Psoriatic arthritis and Raynaud`s

[KatT]

Hi,

Are you experiencing Raynaud`s disease/phenomenon and if so, what did your doctor recommend or prescribe?

What is Raynaud's

Raynaud's disease causes some areas of your body — such as your fingers and toes — to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin narrow, limiting blood circulation to affected areas.

Symptoms can include:

• Cold fingers or toes
  
  
• Color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress
  
  
• Numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or stress relief
  

During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually first turn white. Then, they often turn blue and feel cold and numb. As you warm and circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell.

Raynaud's most commonly affects your fingers and toes however, it can also affect other areas of your body, such as your nose, lips, ears and even nipples. After warming, it can take 15 minutes for normal blood flow to return to the area.


There are two types:

1. Primary Raynaud: Also called Raynaud's disease, this most common form isn't the result of an associated medical condition. It can be so mild that many people with primary Raynaud's don't seek treatment. And it can resolve on its own.

2. Secondary Raynaud:  Also called Raynaud's phenomenon, this form is caused by an underlying problem. Although secondary Raynaud's is less common than the primary form, it tends to be more serious.  Signs and symptoms of secondary Raynaud's usually appear around age 40, later than they do for primary Raynaud's.

Secondary Raynaud`s can be caused by:

• Connective tissue diseases. Most people who have a rare disease that leads to hardening and scarring of the skin (scleroderma) have Raynaud's.
  
  
• Other diseases that increase the risk of Raynaud's include lupus and arthritis.
  
  
• Diseases of the arteries. These include a buildup of plaques in blood vessels that feed the heart (atherosclerosis), a disorder in which the blood vessels of the hands and feet become inflamed (Buerger's disease), and a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries of the lungs (primary pulmonary hypertension).
  
  
• Carpal tunnel syndrome. This condition involves pressure on a major nerve to your hand, producing numbness and pain in the hand that can make the hand more susceptible to cold temperatures.
  
  
• Repetitive action or vibration. Typing, playing piano or doing similar movements for long periods and operating vibrating tools, such as jackhammers, can lead to overuse injuries.
  
  
• Smoking. Smoking constricts blood vessels.
  
  
• Injuries to the hands or feet
  

If Secondary Raynaud is severe and can cause lead to tissue damage (ulcers, gangrene)


I've been experiencing Raynaud`s for a few years now, and all after the psoriatic arthritis started. My fingers turn white and then blueish/purple when blood flows back.  This happens every day, multiple times per day during the fall and winter.  I also sometimes feel my toes go numb but never checked if they were white as I am usually at work when this happens.  

My rheumatologist won`t prescribe anything unless there is tissue damage.   In other words, until he sees dead tissue (gangrene)!