I have raynauds & have recently devel... - Scleroderma & Ray...

Scleroderma & Raynaud's UK (SRUK)

10,844 members5,412 posts

I have raynauds & have recently developed little slit like cuts on my fingers, could these be related? Seeing rheumy in March at last.

shyanne profile image
7 Replies
Written by
shyanne profile image
shyanne
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
7 Replies
Yorky profile image
Yorky

Hello, I have had Raynauds/Scleroderma for nearly 50 years and have not had this problem until recently. I have a "slash" on my thumb and I know it is not from a knife, it is very sore and I am trying to keep it well moisturised to help it heal. The last thing I want is for it to get infected. So I suspect it is linked to Raynauds. Don't forget to mention it to the Rheumy, I usually go with a list of questions. Best of luck.

annbrien profile image
annbrien in reply to Yorky

I get these slashes or cuts on my shins, especially in cold weather or if I use heavily chlorinated water abroad. If I left them, they would go dry and bleed. When I see them developing, I use E45 cream and that solves it. My Raynaud's is not very severe.

Ann Leeds

shyanne profile image
shyanne

Thank you have waited so long for appointment so have a long list of questions to ask. Did you have raynauds first and was scleroderma diagnosed later?

Yorky profile image
Yorky

I can remember having really cold hands and feet as a teenager. When I was in my 30's I had terrible chilblains, went to my GP who said I needed to keep my feet warm!!!!!. I heard about the RSA on the radio and joined. In my 40's I was sent to the hospital to get some heated gloves and socks, which was when I had a blood test and was told I had Scleroderma. I am now 65 and have just about got to grips with most problems. But was the Raynauds always part of Scleroderma? I just don't know.

BarbJ profile image
BarbJ in reply to Yorky

Hi Yorky, I too had problems with cold hands and feet in my early teens, my GP diagnosed Raynauds but that was it, I just had to get on with it. It wasn't until 1998 that I was diagnosed with mixed connective (with mainly symptoms of scleroderma), but now my diagnosis is limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Actually perhaps I should say that's my diagnosis at the moment, as before Christmas my consultant asked for my double-stranded DNA antibodies to be tested again as, if they are still high (I think that was the term) it probably means that I am, or was, having a lupus flare. So, I might be back to mixed connective, I don't know.

From my medical history the first rheumatologist I saw said he thought I'd had the illness since childhood. I'm not sure about that, but can say with certainty that in 1991 I felt extremely ill and the telangectasias began to appear on my face (of course I didn't know what they were then). I may have had another 'bad bout' in the 1980's too, but, as you say it's difficult to know. The only thing I do know is that only a small percentage of people with Raynaud's develop Scleroderma. As you might know, when you have only Raynaud's it is called primary Raynauds, then if you develop scleroderma it then becomes secondary Raynauds.

fruitpastle profile image
fruitpastle in reply to BarbJ

really gd to read this post..iam 45 always had cold hands but i now have severe raynaurds im on nifedipne but still get attacks when my body has slight temperature change just moving from room to room can make tis happen. iv only been diagnosed from dec. but i meet my full cousin who has lupus and we have the same flare ups.. the right leg and foot r hand swell with terrible pain and its only the right side.. never the left.? but she has a wee bit of hair loss and her face suffers from numbness and then her right eye becomes sore and around her cheek she says it drops like as if the muscle has fallen but then in few days its ok again.. so i know that my flares r alike those of lupus but this connecting tissue disorder must change then an we get different symptons.

How often do u have flares? hav u taken note of them to see how far they are apart? dou think after these yrs u can tell what brings on a flare and do they become more often as u get older. iv not had one frm oct 30th in my foot but have bent arms on an off since. i stay calm an never stress about anything id like to thin this stops them coming what do u think/

shyanne profile image
shyanne

Thanks for all your replies, hate this cold weather can't wait for summer.