This is a condition you don’t hear a lot about. That may be in part because the people that suffer from it tend to keep it to themselves. Since modern medicine doesn’t have very many tricks up their sleeves for dealing with Raynaud’s you don’t get a lot of television commercials discussing it.
In simple terms Raynaud’s Syndrome is when the nerves in the hands and feet, and sometimes other extremities, over react to the cold. Instead of sending blood to the fingertips in response to the sensation of cold the body reacts like it is dealing with hypothermia and draws the blood to the core of your body. This causes the extremities, usually hands and feet, to become even colder. Evidently stress can cause this same reaction as well. I have had this problem since I was a teenager. Even when the room is eighty degrees my hands will start aching. When I look down my fingernails have this funny bluish purple color underneath them. Other people have reported their hands turning white, red, or even having a black appearance as the blood is cut off from them.
Treatment of Raynaud’s Syndrome tends to lean towards symptom relief, because no real cause has ever been accepted. What science can tell us is that people with this problem seem more prone to having migraines, carpal tunnel syndrome, or mitral valve prolapsed. Because of this it would be wise to have a physical to rule out this being a symptom of something greater before you decide to self treat, or simply live with it.
Some people say you can train your body to stop the response. To do this you would allow your body to become chilled while keeping your hands in warm water. This is supposed to train your nerves to allow the blood to circulate through your hands even when your body is cold. Since most therapists recommend doing this up to six times a day I have never had the patience to prove if this would work for me.
Nutritional recommendations for Raynaud’s Syndrome include increasing your anti-oxidant intake. Enriching Gifts Metabolic Complete can help with this. This is a wide spectrum anti-oxidant. I know since I have been taking them my hands have not bothered me near as much. Another recommendation is herbs and supplements that tend to thin the blood, like garlic and ginkgo. Enriching Gifts Plant Enzymes do a great job of keeping the blood at an optimal consistency. By working to clean the blood of foreign substances, such as food, it allows the blood to flow more smoothly. It also fights the fibrin that is created when we are under stress, and keeps both the red blood cells and platelets from sticking together.
Niacin is another supplement that is recommended. The ‘niacin flush’ that we have all heard about can be helpful with the constricted blood vessels. Enriching Gifts Complete Vitamins Plus contains 50mg of Niacin, along with many other necessary vitamins and minerals. You can take more than that; there are recommendations all the way up to 1000mgs three times a day. The Enriching Gifts Complete Vitamins Plus does have the recommended 250mg of magnesium in the daily dosage. One study showed that almost everyone with the syndrome tested low on magnesium.
Something that has helped me is increasing my iodine. I did a simple skin test to see if I was getting enough iodine. When it showed I wasn’t I began taking Thyactin. This increased my overall metabolism, and in turn keeps my hands a lot warmer. Days when I forget my Thyactin I tend to have more problems with cold hands and feet.
Omega 3 oils are also considered helpful. Eating fatty fish, or taking flax seed or flax seed oil can be helpful. Fish oil capsules can also help, but be careful. Many of the inexpensive Fish oil capsules are old, and have gone rancid. Rancid oils do your body more harm than good.
A Non-nutritional supplement that has been shown to be very helpful is Vitamin X, or good old exercise. Whenever you feel the cold ache starting get up and move around. I usually develop the problem at the office, when I have been sitting at my desk too long. One quick cure is to run up and down a flight of stairs a couple of times. Daily exercise can have a preventative influence.
For me low blood sugar also plays a role. When I have worked through my meal time I have more problems than when I keep my blood sugar more stable.
Although there is no single answer for everyone there are several things we can do to make our lives less miserable when we have Raynaud’s Syndrome. Try a few things and see if they can make your symptoms go away, or at least become less severe.
Sources:
Nature’s Medicines by Gale Maleskey and the Editors of Prevention Health Books, copyright 1999 by Rodale Inc.
The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White MD and Steven Foster, copyright 2000 by Rodale Press
Blended Medicine Combining Mainstream and Alternative Therapies by Michael Castleman copyrighted 2000 by Michael Castleman.
