Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Raynaud's Phenomenon Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe Raynaud's phenomenon, from the first white fingers and the throbbing red rewarming that follows to years of being told it was chilblains or poor circulation. Writers describe getting a proper diagnosis — nailfold capillaroscopy, antibody tests, and the difference between primary Raynaud's and the secondary kind that arrives with scleroderma, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. There is the daily kit: layered gloves, heated insoles, hand warmers including one that burned, and the cost of keeping warm in a cold house. Writers describe medicines in detail: nifedipine and its headaches, a tablet borrowed from another use, topical creams, botulinum toxin injections, infusions for digital ulcers, and a decision about surgery. Contributors include a violinist, a potter, a postal worker in a Finnish winter, a ski instructor, a butcher and a nurse, people triggered by stress, beta blockers, decongestants, ADHD medication or past chemotherapy, and the occupational form from vibrating tools. Later chapters cover children and parents, attacks in the nose and ears, pregnancy and menopause, giving up cold water swimming, being the only man in the clinic, and decades of winters managed.

Who it's for

For anyone whose fingers or toes turn white in the cold, parents of children with Raynaud's, people with a linked autoimmune condition, and clinicians sorting primary from secondary.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 246 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.