Looks like over the past couple of weeks my husband has developed Raynaud’s syndrome. He has not been to the doctor yet, but from what I am seeing on the internet that is the condition. A few times after being in the cold, he had tingling in a couple of his fingers and then they turned white at the ends. They fully recovered in a short time, after being warm again and getting his blood circulating. Anybody have this condition. Any advice for him?
It runs in my H’s side of the family. It can impact both extremities.
Good heavy smart wool like socks and warm insulated boots are a must for feet.
Mittens instead of gloves for hands. Use double insulated mittens or mitten liners inside the outer mitten. The shared body heat of the hand together is much more effective at keeping hands/fingers warm.
I have it to a light degree. For me it’s harmless just annoying! Can usually be resolved within a couple minutes by massaging my fingers hands - I’ve never had it in my feet.
Good gloves help. Weirdly as cold as it’s been I haven’t had any issues this year so far.
I have it. My fingers turn white or purple. It can be annoying.
I live in the northeast and do a lot of hiking - and hike with a couple of people that suffer from Raynaud’s. They’re constantly managing gloves/mittens/hand warmers. Even in temperatures that most of us wouldn’t wear anything on our hands, they may be wearing gloves.
Depending on where you live and how much of an outdoors person he is, I guess the advice would be to always have some gloves with him and maybe a pack of hand warmers to open if the gloves are insufficient.
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Raynaud’s can exist by itself but also be part of an autoimmune disorder. The doctor will probably do an ANA and other labs to make sure. Other posters provided great advice.
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I notice my fingers start to ache after being out in the cold and I just ordered these mittens:
Expensive, but where I live they are an investment.
I’ve had Raynaud’s since high school. I even went south for college to try to help. Several years ago a new doctor suggested amlodipine, a daily pill. It’s amazing; no more blue and white and then painful fingers.
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My dad and d 22 both have it (skipped me somehow). My dad used to wear fingerless gloves in the house all winter and use a foot warmer. My daughter’s case is fairly mild but she wears a lot of fingerless gloves also in situations where I wouldn’t be wearing gloves at all and just tries to keep her hands warm. With my dad they could never get a reading on the pulse oximeter at the doctor’s office which was annoying and they never believed us when we said they wouldn’t get a reading. But overall I wouldn’t say it affected either of them a whole lot (easy for me to say of course).
My friend had Raynaud’s for years. After seeing your post, I asked her how she dealt with it. She said the key is to get your core body warm in order to get fingers warm.
However, she does not have Raynaud’s anymore after she started eating ground flax seeds with her breakfast everyday. She believes that’s what has helped improve the condition, and by now, eliminated it. She tried several medications in the past and does not want to recommend any.
In general, Flax seeds are good for our health. I may as well start adding them to my breakfast for health benefits. I don’t have Raynaud’s.
I have Savior Heat battery powered heated gloves, and I love them. They’re technically for wearing inside winter gloves, but I wear them alone when I walk the dog.
I don’t have any issues with my feet. They are always toasty warm.
This happens with me all the time. I usually ask for the oximeter they put on your ear.
My son has it; what helps is keeping his core temperature warm, ensuring that he has mixture of mittens and gloves on hand tailored to the weather and activity, and rechargeable handwarmers.
Don’t buy the packets anymore! There are many USB rechargeable handwarmers that last for hours that you can stash in your pockets now. He typically only will have one at any one time, but on occasion he’s used two: one in each pocket. (They’re fantastic; I don’t have Raynaud’s but I do get cold hands easily, so I take one in my pocket and switch off hands as I walk the dog.)
I have had Raynaud’s for several years and it can be pretty annoying at times, especially when playing winter tennis. I always keep a rechargeable hand warmer in my purse. I do find if I get ahead of it then it’s not too bad. However, once it really hits and my fingers are fully white, it seems like it takes forever to get them to return to normal and feel better. For winter tennis I wear a heated vest and use the rechargeable hand warmers plus the disposable ones (they seem to get hotter).
Looking into this further, my husband is immunocompromised, which may be what is causing his Raynaud’s syndrome. He will ask his doctor next visit.
@kiddie wondering if your husband is immunocompromised or has an autoimmune disorder. It is usually either primary or associated with autoimmunity. I cannot find anything on Raynaud’s and someone who is immunocompromised and am curious!
One of my kids used to have Raynaud’s in her teens, and now has erythromelalgia. She has two autoimmune disorders. Both conditions cause changes in color. She now has to hold her hand up when it is hot out. Otherwise it gets bright red and has painful tingles and burning.
The Erythromelalgia and Raynaud’s: A Guide to Red Hands | Acibadem Health Point - ACIBADEM Hospitals - Acibadem Health Group
I have a diagnosis of lupus and high antibodies for scleroderma, both of which can cause Raynaud’s but so far so good. On the other hand, my friend has always had Raynaud’s but has no autoimmune disorders whatsoever.
I didn’t want to get into too much detail in my original post but he has Lymphoma (in remission). I didn’t initially make the connection, but after the comment here about autoimmunity I googled and it can happen to people with Lymphoma. He is considered immune compromised and it shows up on all his bloodwork.
I have it in both fingers and toes and it’s extremely bothersome to me. It takes very little for my feet to feel like ice blocks and that feeling doesn’t go away for hours. I wear socks 24/7 and I often wear hand/toe warmers inside the socks. My hands are very small and it’s very difficult to get good gloves that aren’t cumbersome. I do have other autoimmune conditions.
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I have Reynaud’s and Hashimoto’s both. I buy expensive wool socks from Vermont, make sure I keep moving throughout the day, and don’t ignore my fingers and toes when they are cold (they won’t just warm up on their own). In the summer, I often elevate my feet as I seem to have the summer version as well – my feet will get really hot and stay that way.
Reynaud’s is common but it’s not nothing. Ignored for the long term, you can end up with nerve damage. That being said, our house is kept at 65 and if I keep my shoes on, I do fine. When I go outside for any length of time, I put my gloves in the dryer first so they are warm!
I have never been diagnosed with Raynaud’s but I have often wondered if I have it. I do have Hasimotos and vitiligo. Raynaud’s can be pretty painful for nursing moms, so moms of daughters/DILs who have it might want to give them a heads up if they are planning to have a family and nurse.
I love me a rice bag I can stick in the microwave and real wool shearling slippers. My husband has some of the rechargeable hand warmers but to me a rice bag is much better at home because I can put the palm of my hand on it or the back of my hand. Doesn’t work as well when you are not near a microwave, though. I do have a heated steering wheel in the car and love that thing. My feet get cold so easily and also get sweaty so easily and then they are cold and clammy and it’s just bad. The LL Bean shearling slippers go on my feet first thing when I get in the house. Uggs or Bearpaws with the real wool are great too. Faux shearling does not work. It has to be real wool and you can wear them w/o socks and they won’t stink. There’s some kind of antibacterial action from the real wool shearling that keeps the stink away and the shearling is also more breathable and keeps the sweat away. Highly recommend.
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