelling of my knuckles, but zero wrist pain or visible swelling. These were effects I'd never felt during the day before, even at a single 18iu nighttime dose. Three days ago I completely discontinued GH in order to help the swelling subside. Right now, about 6 days later, my wrist still seems a bit swollen, but the pain is all but gone. It does still feel a little stiff, and the knuckles are still ever so slightly tight/swollen as well. I don't sleep deeply enough to have somehow injured myself in my sleep without knowing it. I've been on the same 2 brands of GH (Opti 40iu gold tops and SSA 40iu black tops) since I started in March, and have been using the same vendor (SSA) for the past 2 plus months, with what I believe are the all from the same batch, although other than cap color, if have no way to know for sure. Sodium and water intake are approximately the same throughout. Does anyone have any clue what could have caused this? Did I get a vial with a mega (double?) dose of GH in it? Did I develop some intolerance to it somehow? Thanks in advance.

 

[RockyP]

I began taking rHGH for the first time ever in March. Started with 3iu, and over the course of weeks, increased by about 1 or 2iu every week or two, until I got up to 14iu. The full dose was taken at bedtime. Throughout the upward titration, I noticed occasional tingling in my hands, but this would be relatively minor, and would resolve quickly at each dose, maybe lasting a couple of nights at most, and didn't even occur with every dose increase. I did move up from 14iu to 18iu for about 2 weeks, and had literally no adverse effects at that dose beyond one night of tingling arms/hands, but realized it was too much from a long term financial standpoint, so I ended up settling on 12iu as a long term dose. Overall, it seems I was very tolerant of GH when compared to what I've heard from others. The first week of August, I injured my bicep tendon. As part of the healing protocol, I switched from 12iu at bed time to 4iu three times a day to help promote healing. I did this for about 6 weeks, until mid September. Again, I had zero negative effects during this protocol. After mid September, I switched again, but only to lower my dose a bit as the disappearance of SSA made me more frugal again with my GH supply. I went to 3iu three times a day; morning, pre-workout and before bed. That's the protocol I've been following for the past several weeks. About 5 or 6 days ago, I woke up feeling like I had severely sprained my left wrist. My left hand was essentially useless for the next 3 days, to the point where just holding my arm perpendicular to the floor and forcing my wrist to support the weight of my hand was extremely painful. My wrist and hand felt swollen, and was somewhat visibly swollen, and my knuckles felt very tight and I had difficulty making a fist there was so much swelling in my fingers. My right hand did have some similar yet milder swelling of my knuckles, but zero wrist pain or visible swelling. These were effects I'd never felt during the day before, even at a single 18iu nighttime dose. Three days ago I completely discontinued GH in order to help the swelling subside. Right now, about 6 days later, my wrist still seems a bit swollen, but the pain is all but gone. It does still feel a little stiff, and the knuckles are still ever so slightly tight/swollen as well. I don't sleep deeply enough to have somehow injured myself in my sleep without knowing it. I've been on the same 2 brands of GH (Opti 40iu gold tops and SSA 40iu black tops) since I started in March, and have been using the same vendor (SSA) for the past 2 plus months, with what I believe are the all from the same batch, although other than cap color, if have no way to know for sure. Does anyone have any clue what could have caused this? Did I get a vial with a mega (double?) dose of GH in it? Did I develop some intolerance to it somehow? Thanks in advance.

It’s possible that you have some asymmetrical hypertrophy of the flexor retinaculum on the affected side. It’s a very small space for the nerves and vessels to travel through, and reduction in the size of that tunnel can produce significant effects. Justin Shier spoke about needing a release surgery on his wrists due to similar issues. Might be good to get a visit with an orthopedist / hand specialist for an MRI and possible surgical intervention. If that’s what it is it’s unlikely to get much better without surgery, and may persist even without GH. If you’re concerned about the doc being a prick just be honest that you used to take GH but you stopped and this is still going on. It should be fine. They love to operate.

 

[Ghoul]

I began taking rHGH for the first time ever in March. Started with 3iu, and over the course of weeks, increased by about 1 or 2iu every week or two, until I got up to 14iu. The full dose was taken at bedtime. Throughout the upward titration, I noticed occasional tingling in my hands, but this would be relatively minor, and would resolve quickly at each dose, maybe lasting a couple of nights at most, and didn't even occur with every dose increase. I did move up from 14iu to 18iu for about 2 weeks, and had literally no adverse effects at that dose beyond one night of tingling arms/hands, but realized it was too much from a long term financial standpoint, so I ended up settling on 12iu as a long term dose. Overall, it seems I was very tolerant of GH when compared to what I've heard from others. The first week of August, I injured my bicep tendon. As part of the healing protocol, I switched from 12iu at bed time to 4iu three times a day to help promote healing. I did this for about 6 weeks, until mid September. Again, I had zero negative effects during this protocol. After mid September, I switched again, but only to lower my dose a bit as the disappearance of SSA made me more frugal again with my GH supply. I went to 3iu three times a day; morning, pre-workout and before bed. That's the protocol I've been following for the past several weeks. About 5 or 6 days ago, I woke up feeling like I had severely sprained my left wrist. My left hand was essentially useless for the next 3 days, to the point where just holding my arm perpendicular to the floor and forcing my wrist to support the weight of my hand was extremely painful. My wrist and hand felt swollen, and was somewhat visibly swollen, and my knuckles felt very tight and I had difficulty making a fist there was so much swelling in my fingers. My right hand did have some similar yet milder swelling of my knuckles, but zero wrist pain or visible swelling. These were effects I'd never felt during the day before, even at a single 18iu nighttime dose. Three days ago I completely discontinued GH in order to help the swelling subside. Right now, about 6 days later, my wrist still seems a bit swollen, but the pain is all but gone. It does still feel a little stiff, and the knuckles are still ever so slightly tight/swollen as well. I don't sleep deeply enough to have somehow injured myself in my sleep without knowing it. I've been on the same 2 brands of GH (Opti 40iu gold tops and SSA 40iu black tops) since I started in March, and have been using the same vendor (SSA) for the past 2 plus months, with what I believe are the all from the same batch, although other than cap color, if have no way to know for sure. Sodium and water intake are approximately the same throughout. Does anyone have any clue what could have caused this? Did I get a vial with a mega (double?) dose of GH in it? Did I develop some intolerance to it somehow? Thanks in advance.

Carpal and related joint sides are all from water retention initially, then excessive soft tissue growth from high doses starts to contribute to pressure on the nerves.

Overall water retention is driven by changes to kidney function, and localized retention around ligaments plays a part as well,

You've been taking high enough doses all these factors could be playing a part, but I suspect kidney issues may be the primary culprit, Have you done any labs during this time?

 

[BigDadd7]

Sounds like a good time to pull an egfr

 

[AllGoodThings]

Carpal and related joint sides are all from water initially, then excessive soft tissue growth from high doses starts to contribute to pressure on the nerves.

Overall water retention is driven by changes to kidney function, and localized retention around ligaments plays a part as well,

You've been taking high enough doses all these factors could be playing a part, but I suspect kidney issues may be the primary culprit, Have you done any labs during this time?

Sounds like a good time to pull an egfr

Cystatin C test from June 11th 2025 is the same as the Cystatin C I just had on October 10th, and eGFR went up 4 points between the two dates due to slightly lower creatinine levels this most recent time.

 

[AllGoodThings]

My most recent bloodwork did show some significant iron deficiency/anemia, along with low RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit, despite being on a decent amount of AAS

 

[TheDieselZ]

Have u been running the same hgh brand the entire time?

Edit - nvm I overlooked the part of the post where you talk about this.

I used to get CT’s and I don’t anymore. Could be from switching brands, could be from the tb4 and bpc helping offset it. Could also just be because I’m leaner now. I hate cts beyond annoying.

 

[AllGoodThings]

Have u been running the same hgh brand the entire time?

I've only taken hgh from 2 different sources, and been on the same one for the past 2 months

 

[Ghoul]

My most recent bloodwork did show some significant iron deficiency/anemia, along with low RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit, despite being on a decent amount of AAS

Sounds like it's genuine anemia.

I would get Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio, first urine of the day sample for it to be accurate (most concentrated). Above 30 your kidneys are stressed, above 300 definite damage.

Stressed / damaged kidneys increase plasma volume (diluting iron, hematocrit, red blood cells, etc) along with increasing severity of the water retention / edema sides. If kidney's check ok you can start looking at other things that might be interfering with iron absorption.

 

[AllGoodThings]

The odd thing is that up until the past few days, I've had far below average edema at all doses of hgh, despite having kidney issues from the outset.

 

[RockyP]

The odd thing is that up until the past few days, I've had far below average edema at all doses of hgh, despite having kidney issues from the outset.
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Do you have any other areas of edema on your body? Ankles / feet / legs?? Weight gain? When I think systemic issues related to kidneys or heart (CHF) I think more generalized edema / fluid retention, often gravity dependent (worse in the feet / ankles). If it’s just hands / wrist, one worse than the other, it makes me lean more towards structural issue at the wrist.

 

[AllGoodThings]

Do you have any other areas of edema on your body? Ankles / feet / legs?? Weight gain?

No, just the one wrist. It's about 90% resolved at this point, just very minor swelling and some minor pain at the very extremes of the range of motion of the wrist