Raynaud's Update

I was first diagnosed with Raynaud's Syndrome more than 10 years ago and I still suffer from it on a daily basis in the winter.

My doctor prescribes 2.5 mg of amlodipine beylate for my Raynaud's. When I first started on the medication I had a noticeable improvement in my symptoms. Now I'm not convinced that it actually does anything, since I don't notice a decrease in episodes on the days I remember to take it vs. the days I don't.

I get Raynaud's symptoms in my hands, feet and nipples.  My hands are by far the worse, though the nipples hurt like a son of a gun!

For me the best solution is to simply not allow myself to get cold. From November on I dress in layers - bra, long sleeve silk long john shirt, tank top or t-shirt and a sweater. That's for being inside at the office! For outside I add another long sleeve t-shirt.

High quality wool socks are a must and I always wear flannel lined Crocs around the house (with the socks). I take my Crocs with me as slippers whenever we go to someone else's house too. I have elbow length finger-less "gloves" that I wear. They don't have the individual finger holes like some finger-less gloves, but look more like a mitten without the top part. I ensure that I never, ever touch anything cold or metallic with my bare skin. If I don't have gloves on, I pull down my sleeve to cover my hand to open a door. I wear oven mitts to hold a bowl of ice cream while I eat it. I avoid kitchen activities that involve touching cold things, but I'm the first to volunteer to wash the dishes as it warms me up.

At the office I keep a hot water bottle handy that I hold in my lap and I have a hand warmer that plugs into the USB port of my laptop to heat it up. We also have a half dozen reusable hand warmers around the house and buy the charcoal activated ones from the dollar store.

I guess it's become more of a way of life for me then something that has a medical solution.