Cycling with Raynaud's

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Zoiders

New Member
[QUOTE 1636433, member: 9609"]Its worth taking a look at what Raynaulds actually is, simply using more and more gloves and socks is not necessarily going to help.

Raynaulds is an overreaction, in the same way negligible amounts of pollen can cause hayfever, with raynaulds cold air to any part of the body can cause the body to react in the same way it does to the onset of hypothermia by trying to protect its core temperature in closing down the blood supply to the extremities; i.e. cold icy air around the neck may cause white fingers and toes even if the hands and feet were not particularly cold. So possibly keeping cold air off other areas of uncovered skin may be as useful as bigger gloves.

I suffer from what I would describe as an unusual version of raynaulds (my doctor says its a classic example and not that unusual) I only get Raynaulds in the summer months, very hot day with shorts and tea shirt on, get into a car with powerful air con, or go into the chiller section of a supermarket and my fingers can turn white, strange and very unpleasant especially when they start to warm up. I'm not really sure why I don't get it in the cold winter months.[/quote]The vasal constriction is triggered by rapid differences in temperature not just extreme cold, everyone can suffer from it if you make the difference between the two enough. Once you get over an attack though I find I can quite happily function in the cold for long periods.

If you try warming up too fast it creates complete agony in the extremities, even for those with out raynaurds.

As we do have Raynaurds we just experience it more rapidly and more often.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Well I went to the GP today and now have two prescriptions ... can't remember what the drug one was but the standard drug for Raynauds but low dose (as I hate the idea of being on medication), and as an alternative copper cream ointment. I haven't had time to pick up either yet and going to try the cream first.

I have to try and overheat my body so that it seems to pump the blood to my extremities. Also I think I can trigger it sometimes by just thinking about how my fingers are feeling - its almost as if I can hear my brain sending the message to my fingers saying OK time to shut down - a sort of tension.

I don't find the blood going back too painful just throbbing and tingly ... but it is always a welcome sensation that the flow is returning after what can seem a long time without proper circulation.
 

Hacienda71

Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
Thanks, would appreciate it - Carol

Spoke to my Dad his two main tips were to wear good quality gloves but not tight gloves, circulation needs to be free rather than restricted. Also he swings his arms horizontally so he is slapping himself on the back to try to regain\maintain blood flow to his fingers (not possible on the bike though). No miracle cure I'm afraid. He was aware of drug treatments but didn't try them himself.
 

JDP

Andiamo
Location
Norwich
Spoke to my Dad his two main tips were to wear good quality gloves but not tight gloves, circulation needs to be free rather than restricted. Also he swings his arms horizontally so he is slapping himself on the back to try to regain\maintain blood flow to his fingers (not possible on the bike though). No miracle cure I'm afraid. He was aware of drug treatments but didn't try them himself.

I suffer from this as well and this is good advice.
Also keeping me core body temprature up seems to help (base layers are good) and put gloves on 10 min before leaving the house and don't them off for anything! Jumping between hold/cold/hot/cold seems to be a big trigger for me.
 

DebbieB

New Member
I have Raynaud's and am training for the Seattle to Portland (STP) bike event. The product that saves my hands are Bar Mitts which can be found here: http://www.barmitts.com/index.php Now I am in despirate need of a solution for my feet-have tried the multiple socks, shoe booties, plastic bags and every possible combination of them. In the NW cold and rain, my toes are feeling it with every ride. But you have to check out the Bar Mitts! I even keep extra tissues and chapstick in my Bar MItts. The folks I train with are all jealous and my hands stay nice and toasty :smile:
 
I have got my feet sorted with Pro Tarmac neoprene overshoes with sole ventilation holes sealed with Duck Tape. This has avoided the white feet that I suffered the previous winter even though I wore toe covers on top of my shoes. The fingers are a slightly different story windproof gloves with a thin fleece glove under have proven to be fairly effective although not foolproof. To be honest I kind of got used to it until an experience in the Chilterns in the cold weather in late January. The guy I was with punctured at Christmas Common. His Garmin gave the temperature in the Stonor Valley as 3C. At Christmas Common it was 1C and frost was still on the ground. I was OK up to the point we were fixing the flat and i decided to have a glug from my bottle. Normally leakproof i didn't take into account that the cold may have caused the lid to contract so as I squeezed my right hand became soaked with cold water leaking out the top. Stopping even for a short while caused my left hand to start to go numb and by the time we were on our way again I'd lost feeling in both hands. Our route involved descending Pishill which was a scary experience with no ability to feel brake levers or have complete contact with the bars. All I could do was get on the drops and hold on. I had sausages stuffed in the fingers of my gloves. Having survived the descent and caught up with my mate I then tried to use the sausages to change gear as (I was still in the high gear). So no braking ability and no way to easily change gear. Then the icing on the cake. Around about Stonor village the tingles started in one or two of the sausages becoming increasingly painful as we progressed through Middle Assendon back towards Henley. The next few miles were amongst the most painful I've experienced on a bike as one by one the feeling came back and the sausages turned into fingers once more.
 

The Jogger

Legendary Member
Location
Spain
Good luck, hope you get the same results as my SIL let us know if yo do or don't.........
 

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Let us know how you get on, and tell us the product, how much etc please

Well, I just found something called gingko biloba amongst the vitamins in Asda - their own brand. It might not be the same strength, etc. as the stuff The Jogger mentioned. It was £4 for 120 tablets - at one a day that's about 4 months supply. So not expensive and worth giving it a try.
 

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Just thought I'd report back - I've been taking the gingko biloba tablets from Asda everyday since early April. My Raynaud's is worse than ever for the time of year :sad: I think that's due to the weather. :cold: But I don't think the tablets have improved things - I'm giving them up!

I'm pleased they work for some people, but they don't seem to have done me any good.
 
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