Has anyone experienced Raynaud’s in their fingers with GCA? I’ve had periodic episodes of Raynaud’s in my fingers over the years, but this week have had a number of these episodes. I am familiar with the need to keep my hands warm and have, in the past, put my hands into warm water to encourage circulation. This morning I did this, but my finger turned blue; this lasted perhaps 30 seconds after I took my hands out of the water.
Any thoughts? (Walking around with big warm mittens on my hands!)
I used to have Raynaud's, in fact images of my hands were displayed on the wall of a vascular lab as textbook responses to the cold challenge used in diagnosis! It was quite bad in the early days of PMR before treatment with pred - but since then I don't think I have had a single episode.
It is unusual for GCA to affect the hands but if you have Raynaud's I suppose if the blood flow to the hands is reduced it might make it worse. You say "my finger" - was this just one hand that was affected? Being blue is fairly typical for most people though - had you not experienced that before?
No, I haven’t experienced the blue coloured skin before. The other incidences were blotches of white on my index finger, never blue. This was very unusual and only occurred when I placed my hand in warm water....and only the finger, not my hand. I took a picture of my hand and will show it to my rheumatologist when I see him in 2 weeks. In the mean time, I’m being very vigilant of being aware of the temperature of my hand and am keeping my mittens handy.
Like you, I have been experiencing this for years in both my hands and feet . It was only when I went to the surgery before Christmas that the GP finally said they are sure it's Raynaud's ( I've only be asking about it for five years so it's nice to see it didn't take too long for them to catch on!😋😂😂😂)
So , obviously , I may have GCA , but I can't definitively state it was made worse by it or something else , or that some people could get it because of GCA or PMR alone.
I can say that this year has been awful , especially for Me in the toes , and despite compression clothing , natural fibre socks and gloves and the rest I have three toes that have been constantly numb , white and yet burning for a week , and purple most of the time since November. I just hope that I can dodge any necrosis or its mild again this year.
I just assume that it has got worse in part because the circulation can become more sluggish with less exercise , reducing blood flow and muscle compression of the veins and arteries.
In part , steroids play a role , by having an effect on collagen it makes your connective tissues more elastic and limp so the circulatory system isn't as efficient as before. Then you have to add in the Negative Stress of having a Chronic condition with Pain and the regular swings in temperature that have occurred this winter . Stress and Temperature are the two most common triggers for more Raynaud's activity.
You are following the right advice though , so just keep it up , and hopefully we may see sight of Spring soon.
Thanks for sharing. I too have numbness in my feet. Blood sugars are now normal, so hoping as time goes on and my prednisone levels are lower, I will start “recovering” in all areas...wishful thinking!
I was diagnosed with Raynaud’s three years before I was diagnosed with PMR. My fingers turn completely white when I have an episode. Have never had them turn blue. 😳 It only affects my hands, not my feet (although my feet are ALWAYS cold!
Although I have numbness/tingling in my also constantly cold feet, I haven’t had the tell-tale white blotches...only in my finger. I’ve also had sporadic episodes of diagnosed Raynaud’s for about 3 years before GCA. Autoimmune is not fun!
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