Raynaud's phenomenon

NHLBI information on Raynaud's

Mayo Clinic information

Raynaud's usually affects the fingers and toes, but the ears, nose, lips or nipples may also be affected. People with this disorder are intolerant of cold. Exposure to cold or even strong emotions causes a brief interruption of the flow of blood to extremities such as the hands or feet due to spasmodic contractions of blood vessels. Affected areas will feel cold, numb, tingly or throb painfully for minutes, sometimes hours until the episode passes. In severe episodes, the pain may extend up the hand into the lower arm.

When an attack occurs, if you look closely, you may see the skin turn white when the blood flow is interrupted. Then the skin may turn blue while blood vessels dilate. When the flow of blood returns, the area may turn pink or red and then eventually return to normal color. Sometimes the affected skin will turn only white and red during an attack.

When Raynaud's occurs without any underlying disease, it can be caused from repetitive trauma such as working with vibrating tools that damage nerves and blood vessels.

Suggested coping strategies are:

- keep hands and feet warm to prevent attacks. This cannot be overemphasized. This may mean staying indoors, dressing warmly, wearing gloves and socks and avoiding handling frozen food. If you know you have these symptoms, keep warm gloves with you all the time, just in case.

- soak hands and feet in warm water to reheat them quickly if they become cold. The longer they remain cold, the longer the episode will likely last.

- massage affected areas to help blood flow.

Biofeedback techniques are useful in training the client to increase the temperature of the affected extremity, ears, or nose. (source: The Free Dictionary)

I got the best relief of muscle tension, muscle cramps, nerve pain, and Raynaud's symptoms from the Epsom baths. I'm not a bath person so I started using my home made version and some store bought lotions/oils. Cathy 2016

Raynaud's is a form of vasculitis (inflammationThe complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli such as pathogens or damaged cells. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue. of the blood vessels) in which vessel spasms temporarily block the flow of blood.

Raynaud's Phenomenon can occur due to an underlying disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, lupus or sarcoidosis. The ultimate treatment is to treat the underlying disease.

The attacks usually occur secondary to such conditions as scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, thoracic outlet syndrome, drug intoxications, dysproteinemia, myxedema, primary pulmonary hypertension, and trauma. The condition is called Raynaud's disease when there is a history of symptoms for at least 2 years with no progression of symptoms and no evidence of an underlying cause. (source: The Free Dictionary)

For a few weeks now, I've been noticing that my Raynaud's-type problems have diminished to the point of having (almost) completely vanished! I'm no longer as cold in the extremeties (fingers and toes) as I used to be! I often bike to work. It's been in the 30's Farenheit in the last couple of weeks or so in the mornings when I bike in so I wear the same gloves I have in past years. When the temperature used to be in the 40's before and I had the same gloves on, my fingers would be ice-cold - so would my toes. Now, in the 30's, my fingers and toes are just fine with the same gloves and shoes. I also find I dno't need to wear slippers in the house anymore. I went winter camping a couple of times with a friend over the last few years and my toes would always be ice-cold while he had no problem. Now I know why. Rico: 5 months on MP, 2006

Rico now writes “although I had made some progress with that a few years back, it's much worse now. Not severely, but worse than it was.” hmmm

My Raynaud's is still retreating. I've had my 4th dose of Mino and at the moment I'm typing sans gloves….again. It is a very pleasant sensation. I am having very few herxes now. Quite the turnaround from this time last week. I am having just some minor aches and pains and slight word retrieval issues, but my light sensitivity seems to be decreasing. I just ordered the DVD's and I am hoping to spread them around. I know like this is working.

The Raynaud's aspect is particularly interesting to me because some of my friends who are on 200 mg of Mino bid (as I used to be!)say that the raynaud's is the last symptom to go. Elijuh: 2 months on MP, 2008

Finger ulcers, a very common problem for 7 years after using a heavy in-line sander for a month, day in and day out, and triggered regularly by any form of chilling of limbs or body (Raynaud's comes to mind, but my dermatologist wouldn't go there) and that move very rapidly to bleeding cuts in something much less than an hour, went away almost immediately after starting the MP, except for one or two instances that had to be IP, as there was no chilling involved. It has not returned this cold season yet, even tho I have chilled my fingers to an icy severe pain breaking up frozen hamburger. Cynthia S: 1 yr anniversary post

Juliette starts MP 2006 with SYMPTOMS: Raynaud's (10 yrs), peripheral neuropathy, migrating joint pain, food sensitivities, menstrual irregularities, swollen lymph nodes, photosensitivityAbnormal sensitivity to sunlight and bright lights. Also referred to as "sun flare" or "light flare."

It's crazy cold here and my fingers are not blue! Usually at this time of year, the cold feels like it grips my veins and makes them go into spasms- leaving my fingers white, then blue. This has happened for at least 15 years. My body temperature regulation has improved tenfold! Juliette: Jan 25th, 2014

After exactly 2years and 4months of treatment, when everything seemed to go quite well…I ve come today to the point of asking myself if my SLE is not taking over again… Or if it's just an unexpected and very aggressive “normal” immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed.… I feel that something is not right at all. Like about one month ago I started to have heart problems again, it actually started with something that looked like an old “ordinary”heart crisis with palpitations, strong tachychardia, followed by moments of strong sensations of weakness and Raynaud syndrome. Andreea 2015

Andreea, it is quite common to have many symptoms resolve in the first 1-3 years on MP, what we think of as the 'low hanging fruit' that renewing immune activity has gone after, followed 2 to 5 years later by intense immunopathology as immune activity really gets to work in difficult areas. Hopefully in the early stages, one learns to manage herx, because for most people management becomes quite a challenge. With heart issues, a reminder not to overdo anything just because of early gains.

My mood issues are better than ever. I'm back on C and no mood issues so far. My teeth are hurting again and my ears are ringing very loudly. I had almost no Raynaud's issues this winter. Jon Paul Jones: 3 yrs on MP, 2012