On the subject of Raynaud’s and Me there is a very uncomfortable disease or syndrome or phenomenon that has a complete hold on my body.I do remember a bit with my mother always complaining about how cold her hands got and her fingers getting numb from the cold. I am not sure if this disease is handed down through genes or not, but at 57 years old Raynaud’s has it out for me. For years now I have had much difficulty with cold temperatures and my extremities; nose, ear lobes, fingers (not just the tips), toes and feet and even knee caps in extreme cold weather. Start to alleviate symptoms with good gloves.
When the cold weather starts to appear Raynaud’s starts to kick in as soon as my body recognizes cold. I believe that our mind and body react to environmental changes with out our intent to adapt. So, as soon as my body senses a bit of cold it starts retracting all of my blood to my body’s core to sustain warmpth where the body needs it most to survive. Therefore, very little blood flows to the tips of our appendages leaving them accessible to very little internal body heat which is produced by the blood flowing through our body. No blood flow no body heat which leaves us to freeze. If you think about when a body dies and has zero life there is no heart pumping hot blood throughout our system to keep the body warm. When a body dies the blood flow stops and the heat dissipates till the body becomes cold and stiff.
When you have Raynuad’s your body reacts very quickley and before you know it your fingers are starting to get numb and putting gloves on may be to late. It appears to me that when this reaction happens it will have to be ridden out and it takes some time for the fingers to thaw out. I was making juice this morning and when pealing oranges with my fingers and my body reacted so my left index and middle finger went numb and froze. I ran hot water over them and then had to go sit near my fireplace for a while till my hand warmed up. I had previously stepped out my front door to get some firewood to get my wood stove going, other than that I hadn’t even been outside and Raynaud’s still got my left hand, very uncomfortable. Fear runs through your mind that you are going to freeze. It Sucks! I only wish to stay warm. Very hard to do in wintertime. A waming creme may help.
You must be logged in to post a comment