There are few "Don'ts" for us, not much, here is the list :
- The first and most important thing, we must never smoke! (I've explained about smoking in detail, in Raynaud's Disease and Smoking. )
- Consumption of caffeine must be in a moderated way. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor (in nerd-speak Vasoconstriction means the narrowing of the blood vessels, so vasoconstrictor means the one who responsible for it) Caffine can be found in coffee, tea, beverages, chocolate, stay awake pills, some aspirin preparations, some painkillers, and some other medications.
- Never walk barefoot, if you feel temperature has dropped or if start to feel cold, make your body warm.
- Never expose your body in cold atmosphere. That means, you should wear warm clothes, not just your regular clothes. (Exposing body in cold doesn't mean dancing in a skimpy bikini on the picnic-spot Antarctica.)
- Do not carry heavy shopping bags with handles that restrict blood flow to fingers.
- Avoid extreme/repetitive vibrations. Avoid tools that vibrate the hand. That dosen't mean just the driller which is mentioned everywhere else. It has been found that some other tools which produces smaller but powerful vibrations also may trigger an attack. Like power saw or chain saw.
- Some drugs actually can make Raynaud's worse by leading to increased blood vessel spasm. We Should avoid taking:
- Some over-the-counter cold and diet drugs. Examples include drugs that contain phenylpropanolamine. In U.S. phenylpropanolamine is not sold without a prescription. It is banned in some contries including India, but is still available "over the counter" in some contries. It can be found in dietary supplements (meant to assist with weight loss), medicines used to relieve symptoms of the common cold. It is also found in some "over the counter" throat lozenge. It is found in some "sore throat spray" as well.
- Pseudoephedrine: It is found in the drugs used to relieve nasal congestion - stuffy nose.
- Beta blockers: This class of drug, used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease, may worsen Raynaud's. Beta blockers are also found in most of the birth control pills.
- Birth control pills: Hormones and drugs that regulate hormones, such as birth control pills (hormonal contraception) may aggravate Raynaud's. In simple words, these drugs affect your blood circulation and may make you more prone to attacks.
Contraception which is low in estrogen is preferable, and the progesterone only pill is often prescribed for women with Raynaud's. - So, the bottom line is, we must check for the contents before buying/consuming the medicines.
I know that this post, unlike my other posts, contains a lot of technical words.
So after reading, just nod your head (or babble and coo) and follow whatever has been told here.
:-D
Warm Regards,
Kiran Nayak :-)
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