Raynaud's Disease Support Group

It's my hands and feet, mostly. I rub my hands, but I don't know if that's good for this or not, just trying to get the blood circulating again. Physical activity warms me up, even, say vacuuming, or making beds, climbing stairs, etc.

It doesn't matter how hot I have the house. My hands and feet are ice cold. The second I go outside (Gloves on) my fingertips start paining and become stiff. I'm so tired of not having warm hands. I rub my hands together to get some circulation going.
I HATE THIS!

As a former US Army medic and someone who has been living with Raynaud's since 1990, I wanted to add a suggestion or two...

1) Wool socks, though scratchy, are the best option for avoiding overheating the feet (which results in sweating, which then leads to cooling, which of course leads to an episode). Wool, due to its inherant structure, provides the warmth we need, but also wicks the moisture away from the skin. Avoid the temptation to wear cotton socks under the wool socks (closest to the skin) as they do not wick moisture away.

2) Change your socks as soon as you notice the slightest cooling of the feet. In the winter, I usually change my socks two or three times daily. Despite the immediate relief, resist the temptation to put on socks fresh out of the drier. They will overheat the feet so quickly that you may find that you have to change socks within the hour.

3) Keeping my hands warm in the winter is probably the greatest challenge. If I know that I'll be outside for any period of time, I'll wear two pairs of gloves; wool liner inserts (should be available for cheap at any Army/Navy surplus store) and then my heavy winter gloves over those.

4) When I do have an episode that affects my hands, the fastest relief I can get is rubbing them together under warm water. As you probably know, avoid HOT water (the pain it causes is usually enough to keep me away from that). As soon as I can see the bloodflow being restored, I turn off the water and immediately dry my hands. The friction of the towel finishes the warming process for me.

Good luck, friends.

I have to wear about five pairs of heavy socks at a time when I am at home. I live in OK so the pain and discomfort is there most of the year. Fun Fun...

I use gel re-usable hand warmers. You boil them in water first (you can microwaveable ones too) then put them in pockets when you go out. Then when I need a heat boost for my fingers you activate a metal disc inside and they heat up rapidly, will stay hot/warm for about 10 minutes. I don't like wearing gloves very much, try to keep hands in pockets and move them about a bit to keep circulation going.

Gloves and boots are a must. robe and slippers, extra blankets and a space heater are good too. Also, if you come in from outside and you want to warm up, do it slowly- today I put my cold hands on a warm cup of tea and my fingers swoll up! :P

I can never get warm ever! I wear gloves indoors and outdoors. When I go out to eat and I want to drink something cold with my meal, I wear gloves and I still shiver so badly that my boyfriend puts his coat on me. I usually have to drink coffee or hot tea afterwards just to not shiver.

I, FOR SURE, wear big fuzzy socks. It's funny because my grandmother has given me fuzzy socks (and that's it + a card) since I was very young, and continues to do so even now that I'm much older. :)

Of course, the heater goes on full blast (even into the spring, like right now in March), and all the blanket get piled onto the couch. Heehee.

Anybody heard of Slankets? They are so cute and warm, and yeah, they are pretty much like a blanket, but I think they're better because you can pop your hands inside the sleeves: http://www.theslanket.com/

They're kinda expensive but seriously huge and roomy.

for first aid, I hold my white fingers or toes under warm running water. I could fill the sink or a bowl with warm water, but I like the movement of the water like massage.

I wear long underwear all fall, winter and spring. I wear DuoFold that is cotton inside and wool outside.

I wear heavy wool socks in bed and use many blankets, even in the summer.

When I'm somewhere roomy, I swing my arm forward and back or around in circles so the centrifugal force will move the blood to my fingers.

I wear mittens with liners most of the spring, fall and winter. They are from EMS. The mittens are something especially warm filled with down or a down-like material. The liners are silk.

When my toes turn white, I massage the blood down my legs toward my feet.

We have an electric mattress pad so the bed is warm when I get into it.

I made cloth bags and filled them with whole oat groats and buckwheat. A few minutes in the microwave makes them nice and warm and comforting. They are good for preheating the bed.

Spare a thought for me, I was a cross country skier and Desperately wanted to be a racer but having had Raynauds for most of my life there was no way I could ski in a thin lycra suit in atrocious winter conditions. I became a tourer and could ski the racing trails but I was wrapped up in duvet material and looked like an Eqyptian mummy.

In later life came better medication which helped but even better for me was the now prolific supply of winter sports clothing with the new fabrics which I can really recommend, not just for outdoor activities but for going to church or the supermarket.
Thermal fabrics, in gloves, underwear and in shirts and jumpers.
Fine fleeces in slimming tops or heavier fleeces as zipper jackets.
Windproof fabrics as zipper jackets or lined with fleece and perhaps with a hood as an outer jacket. Over gloves made of this are useful to carry in your pocket for that walk in the park when you turn a corner and the cold wind simply wafts over your bare fingers and thats your day spoilt.