I recently diagnosed myself with raynauds. should i be conserned about an underlying problem? should i hello, i am a 43yo woman. my first white fingers started in october of this past year. it seems that things are progressing from there. if i am very co

Hi, : Hi, often times, doctors have a specific amount of time alloted to see each patient. If there is more than one medical issue to be addressed, there may not be time during that visit. I recommend that you schedule an appointment with your doctor specifically to address these symptoms. If you have these symptoms it could be a primary health issue or if may be secondary to something else. Things to ask your doctor include: do you have raynaud's and if so, is it a primary or secondary condition? What things can you do to prevent symptoms? Is treatment recommended? Does your doctor recommend that you see a rhematologist for this?

Doctors. : Doctors. You can't live with 'em, and you can't kill 'em. Don't ya just love us? Lisa, let's assume for the moment you do have some sort of "raynaud's, " and it's not something else. There are two disease entities: raynaud's disease, and raynaud's phenomenon. Raynaud's disease is a disease unto itself, with no other underlying medical cause or condition. It's a disease where the smaller arteries (typically hands, but sometimes feet) go into vasospasm, or a state or prolonged contracture, usually in response to a cold stimulus (reaching for the frozen chicken in the freezer). It can be quite painful, since lack of circulation produces pain. Raynaud's phenomenon is the same thing, but occurs as the result of an underlying condition like scleroderma, sle, rheumatoid arthritis or some other condition referred to as collagen vascular diseases. The treatment is avoidance of cold. I have a number of patients who use a dilute mixture of Nitroglycerin paste in white petrolatum (vaseline) which they massage into their feet 2 or 3 times a day. The Nitroglycerin dilates their arteries and they respond quite well. Take dr. Fowler's advice and make another appointment with your doctor to discuss this. There are blood tests for many of these collagen vascular diseases, but blood tests alone are not used to diagnose these conditions, since there are a large number of false positives and false negatives. The diagnosis is made using a list of inclusions and exclusions that is published by the american rheumatism association. Good luck lisa, and stay warm!