Medical Advice - San Jose,CA

Hi T., I don't know anything about Raynaud's Syndrome, but I think you should see another doctor. I actually saw a doctor recently in San Jose that is also specializes in sport medicine (they do general medicine too) so a place like that might help you. This is where I went and I was happy with the help I got.

http://www.siliconvalleysportsmed.com/index.html

Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

Hi T.,
I've had Raynaud's since the early 1960's. I can tell you the symptoms change in severity from year to year. When first diagnosed my hands and feet were affected, but now only my hands. Some years I've been totally symptom free, other years the problem is persistant, especially in colder weather, and other years intermittant symptoms. I've managed the condition by wearing insulated gloves when outside in winter on the coldest days. Hot water is very effective most of the time. I was taking vaso-dilators in the 1960's when the symptoms first began and were most extreme, but that hasn't been necessary for a very long time. I can't say I've ever had pain associated with the Raynaud's. You might consider chiropractic and/or acupuncture for the pain, especially if tests are not showing arthritis of any kind. I have found both kinds of treatment very effective for alleviating symptoms of carpal tunnel and tendonitis (even migraines). I can make specific recommendations if you wish, just send me a message letting me know you want names & contact info. Also, if you drink diet sodas or ingest a lot of aspartame (nutrasweet), it has been found to be the cause of a myriad of symptoms, though usually neurlogical.

My daughter and several other family members have raynaud's and carpal tunnel. Physical therapy has been helpful, but most helpful of all was biofeedback treatment, in which she learned to warm her hands with her mind -- relaxing muscles in neck/shoulders/arms and increasing blood flow. Seriously -- it works amazingly well. Keeping your hands warm is especially important, so wearing gloves is always good. My daughter has fingerless gloves in many colors that she can wear during the day -- while typing, etc. Running warm water on your hands is a good quick help. At night, she has found that keeping hands below the waist is helpful, as blood flow decreases when your hands are raised. ( I knew a woman who even devised a belt to which she linked her hands to wear at night to keep from raising her hands.)

While I have not been diagnosed with Raynaud's syndrome, I do have poor circulation to my extremities and thus have extremely cold hands/feet often. I had questioned a neurologist about this as I also get spontaneous brusies in my fingers/toes, usually on the inside of a joint. Really these are more like blood bubbles (ick) and tend to hurt like hell and go away in 2 - 4 weeks. The neurologist said no to Raynaud's, she did suggest that I take Vitamin C and Rutin for the circulation. While I have not yet gotten the Rutin (Amazon to the rescue!), the Vitamin C (500mg daily) seems to help. I got another "bruise" on the underside of the 2nd knuckle of my middle finger the other day - remarkably it only hurt for an hour, then had faded to a red mark within 3 hrs, and gone by the next day. That never happened before!
I can also second biofeedback for increasing the circulation to extremities - when focusing on slow, smooth breathing and relaxation my hand temperature has increased 5-8 degrees F. Maybe try some when you go to sleep, and wear the fuzzy socks and gloves suggested by others. Can't hurt.

Keep your hands warm. Wear gloves or mittens at night or whenever it is even mildly cold outside. Good luck.

Do not stop until they give you a better answer than that!! Something is going on to make your hands and joints hurt!!

You are your own advocate and if need be push to get the answers. Don't settle.....that's why we all pay for health insurance and a heavy price for it too!

R.

There are 2 different things going on and may or may not be related...

While I don't experience Raynaud's in my extremities, I suffered MIGHTILY on my nipples during the first few months of breastfeeding my first child. It gradually lessened on its own, but when I described it to my midwife while pregnant with my 2nd child, right away she told me what it was and what I could do for it. So, almost immediately following the birth of my daughter (wanted to see if it was going to be a problem again... it was), I did what she recommended, and I cannot sing its praises enough!!!! It worked!!

I don't know for sure if what worked for me will work for hands, but I took 250mg of B6 for 4 days, then a maintenance dose of 25mg per day for about 10 months until I decided to try without the maintenance dose, and by then, I was fine.

The joint pain may or may not be related to the Raynaud's. I have really bad joint pain at night on occasion, and I've found that I either didn't have enough water the day before, or I haven't had a chiropractic adjustment in more than a week. (I'd love to see my chiro every week, but I just can't afford it, so I go every 2) Increasing my fluid intake, seeing my chiro, and watching my sleep positions (including pillow!!!!) usually does the trick for me. But I really sympathize with you because there were nights I just couldn't sleep it hurt THAT BAD :(

I always thought I was allergic to the cold or something. My fingers, toes etc would over react to cold. Turn red swell up and then as the temperature chages they go back to normal.
I was just told I had Raynauds as well. I was wondering why every year my toes turn purple athe the ends and then sort of peel off. Sounds wierd but it happens when they are cold.
I wear really warm socks all during the winter and at night, and often when I sleep. I exercise them alot and it seems to keepthe circulation going better. They do not turn purple as often.
Wish I had a magic answer but I am not into medication so I would say look into alternatives like diet and exercise.
Good luck to you.

I have back pain n terrible tennis elbow ssues n done many PT. didn't work at all. But Acupuncture works magic for me. I gave a try at the beginning coz I don't have anything to lose since my pain was killing so badly. I was lucky to find my acupuncturist, just one treatment, I am 80% better. Although I am not familiar with ur problem but I am sure my acupuncturist can help u. Yes I am that confident on their practice coz I don't need take strong pain killer to make through my days. If u r want to live ur life pain free n drug free, u should call for an appt. Now. My pain level was at 11 if u ask me to scale it from one to ten. ###-###-####. U can search for their website. It's hard for me to to switch windows on my phone. Good luck

I've also been recently diagnosed with raynaud's syndrome. My pain is more in my feet than my hands, but when I get really cold, the pain in my hands is awful. My doctor said the best thing is to keep my hands and feet warm. So perhaps you are getting too cold at night and it's causing flare ups in your hands. He told me that if the discomfort was too much and too often that I had the option of taking a very low dose of a blood pressure mediction. It's supposed to help with this problem. I would talk to your doctor about it. Otherwise, I would just keep gloves on at night. If you haven't already, you might want to have them check your thyroid. If your thryroid is off, it could be causeing you to be too cold in mild temps (which would make the reynaud's worse). Also, if you can go to a library and get a copy of the book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" there is a whole section on Reynaud's and how to help eliviate the symptoms and take care of it.

Hi,
I had severe pain in my wrist and down in to the thumb when I was nursing my daughter and it was definitely worse at night. Apparently the way I was holding her while nursing caused tendonitis. I wore braces at night and did pretty intensive physical therapy and it did take care of the problem. While I know nothing about Raynaud's syndrome, I think that seeing a physical therapist who specializes in treating the wrists and hands would benefit you. They do all kinds of tests and may be able to give you more insight in to the problem.
Good luck,
C.