Journal of Sleep Medicine  2016;13(1):31-33

doi:10.13078/jsm.16006

Abnormal Nocturnal Sensation of Hands in the Patient with Hyperthyroidism.

Doh Eui KIM 1 ; Dae Seop SHIN ; Seung Cheol LEE ; Hyung Kook PARK ; Kwang Ik YANG

Affiliations

+expand

Keywords

Restless legs syndrome; Hand; Hyperthyroidism

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

The symptoms of restless legs syndrome usually involve legs, but can extend to other body parts. However, isolated body parts other than the leg are rarely involved. A 36-year-old woman presented for evaluation with a tingling and burning sensation in the both hands for one year. These abnormal sensations appeared in the evening and night, resulting in difficulty in falling asleep. The symptoms were relieved by shaking and bending of hands and wrists. Pramipexole was increased to 0.375 mg, and 75 mg of pregabalin was added, but her abnormal nocturnal sensation was not improved. Overt hyperthyroidism was revealed by thyroid function test: free thyroxin 2.99 ng/dL and thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.009 µIU/mL. One month later, her symptom showed much improvement after taking methimazole 5 mg twice a day. We report a case of abnormal nocturnal sensation of hands in the patient with hyperthyroidism who responded with methimazole.