This is the second post in the series of spotlight diseases that can come with a diagnosis of Lupus, but equally can exist all by themselves. Today I am continuing to draw on my own experience and have picked Raynauds Phenomenon. A little known disease that causes me discomfort and annoyance.
So what is Raynauds?
Raynauds is a daily common condition on it's own and in short it affects the blood supply to the hands and feet. That is what you will read on any information site about the disease.
Along with this you will find out that your blood vessels will have temporary spasms which blocks the flow of blood to your fingers and toes. Usually triggered by extremes in temperature, it turns your hands and feet red, white or blue.
Symptoms include;
+ Pain and numbness + Pins and needles+ Discolouration of the fingers and toes+ Stiffness in the joints
My experience of Raynauds
From reading the above you may think that this is the least of my worries considering the many other things happening to my body. In fact I personally find Raynauds a general, everyday annoyance.
For me ANY temperature change will set it off, even a tiny drop in temperature leaves my fingers so painful I can barely move them. An issue I find in winter to be really annoying at work.
Along with this I get it when I am to hot too. My fingers will swell up and go bright red; it's not feminine and it's extremely painful! It's definitely something I am very aware of in the heat....I like to call them my man hands....
Along with the redness and swelling in the heat, my hands go bright purple/blue when they are cold. Ok so I hear you saying "put on some gloves" but this happens in summer when the temperature drops in the evenings....I don't want to wear gloves in the summer!
What can you do to help?
This is the question and I can only tell you what I have found to help. Starting with avoiding warming your hands to quickly....please people it will HURT!
In general the only thing that really works for me is to try and keep my body at a reasonable temperature. In the summer I use a desk fan on my hands and in the winter gloves are the only answer. It's not easy and sometimes I do get self conscious wearing gloves inside but it does avoid the pain and swelling.
I also find exercise helps. Now I can only do so much regular exercise, so try hand and feet exercises that you can find on many physiotherapy websites. These are great for getting the blood flowing.
Finally there are some medications that you can take. I chose not to as I take enough anyway, but if you have it severely bad then consider talking to your doctor about those available including Nefedipine (UK drug). I am not sure if there is a similar available in the USA but there will be I am sure. As with all medications they have side effects so way it up against your lifestyle and remember they do not cute Raynauds as there is no cure unfortunately!
I hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything about this...I will try and help as much as I can.
