Holiday Time

Exams, blizzards and travel oh my! December was one of the most hectic months I've had in a long time -- thus the lack of posts -- and left my Raynaud's Project a bit unattended. A disastrous snowstorm left the outside tundra too cold even for me, and my warm water began to freeze a few minutes into the treatment. I kept it up when possible for the first two weeks or so, but then ventured to the desert on the 20th for Christmas. Without my cold climate I couldn't do the submersion technique, bummer! December was an ironic twist of too hot and too cold for my poor Raynaud's. But I did get some kick butt gloves and a 20 degree sleeping bag to keep my fingers and toes warm until I can beat this disease.

I guess the good thing is that I haven't had many Raynaud's symptoms out here where it's 50 degrees or more. I had 5-6 really severe attacks in back in the mountains before I left, and I had very serious blistering on my toes where they had been constantly cold. This is disappointing as I would have liked to have completely cured my Raynaud's by now, but understandable since my treatment was sporadic.

I guess my New Year's resolution will be to keep project consistent. Four times every other day until warm weather hits!

Days 10-24

OK, I will admit I took a few days off of doing the technique due to all of the Thanksgiving madness and I have noticed some increased Raynaud's symptoms. But overall since I have been using the Submersion Technique I have been having incredible results with my Raynaud's. It is freeeezzzzing here in Boone, but when I have done the technique consistently I've had almost no symptoms. I am beyond thrilled!

I was so impressed, I decided to take my boyfriend out to see the Leonoids meteor shower for his birthday the Saturday before last, and I had zero Raynaud's symptoms. Sitting out in the cold and dark for several hours was something I never would have dreamed of doing a few months ago. I wasn't at all cold or numb. We actually ended up having to leave because he got too cold. It wasn't me for once! I'm enjoying being used to the cold.

It was a little disappointing that my Raynaud's came back when I wasn't doing the technique consistently. Although the Submersion Technique is not as difficult to schedule into my life as I thought, I would like to be able to cure my Raynaud's without having to do it all the time. Especially since I will be going to college next year and would rather not have to sit outside my dorm with a bucket of water – which would probably get me some weird looks. I'll be interested to see if maybe once I do this for a little bit longer I can maybe wean my self off the technique, and continue living without the Raynaud's.

Days 4- 10

Goodness, I'm behind on posting my results! I had a hectic exam week at school last week. But I have none the less been keeping up with my submersion technique. I take my quick survey every night so I have a hard copy of my results. Even if I wasn't doing the submersion technique I think tracking my symptoms is a really good idea for Raynaud's. It's interesting to see just how much of an impact Raynaud's has on my life. It makes me think about what may be affecting my Raynaud's. If any of you would like to start tracking your Raynaud's symptoms – even if your not using the submersion technique – using the survey just email or comment on this post and I'll send you a copy. I'm working on trying to get an online interactive version coded so that it is easier for people to send me their results. But for the time being the current survey is working fine. I'd love to hear your Raynaud's stories!

I've switched to doing two repetitions in the morning and two at night. It ends up being about 30 minutes total in the morning and another 30 minutes at night – including time to get the water and what not together. Not bad at all, considering how much potential this treatment has for drastically improving my life. I took advantage of the time change last weekend, so I could get up 30 minutes early and do the submersion before I go to school at eight. It really isn't that much of a hassle.

Like before I'm having less severe Raynaud's symptoms. My attacks seem to sort of slowly get bad and then slowly go away. It's not like the sudden – BAM can't move my fingers – I had before. I am still having symptoms, so there is more work to be done! But good things come to those who wait, right?

I have noticed that I am much less cold in general. Sitting outside for a total of 40 minutes a day will generally build up one's tolerance for cold. This is a nice little bonus, since I am one of those people who is always FREEZING. I'm terrified that when I am 80, like my grandma, I'll be turning the heating up when it's already 80º outside. I made it through my boyfriend's playoff soccer game the other day in about 30º weather, and wasn't dying of cold. This was quite an accomplishment for me!

Days 1-3 with the Submersion Technique

I used the submersion technique for the first time on Friday before I left for school, and it was cold – about 30° F outside! I took Saturday off, and did it again on Sunday morning – this time at about 23° outside. I did four repetitions, inside for 3 minutes and outside for 7 minutes. I was surprised that my fingers didn't go numb when they were in the bucket of water outside. I have always found that even wearing heavy gloves if the rest of my body is cold my Raynaud's goes off.

I will admit that other than going out to do the submersion technique, I stayed indoors most of the weekend, which may have affected the number of my Raynaud's attacks. I only had one really noticeable attack and it lasted for about 10 minutes. I feel like the severity and numbness was less than usual – but then again that may just be because I stayed inside. The initial color change in my fingers and toes was about the same as it usually is – very white and corpse like. I do however feel like the relief process was much more gradual than usual. The symptoms just sort of went away and there was no noticeable burning or tingling. The color change as the blood returned was very very gradual.

My toes did hurt pretty badly even when I didn't have a specific attack, but they normally do. I don't know if anyone else has this problem – maybe I'm just a Raynaud's-hypochondriac – but I have constant pain when I'm not cold or stressed. I feel like I may have actually permanently damaged one of my toes, because it always hurts.

I'll be interested to see how my symptoms change as I continue with the submersion technique. I'll do it again tomorrow. I may switch to doing two or three repetitions in the morning and two or three at night just to fit my schedule better. But I'm definitely going to keep up with the technique. I am so fed-up with my purple toes!

Off we go....

  They're calling for snow this weekend, and my toes are getting pretty nippy! I think it's about time to see if that submersion technique I mentioned earlier actually works. I've created a pretty simple survey (shown bellow) to track my results and see if all this bucket nonsense is really worth it. I'll be posting my results daily to let you guys know how it's working.

Number of Repetitions ________

Time on Inside Repetitions ___________ Time on Outside Repetitions _____________

Approximate Temperature Indoors __________ Temperature Outdoors____________

Daily symptoms after using the submersion technique-

	Much Worse	Worse	No Change	Better	Much Better
Numbness					
Frequency of Attacks					
Pain					
Color Change					
Relief Time					
Pain/ Prickliness upon Relief					
Overall Pain (even when not cold)					

But here's the deal, it doesn't really do much good if I'm the only one doing this. For all we know I could miraculously be cured of my symptoms by some divine intervention. So I need you – the well researched internet goer – to try this at home. The more people we have trying this experiment, the more accurate the results will be. Tell your friends and family members with Raynaud's, and your doctors. Shoot, if your dog has Raynaud's his paws should be in a bucket of water too! (Ok, just kidding about the dog, but you get the idea)

If it seems too time consuming to do the submersion technique the way I posted before feel free to mix it up. Try shorter times more frequently, or one long time just once a week, whatever works for you! I just want to know what the best way to treat Raynaud's is and more data is better than no data. Just make sure to let me know what you're doing. Also if you're treating your Raynaud's a completely different way let me know. I'm always eager to learn more about Raynaud's. Feel free to email me or comment on the blog with anything you have concerning Raynaud's – even if you just want to complain for a while.

If you, or anyone you know, are interested in trying out this technique just shoot me an email at nataliedeuitch@yahoo.com, or post a comment on this blog and I'll set you up with a quick survey to get all your hairy background details, and then give you everything you need to help us find a cure to miserable winters and purple toes. I promise, it'll be worth it.

Medications For Raynaud's

Fixing your Raynaud's may be as simple as taking a medication or supplement. Here are a few of the more common medications.

Drug Therapy:
There are numerous traditional medications that have been proven effective in treating Raynuad’s. But as with most meds results may vary drastically between users, and there can be numerous negative side effects. The most commonly prescribed meds for Raynaud’s are blood pressure medications, which will generally regulate circulation and reduce the vasospasm response. Anti-depressants and some neurostimulators have also shown effectiveness in treating Raynaud’s. If you are interested in learning more about medications to treat Raynaud’s and to decide which medication may be right for you check out RateADrug Raynaud's Disease Treatment

Supplements:

There are simple supplements you can take to help your Raynaud’s without running to the pharmacy.
The use of omega-3 fatty acids, aka fish oil, has been shown to improve tolerance in people with Raynaud’s to cold and stress. And hey, fish oil has so many other benefits many of us take it already.

Ginkgo Biloba, a common supplement, has been used to inhibit the vasospastic reaction to cold or stress. It is loaded with flavonoids and other compounds that help to thin the blood, allowing for better circulation.

Magnesium regulates enzymes in the body and relaxes the arteries. The body's magnesium levels tend to be much lower in winter than in the summer so taking some extra supplements may help Raynaud's.

Vitamin C creates collagen, which makes up the walls of the blood vessels, and may help to increase blood flow. Deficiency in ascorbic acid from Vitamin C has been shown to raise the risk of developing scleroderma in patients with Raynaud's.

Still not quite sure exactly what Raynaud’s is?

Here is a little bit more about the exact science of the phenomenon. Normally when you get cold or stressed your body limits blood supply to your extremities by narrowing the smaller arteries. This retains heat and uses less energy. In people with Raynaud’s the body overreacts and the arteries go into vasospasm, the vessels narrow dramatically and may also thicken slightly, cutting off almost all blood flow. This gives us a lovely show of color change in the affected area varying from a corpse-like white color to a deep purple, depending on the amount of blood your body is letting in. The affected areas also go incredibly numb and can become hard to move. With prolonged exposure to cold or stress it often becomes very painful. For me, being in high school, after walking from my car maybe a hundred feet in the cold to my first class my fingers would be so numb that I couldn’t write the entire period. I would have to return once my fingers had thawed out to make up any tests or quizzes that I couldn’t take in the morning. Talk about a pain. You may have Raynaud's in all of your extremities, or you may just suffer from it in one or two areas. It is also possible to have it in only a part of didgit.

About five percent of the general population suffers from Raynad’s. But it is more common in women than in men. In surveys of women ages 15-40 as high as fifteen percent were found to have Raynaud’s, this may be due to influence of estrogen on the vascular system. Raynaud's is also more prevalent in areas with colder climates.

There are two types of Raynaud’s; primary and secondary. Primary is just the numb fingers and toes, without an underlying cause. Secondary Raynaud’s is caused by other conditions such as: Scleroderma, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive trauma, or other diseases of the arteries.

Submersion eh?

I did some research and discovered a 'submersion' technique (used by the Army, I might add) that might cure or at least control my Raynaud's.


With the submersion technique you wear normal light-weight clothes and sit in a standard temperature room for 8 minutes with your fingers and toes in a bucket of 100°F water . Then, gulp, wearing the same clothes you go somewhere cold (a frozen tundra or walk-in freezer type deal) and repeat witht the same 100°F water. Repeat 4 times a day everyother day. It retrains your arteries, pretty much.

This doesn't exactly sound pleastant, but if it will help I'm all about it. It's not quite could enough where I live to use the outdoors for my cold place, but I'm looking into finding an indoor alternative. Worst case scenario I'll wait a few months to begin, living perched up on the Appalachian Mountains, it won't be long untill it's snowing.

I talked to Dr. David Nieman, director of the Human Performance Lab at nearby Appalachian State University, about the best way to chart my progress, when I do get started. He suggested (thanks, Dr. Nieman!) using the ranking system below. I'll rate my symptoms daily with 5 being high symptoms and 1 being no symptoms.

Cold fingers and toes: 1 2 3 4 5
Color change: 1 2 3 4 5
Numbness: 1 2 3 4 5
Pain/ prickly feeling upon relief: 1 2 3 4 5

Help! My toes hurt!

I’m 17 and I love to ski. Only I can’t, because every time I go out in the cold my fingers and toes turn purple and hurt like crazy. I have Raynaud’s disease, a vascular disorder that makes the arteries in my extremities (all those fingers and toes) spasm when exposed to cold temperatures or extreme stress. Worst case scenario, I could lose a digit if I didn’t get warmed up in time, but that’s a very rare occurrence for the 5 percent of the population who have Raynaud’s.


I haven't had the symptoms of Raynaud’s disease my whole life. Last winter I began to experience severe pain in my toes. At first I thought it was just because I had been on my feet more. Come on now, a new job waiting tables after school is bound to make for some sore feet, right? But the pain just got worse and worse, and even nightly foot rubs couldn’t help my poor puppies. I tried swapping out my Converse Allstars for some shoes with more arch support... yuck (I'm not 80, you know). But even that provided me with zero appeasement. The pain eventually grew so bad that I could barely walk, and finally I wised up and visited a podiatrist. As you can probably guess (drumroll, please), I was diagnosed with Raynaud's.

The doctor didn’t have any cures, just last-resort blood pressure meds. Let me repeat: I’m 17. I exercise regularly and I eat well; my weight is normal; NO WAY am I going on blood pressure meds. So he told me how to just live with it…basically, by staying warm. I'm not exactly one for just living with it, so here's where the blog comes in. I want to cure, or at the very least alleviate my Raynaud's, as well as provide the community with information on the phenonmonon.