Hi,

DD has had trouble keeping her hands and feet warm since day dot. She was born in summer so I noticed it a little when in airconditioned places but thought lots of little babies had the same thing.

Last winter was her first and I noticed then that she often had blue hands and feet also, even with socks and booties on. I made sure she wore mittens whenever outside. This winter I have found her hands to be worse. Often blue or grey, they can be white also and if I massage them to encourage the bloodflow, they remain white for at least 5mins when normal skin would return to pink within a few moments. They also go bright red when they rewarm, like in a warm bath.

I rang the parent help line and all I got was "if she has always been like it then I guess it's just what she's like". Gee thanks, that was soooo not helpful!

She has had a couple of chiropractic treatments to help with the circulation and while they helped a little, it was not substantial enough to warrent and not long lasting. The chiro suggested I get her iron levels checked.

Today I had had enough of the constant, underlying worry that maybe something was really wrong. So many people comment on her hands making me feel as though I am not dressing her warmly enough! (as though there isnt enough to feel guilty enough about as a mother!) So, I took her off to the GP. He prodded, and asked a few questions. Her hands were icy cold and blueish despite sitting in the roasting hot waiting room for 40mins waiting for our appointment. Sometimes the blue colour goes all the way to her elbows! He phoned his favourite paediatrician and asked a few questions. His tone on the phone and towards me is another whole thread really but anyhow... his response was that DD has Raynoud's disease, primary. She will most likely outgrow it and unless it is causing sufficiant pain to stop her doing things then she doesnt need treatment of any kind.

Sorry for my rambling post, just wondering if anyone else has experience with this and if so how did it effect the child, when did they outgrow it, was there anything special you did to help it, do I need to see a paediatrician myself really for proper diagnosis???

Thanks in advance.