The other day I experienced something new and kind of disturbing. We went to our county 4-H fair, and I had really weird things happening with my hands/arms. I suspect it is Raynaud's disease.
"Raynaud's disease is more than simply having cold hands and cold feet, and it's not the same as frostbite. Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's depend on the frequency, duration and severity of the blood vessel spasms that underlie the disorder. Signs and symptoms include:
• Sequence of color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress • Numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or relief of stress
During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually turn white at first. Then, the areas often turn blue and feel cold and numb, and your sensory perception is dulled. As circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell. The order of the changes of color isn't the same for all people, and not everyone experiences all three colors." - From Mayoclinic.com
This is what happened to my arms and hands!!!
When we first got to the fair, it was warm so I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. As the sun went down, it got colder and colder. We were following my son and his friends around as they went on the carnival rides. I was a bit stressed out from the environment, the smells and the noise. Then I got even more stressed out when one of the kids couldn't find his mom! We were wandering around and around trying to find this child's mother and my arms started going NUMB from the cold and the stress! First I got goose bumps and shivers, then my arms and hands turned WHITE and deflated and wrinkly looking. I was disturbed by this and then that's when the numbness came in. At first I thought I was just cold and it would go away once we got back to our vehicle. When we finally found the child's mother and got back into the truck to go home, my arms starting tingling and stinging! As if a large person had sat on them and cut off all the blood flow and feeling! It was a really weird sensation and I was waving my hands/arms around in the air trying to get the feeling back. The stinging didn't go away until I finally was able to take a really warm shower and go to bed.
I've always had cold arms/feet. Sometimes if I'm in the hospital the nurses will comment that they are worried about the coldness in my feet. If I'm stressed in any way my arms and feet go cold FAST! I've never really thought about why until now. I know others who have EDS/Fibro/Chiari who suffer from Raynaud's that is much worse than this! I do feel for them, as it is not a pleasant feeling at all!
At least I know why this happens and can try to avoid the cold and stress. It was a strange experience.
"Raynaud's disease is more than simply having cold hands and cold feet, and it's not the same as frostbite. Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's depend on the frequency, duration and severity of the blood vessel spasms that underlie the disorder. Signs and symptoms include:
• Sequence of color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress
• Numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or relief of stress
During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually turn white at first. Then, the areas often turn blue and feel cold and numb, and your sensory perception is dulled. As circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell. The order of the changes of color isn't the same for all people, and not everyone experiences all three colors."
- From Mayoclinic.com
This is what happened to my arms and hands!!!
When we first got to the fair, it was warm so I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. As the sun went down, it got colder and colder. We were following my son and his friends around as they went on the carnival rides. I was a bit stressed out from the environment, the smells and the noise. Then I got even more stressed out when one of the kids couldn't find his mom! We were wandering around and around trying to find this child's mother and my arms started going NUMB from the cold and the stress! First I got goose bumps and shivers, then my arms and hands turned WHITE and deflated and wrinkly looking. I was disturbed by this and then that's when the numbness came in. At first I thought I was just cold and it would go away once we got back to our vehicle. When we finally found the child's mother and got back into the truck to go home, my arms starting tingling and stinging! As if a large person had sat on them and cut off all the blood flow and feeling! It was a really weird sensation and I was waving my hands/arms around in the air trying to get the feeling back. The stinging didn't go away until I finally was able to take a really warm shower and go to bed.
I've always had cold arms/feet. Sometimes if I'm in the hospital the nurses will comment that they are worried about the coldness in my feet. If I'm stressed in any way my arms and feet go cold FAST! I've never really thought about why until now. I know others who have EDS/Fibro/Chiari who suffer from Raynaud's that is much worse than this! I do feel for them, as it is not a pleasant feeling at all!
At least I know why this happens and can try to avoid the cold and stress. It was a strange experience.