Raynaud's - how to live with it

So my girlfriend has Raynaud's and it's no fun, as I'm sure anyone else who has it knows. Her doctor echoed wikipedia's advice of "The primary treatment is avoiding the cold", but that is the stupidest garbage I've ever heard. Does anyone have any realistic advice on dealing with it? We've been thinking about getting some of heated glove/mittens to try out this winter - any suggestions on a decent pair?

You could try convincing your doctor to prescribe a calcium channel blocker. Nifedipine is the best studied and most frequently used.

There are some methods out there that claim to successfully treat-- basically getting your entire body really cold while bathing your hands and feet in warm water.  I couldn't stick with the treatments long enough to figure out whether they worked or were fake news.  Awareness of your extremities and the outside temps is really important so that you can learn not to get yourself into a Raynaud's situation to begin with-- glove/hat up even if everyone around you is not.

What highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion says below is also important.  I believe that my Raynaud's was a gift of my Lyme disease-- which may or may not show up right away with classic symptoms.

More times than not, Raynauds is a symptom of having some sort of auto-immune disease. This could be as simple as eczema to something dramatic like lupus. Either way, treating the AI disease will do more for the Raynauds than treating the cold hand. 

Before taking anyone else's advice here, first thing you need to do is get her to visit a rheumatologist. This isn't about her cold hands, it's about an early sign of something potentially dangerous going on that she needs evaluated. 

I have Raynaud's and the best thing I have found is to be really proactive about the cold.  For me it's not about avoidance, but more about wearing extra clothes to prevent getting cold in the first place.  That means a good pair of gloves, but also clothing that's going to keep your core warm as well.  

When I'm unsure about how cold it will be, I err on the side of more layers.  You can always take them off if you get hot, and it beats getting cold, returning home, and dealing with the extreme pain of your hands warming up again.

That being said, sometimes I still get cold during certain activities like downhill skiing no matter how much I layer up, where I'm gripping my ski poles and/or not moving around while riding the chairlift.  Sometimes (if possible) you just have to take a coffee break in the lodge and warm up.  Obviously that might not apply when climbing...  

In my case, I've largely solved my problem with Reynaud's by wearing more on my legs (where most activities are generating the most heat) and wearing a lot on my upper body, but making sure not to constrict my arms.  If my body is getting really warm, it will "vent" the heat to my hands and allow me to stay out longer.  My hands will almost always get very cold when I first head out, and not until I get my body really warm am I able to warm my hands.  Also, don't put your cold hands in your armpits.  All this does is cool the blood going to your other hand.  Instead, put your hands on your stomach or inner thigh.  In either case, take you gloves off first and tuck them in your shirt so that they don't get wet/sweaty.

I have raynaud's and it can be a bitch until you figure out your own system for dealing with it. I usually get it when skiing nowadays just because I quit climbing when it was that cold out. Here is how I deal with it:

• Very good hydration starting 24 hrs before skiing and climbing until I'm back at home with a good hot meal. 
• Eat a solid breakfast and whatever meal before going out. This means not having something like coffee or oatmeal for breakfast, you want something a lot more hearty like a breakfast burrito. Snacks to stay fueled throughout the day
• Keep my core and legs very warm because if that is lacking then your body takes care of it before extremities. 
• For skiing, either heated gloves and handwarmers inside a good pair of gloves or better yet mittens. 
• For climbing, handwarmers taped to the wrists right on top of the artery. If you use chalk, throw another hand warmer in your chalkbag. 

A few other tips I've had success with:

• Disposable toe warmers taped over the back of the hands with standard tape glove technique, or if you're not crack climbing, or climbing easier cracks under a pair of the Ocun gloves.
• Cycling arm warmers with disposable body warmers stuffed into the forearms
• Training for cold adaptation (it's a thing) cold showers, grabbing handfuls of snow and holding them while running or ski touring as long as possible. 

I'd personally not want to use any medications like a calcium channel blocker for fear of feeling off while exercising at best, and running the risk of fainting and all of the badness possibly associated with that on the other end.  Since doing the above things my ability to use my fingers in the cold has exponentially improved, though it's still below average when compared to most of my partners.

Thanks guys! Ton of good info/ideas here.

Here's a link to a recent thread where this topic was discussed.

J-Moe wrote:

Thanks guys! Ton of good info/ideas here.

I assume you haven't contacted a rheumatologist. Even if only 50% of people with Raynaud's have an auto immune problem, it's still worth looking into.

Your call man. Unchecked auto immune problems can wreck the lungs, colon, or any number of things. Or you can get hand warmers and pretend everything is ok.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote:

I assume you haven't contacted a rheumatologist. Even if only 50% of people with Raynaud's have an auto immune problem, it's still worth looking into.

Your call man. Unchecked auto immune problems can wreck the lungs, colon, or any number of things. Or you can get hand warmers and pretend everything is ok.

It's more like 13% of people, don't panic that you've got a 50/50 shot of having lupus all of a sudden, but it's not a bad idea to see a doc to talk about it.

Hey all! I know I am chiming in late but I have been struggling with severe raynaud’s for the last 5 years and have adopted some lifestyle changes which reduce my sensitivity. Your Raynauds can be minor or severe. I loved what someone said about hydration before an outing. Two major things that dehydrate is are alcohol and caffeine. Nothing has helped me more than cutting out caffeine. I reduced my intake last winter and this winter cut it out completely. I know I’m a coffee drinker too and it took some getting used to. I would at least recommend limiting or cutting caffeine the morning of your outing, several days before if possible and not drinking alcohol the night before. Caffeine is a vascular restrictor. As for downhill skiing, it’s an added step but if I ski in bounds I take the few seconds to open my boots before a chairlift ride and tighten them back again on top. The weight of boots and skiis on your veins while riding a life can leave you with way worse circulation on top. Only crank the boots right when you need to and hopefully you ski with someone who loves you or it takes about the same time it does for a snowboarder to get into their binding. When I went to a doctor he prescribed a medication that lowers my heart rate and I took half of a pill one time downhill skiing and it made me feel absolutely exhausted to the point where I couldn’t ski. Never tried it again. Hope this helps!