When I was a teenager my parents and I noticed how sensitive my fingers were to the cold. One day my mother got nervous I was going to lose my fingers because they all turned white and I told her they went numb on me.
She had me go to the doctor who did some tests. I remember he had me put my hands in ice water for about 5 minutes and then he examined them. That was not fun. :) He determined I had Raynaud’s.
I never tell people what I have, mostly because it just slips my mind or I just don’t feel like bringing it up. I don’t think I have ever shook a hand without the response of “Wow, you have cold hands”.
I struggle at work with being constantly cold. In the winter months, I rarely take off my jacket and during the summer months, I wear a warm sweater all day due to the air conditioning.
I told my boss about my Raynaud’s, but I get a response that makes me feel as though he thinks I am making the condition up or that it’s not real. I think that is mostly why I don’t tell people. No one seems to get it, like it’s not a “real” disease.
L. G. from Wisconsin
