Raynauds & autoimmune ?

[Castlepoint]

Hello & a Happy New Year to you all. I hope that there maybe someone who can help me to try to understand or gain some information about my symptoms. I have suffered with full blown Raynauds for about 3 yrs - but have had it longer just not as bad, I am 54 and female. I have been diagnosed with high BP Hashimotos Underactive thyroid for at least 10 years & osteoarthritis. But I have red puffy fingers and loads of thread veins around my face and legs plus I get palpitations and problems with my eyes and digestion. I have always been super flexible, when I was young everyone called me double jointed & that is why I have bad arthritis in my knees, as I used to sit badly. I also have a spider/ Lacey like rash under my skin all over my body when it is cool weather. I have achy joints and get so tired all the time.

I hope someone can give me some info or advice as that would help me to make the decision to go and tell my GP as I feel like a hypochondriac. Many thanks

Castlepoint

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welcome ,I now get Raynaud,s now I think it common with rd and I have had the mottled skin most of my life I was always told that was healthy ,you have a lot going on at the moment and it can all seem overwhelming at times have you got a good health care team to talk to they tell me there is a good help line on nras hope you get sorted soon .

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Hi - do you see a rheumatologist at all? Raynaud's can lead to other autoimmune problems sometimes - the main one being Scleroderma - so it's important that you speak to your GP because you are obviously not being a hypochondriac. There are many, many autoimmune conditions that can join in alongside the first one (in your case and mine, Hashimoto's) and many such as Lupus, PsA, RA, Sjogren's and Scleroderma that can cause red, puffy fingers too so you need your GP to be willing to refer you to one asap. You may need a nail fold capillary test to see if your Raynaud's is secondary and to rule out Scleroderma I would say. Push hard for yourself as no one else will and don't let anyone be dismissive of the symptoms you are having. Twitchy

PS further to the hypermobility you describe have you looked into this possiblity yet as it can affect the skin too I believe? rareconnect.org/en/communit...

[Beverley-NRAS]

Hi Castlepoint,

as has been mentioned already, auto-immune conditions often cluster together. If you are concerned do go and see your GP and let them know everything that you have mentioned here. Painful joints and fatigue are certainly associated with RA. I have put a link to making a diagnosis of RA below for you:

nras.org.uk/making-a-diagno...

There are a number of causes for thread veins including such things as varicose veins and so it is worth getting these checked out. Hope you get yourself sorted.

Best wishes

Beverley (NRAS Helpline)