1

Raynaud's/Raynauld's (Read 957 times)

Cntrygal


    Anybody else dealing with Raynaud's? It's really aggrevating. I found a website selling "heatbands" (http://www.heatbands.com/index.html)... and I've almost convinced myself to give them a shot.
      Not I, but I know plenty of folks who do. I recommend mittens over gloves - and pull your thumbs in if it is really cold. Also, dont forget hat, scarf, etc. Makes a big difference.
        i have this - my hands and feet are almost always freezing. cold drinks are the WORST. or carrying ice cream to the checkout at the store...but maybe that's for the best Smile does it bother you when you run? my hands are cold about 80-90% of the time i'm awake, but about a mile into my run, they're warm and toasty. it actually feels weird for them to be warm because i'm so used to them being so cold all the time.
          Yes, I have this as well. No matter how warm the rest of my body gets during a run or while I'm skiing, I've still come back with frostbite or the beginning of it on my fingers and toes. I deal with it by just running on a treadmill in the winter and this year I bought battery powered heaters for my ski boots. If you do try those heatbands, definitely let me know how they work!
            My mother has this, and before she goes out to run/walk she runs her hands under very cold water for a minute or so, then warm water for another min until fully warm and then continuing to alternate cold/warm for 8 minutes or so. It doesn't completely stop the cold hands when she goes out, but helps a bit, the pain especially.
              I think I just experienced this in my fingers for the first time yesterday and today, after my runs, in the near freezing temps we're having here in Sunny California. My hand felt kinda numb yesterday, enough to notice, but then it went away went i went the hot tub. But today, a few of my fingers started turning really white and felt numb/dead. Let me add that I have always been one to be cold whenever everyone else is okay. I even wear tips-cut off wool gloves as i am typing this, and at work, too. Anyone know if I should worry about the symptoms just starting out of blue and go see a doctor?
              Next up: A 50k in ? Done: California-Oregon-Arizona-Nevada (x2)-Wisconsin-Wyoming-Utah-Michigan-Colorado
                from what my doc has told me, there's not really anything that can be done. a friend of mine started seeing symptoms of raynaud's when she first started biking in cold weather and, like you, she had never had anything like that happen to her before. she didn't go to the doc for it, just got some better gloves. i've got it as a result of having rheumatoid arthritis, so if you've got one of the related conditions you might want to let your doc know at your next checkup, but my hands and feet are cold about 90% of the time and the doc hasn't even been able to give me any kind of solution besides telling me to wear warm socks and gloves Smile
                  from what my doc has told me, there's not really anything that can be done. a friend of mine started seeing symptoms of raynaud's when she first started biking in cold weather and, like you, she had never had anything like that happen to her before. she didn't go to the doc for it, just got some better gloves. i've got it as a result of having rheumatoid arthritis, so if you've got one of the related conditions you might want to let your doc know at your next checkup
                  Thanks for that link - very interesting information regarding related conditions, 1 of which I have, and another of which I have symptoms of. I think I'll mention it next time I go to my Doctor, which will probably be this week since I feel an eye infection coming on and need to get drops to stop the itching.
                  Next up: A 50k in ? Done: California-Oregon-Arizona-Nevada (x2)-Wisconsin-Wyoming-Utah-Michigan-Colorado
                    I have this problem too. It is hereditary I think. My fingers turn white and I lose all sensation in them.
                    I'm condemned by a society that demands success when all I can offer is failure. -Max Bialystock
                    Ed4


                    Barefoot and happy

                      Google "Dr Murray Hamlet". He spent many years researching cold weather health issues for the US Army, and he has a procedure for treating Raynaud's that has supposedly helped many people. I heard him describe it at a lecture once. It goes something like this: You need two containers/coolers full of warm water (about 105-110 degrees F), and it needs to be cold outside (preferably below freezing). Wearing comfortable indoor clothing, sit indoors for five minutes while soaking your hands and feet in warm water. This is to get your extremities nice and warm and circulating well. Then go outside, still lightly dressed, and again soak your hands and feet in the warm water. Stay there for 5-10 minutes. The point is to let your body start to cool down while keeping your extremities warm. This retrains your body to keep circulation in your hands & feet despite the cold surroundings. He recommends 5 times per day, every other day. Most people see significant improvement after 50 repetitions. I haven't tried this myself, but if anyone does I'd be curious to hear how it turns out.
                      Curious about running barefoot? Visit the new barefoot running group.
                        I have this also. I've been dealing with in for quite some time (probably over 3 years now), and it has continued to get progressively worse, both in frequency and intensity of the flare-ups. I finally went to my doctor for it, and he has referred me to a rheumatologist. I'm currently waiting on some lab work to come back to determine if it's primary (no other underlying rheumatic disease) or secondary (a symptom of some rheumatic condition). In the meantime, they've put me on some medication that has helped quite a bit to decrease the flare-ups. So, although there is not anything to "cure" Raynaud's, it can be controlled. We're working on trying to find the right dose of the medicine, that will eliminate the flare-ups, but without producing other side effects. Or, I may need a different medication all together. It's a trail and error process to find the right drug for each individual case. Lorrie