Always feeling cold esp hand is this part of RA or just a me thing I never used to get cold

[Monnie1]

[southwest]

Hi Monnie1,

Welcome, I am relatively new here too. I have noticed that many of us feel the cold and especially in our hands and feet. I have had cold feet since my 20s but only diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis about 4 years ago- am now 56. During the last 2 years my hands have become increasingly freezing although they usually look like they have been dipped in boiling water! Out of the house is not so bad as I wear gloves nearly all the time but inside it's harder and I notice it more. I have numerous fingerless gloves but they are cumbersome when doing things. Hand warmers and hot bottles make them quite inflammed so I prefer gloves or blankets.

I just noticed today a couple of people have mentioned cold hands and feet in their posts. My consultant said it's a touch of Reynaulds, not bad enough for medication and the tips of my fingers are quite soft which he says is good- not my toes though but that's probably just grotty feet! Shaking hands with people is difficult as they are shocked at how cold my fingers are but I know many people on here can't even shake hands because of the pain.

All the best with everything and you will find people very supportive on here and understand. x

[Monnie1]

Thanks southwest it's interesting to know it's fairly common, I've been soaking them in really warm water which helps for a little bit it also eases the stiffness was contemplating gloves. X

[Hidden]

Hi I have this too Monnie1. In fact I posted earlier this week about my cold feet. I haven't got much active RA presently but for the past three years since RA began I've gone from someone who bakes all the time to someone who freezes continually - especially my extremities. The only exception to this is in the night and first thing when I wake and after exercise when the soles of my feet burn painfully - as though they are scalded. My doctors are baffled and say that as my ANA is negative it is unlikely to be secondary Raynauds - although my dry eyes are thought to be secondary Sjogrens. But my GP says same as Southwest's - that he believes my circulation issues are mild Raynauds. I've been really struggling this winter and live in gloves - even in the house and car nowadays. Even when I have gloves on my fingers go all sorts of colours. I go on the Raynauds and Scleroderma site sometimes and read that mittens are better than gloves because your fingers can huddle together and keep warmer. Tilda x

[jessquilts in reply to Hidden]

I used to roast all the time, except for my hands and feet, which were either on fire or just looked like it and were cold as ice. No happy medium. I'd regularly be drenched in sweat even in the middle of -30F weather. However, since starting methotrexate several months ago, I am freezing all the time and it's not even that cold where I live yet. It's still in the 30's and 40's F. Last winter I rarely even put on a sweatshirt and this fall I'm already in a long sleeve T shirt, flannel shirt, and often a sweater over the top of that. Although, it's weird because it's not the outside your body type of cold. It's the inside your body feeling of cold, like when you eat ice cream.

It all makes me wonder if it's part of the RA getting worse, or if it's just an MTX side effect? I also wonder if it could be that I was so use to being overheated that now that the MTX is starting to work and I'm actually normal, I just feel cold? I'm thinking sort of like when you feel chilled when you first wake up and uncover and feel chilly because you were so used to being under the covers, nice & toasty. In either case, if this is the worst of the side effects that lingers on for a while, then I can deal with this.

[sandraw21]

Think its fairly common. I have an electric slipper which is quite good, put that on and I am toasty warm ! As long as my feet are warm, I feel warmer all over.

[Dogrose]

I wasn't too bad but we have moved into a colder house and I can't get warm at all, we can only afford the heating on for a few hours in the evening, sometimes in the day I'm so cold I have to go to bed even if I'm not tired and still wake up with icy bits! I'm sure it is more than just a cold house though. xxx