Raynauds after 40 anyone?

[Deathfingers]

I have a history of HA over my uterus/ovaries (relevant).

A few years ago (40 y/o) I had a random episode of white fingertip on my right hand when i was washing the dishes in hot water. Lasted about a minute. Not painful, went to normal colour straightaway. it wasn't cold it was about 26 degrees and i hadnt touched anything cold. Thought nothing of it at the time.

A few months ago it happened again when I was driving. Different finger same hand. It was a bit chilly I guess. Lasted a few mins, normal colour straightaway, no pain at all. Again thought nothing of it.

It happened again a couple of weeks ago. Driving again, not cold, just a few mins again, no pain, normal colour.

Well. I googled.

Got myself into a state and saw GP.

This GP (who is so lovely hes like Dr Amir) knows about my HA (tbf there has always been something physically 'wrong' so I don't make stuff up, but not worrying wrong iyswim). He did some standard bloods anyway as I have had peri symptoms, they are ok except confirming hormones are all over the place.

I went back to discuss poss HRT and I asked about this Raynauds again and if he was concerned I had first attack after 40 (im worried about scleroderma to be frank)

He said absolutely not concerned, and quote "I mean this gently Deathfingers, but I don't think we should do any more tests I don't think it will ease your mind because the tests arent always accurate" 😔

The reasons he gave for not being concerned are:

Google says Raynauds afyer 40 is always connected to Scleroderma or other worrying diseases when this is just not true in his experience
It doesn't sound like true Raynauds anyway as I don't have pain, or other colour changes, it doesn't last long and 3 brief episodes in 4 years when I haven't been cold is more likely nerve related and benign
If it was secondary Raynauds, if first attack was years ago, I would have started showing some other symptoms of it being autoimmune connected by now
I have had tingling/numb wrist/first few fingers and thumb on and off in the past and have used a mouse/keyboard/phone/tablet every day for hours for 20 years so I may have slight carpal tunnel/ulnar nerve or other squashed nerve issues thats getting worse (been told to try a wrist support)
What I was doing at the time (gripping steering wheel/washing dishes) supports that ^
He has spoken to other peri and menopausal women who have had this for the first time in their 40s as hormone fluctuations can increase carpal tunnel issues etc.

Ive also looked on a few peri groups on FB and lots of women reporting the same thing!

so on the one hand I should be reassured, and I can see why he doesn't want to feed my anxiety as I can see the blood tests can throw a false positive, and the nail fold one they do can show worrying signs and the person has been fine or vice versa.

So why can't I calm down? 😩

Has anyone else on here had Raynauds for the first time in their 40's and its been the non-scary type?

Please no stories of the scary type if that's ok, im not handling this very well right now and i am just wondering if anyone has had Raynauds after 40 and its been ok 🙏

Thankyou! ☺️

Sorry that's long I'll be surprised if anyone reads my rambling tbh

yes - and I get it at completely random times. Washing up, walking out to the car after work. etc, never related to the cold (and I do a sport where hands get very cold). It is usually the right hand and index finger. Finger goes white and numb but usually resolves itself after a few minutes. Been Ok, just shake the hand about a bit and crack on.

First got symptoms in late 40s, had thought this was entirely normal until I read your post. Have relatives with it so not entirely a surprise. I do also have arthritis.

GP said I there is a drug I could have but apparently it's not enormously helpful and has crappy side effects. So I wear gloves a lot. Have improved my general fitness and doing more sports and that has definitely helped a bit this winter but no miracle cure sadly.

You're overly anxious and google is confirming what you want.

A quick google confirms:

• Secondary Raynaud's. Also called Raynaud's phenomenon, this form develops because of another health condition. Although secondary Raynaud's is less common than the primary form, it tends to be more serious.
• Symptoms of secondary Raynaud's usually appear around age 40. That's later than symptoms appear for primary Raynaud's.

Causes of secondary Raynaud's include:

• Connective tissue diseases. Most people who have a rare disease that leads to hardening and scarring of the skin, known as scleroderma, have Raynaud's. Other diseases that increase the risk of Raynaud's include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome.
• Diseases of the arteries. These include a buildup of fatty deposits in blood vessels that feed the heart and a disorder in which the blood vessels of the hands and feet become inflamed. A type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries of the lungs also may cause secondary Raynaud's.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome. This condition involves pressure on a major nerve to the hand. The pressure causes numbness and pain in the hand that can make the hand react more to cold temperatures.
• Repeated actions or vibration. Typing, playing piano or doing movements like that for long periods can cause overuse injuries. So can using vibrating tools, such as jackhammers.
• Smoking. Smoking narrows blood vessels.
• Injuries to the hands or feet. Examples include a wrist fracture, surgery or frostbite.
• Certain medicines. These include beta blockers for high blood pressure, some migraine medicines, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medicines, certain cancer medicines and some cold medicines.

You'd likely know if you had any of these already before the Raynauds.

I say that as a 48 year old woman, thinking about getting blood tests to rule out pre-diabetes. Provided I don't I would put it down to Raynauds or Carpal Tunnel, because I get this maybe once a month? Finger turns white, all back to normal within 15 mins or so.

Oh thank you so much, even just one MNetter having this has helped me come down a lot!!

Festive I think it can be connected to arthritis too!

I was doing so well not Googling 😔 I'd even started feeling more positive about my troublesome fanny area issues. Funny GP did also say anxiety can go through the roof during peri, I can confirm!!!

"You're overly anxious and google is confirming what you want."

Absolutely ive totally ignored the "usually appear after 40" bit, which means there can be outliers. And the fact that I type a lot.

(And am a smoker unfortunately, have cut right down recently from 10 a day to 4 though which I'm really pleased about and will keep going!!)

I'm 41 and I have just started getting this....first time probably a couple of months ago and I didn't know what it was so googled it. I get it about once a week now but thought it was something that has just happened when I was particularly cold.

I've just been thinking back of all the times I googled "period pain when not on period" "bleeding after sex" "back pain one side" "heavy bleeding" "No period for 3 months" "2 periods a month" "non stop bleeding" "bright red blood"......every single time the worst came up.

And every time it was a fibroid, ectropian, cysts or (now) peri.

Were you worried at all when you googled it?I should really know by now that Google is a bag of shite.

I started with it after 40. Now in my 60s and I've not developed any other worrying symptoms. I often get it when driving, something about holding the cold steering wheel, shopping when I need to handle frozen or very chilled stuff, cold water. I wear cashmere wrist warmers a lot, thermal socks and keep my core warm which seems to help, unless it really is warm outside. I also use my white fingers as evidence to OH that we need to turn the heating up!