Hands Turning Purple

chh1138

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Hey, everyone,

I’m having a weird situation I wanted to run by you before I see my doctor on Friday.

For the last ten days or so, my hands have been turning dark red to purple. Also having some tingling and pain in my hands. My legs and feet are also tingling and aching, but no discoloration in my feet.

This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with temperature. The weather in my area has varied wildly of late (light snow yesterday, this coming weekend is supposed to be a high of 82). If I raise my hands, they return to normal color. But if I put my hands palm down on my desk or at my sides, they turn purple almost immediately.

I went to a quick care facility last night. They said, “Yep, they’re purple. Could be Reynaud’s”, and referred me to my PCP.

I’m not on any prescriptions. The only thing I’ve done differently recently was I started taking an l-citruline/l-arginine supplement in mid March for some mild ED. I’ve also been eating a lot of watermelon. I had tremendous improvement with the ED, and thought everything was good, and then the hand and leg issue started. It doesn’t make sense to me that blood flow would improve in one area, and get worse elsewhere, but I don’t know. I stopped the supplement a few days ago, though. After some searching, I learned that this type of supplementation is frowned on by Peat.

Right now, one of my big concerns is having a lot of tests done, the doctors say, “We don’t know what it is”, and then I owe a bunch of money (I have pretty lousy insurance).

Any thoughts as to what I should have them test for?
 

Peatful

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You need to rule out the supplement and or the watermelon and or the combination of these two.

I would stop both immediately to see if there is any difference before your appointment- which is fast approaching.

That’s a good starting point.





Then:
I would make sure im eating enough and keeping my blood sugar steady.
 
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chh1138

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Thanks, Peatful. I stopped the supplement maybe 5 days ago. Last had watermelon two days ago.
 

Peatful

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Thanks, Peatful. I stopped the supplement maybe 5 days ago. Last had watermelon two days ago.
Good


So hopefully you aren’t in an energy deficit.
Eating well. Not in a stressed state.
Keeping blood sugar steady to settle any chaos down.


Maybe someone else will chime in...
 
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chh1138

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I'm definitely having some stress related to it, so some of this could be anxiety.

About 20 years ago, I had pretty serious anxiety/panic attacks (after passing out in a restaurant) that lasted a few years, and caused me to have similar pain in my extremities. However, this was also accompanied by feeling very foggy and having a lot of depersonalization, essentially feeling outside of my body. I'm not having any of those symptoms now, though (just the purple hands, which I've never had before, and the arm and leg pain/tingling).

Would you recommend I just eat the typical Peat way, or should I eat more of something in particular?
 

Peatful

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I'm definitely having some stress related to it, so some of this could be anxiety.

About 20 years ago, I had pretty serious anxiety/panic attacks (after passing out in a restaurant) that lasted a few years, and caused me to have similar pain in my extremities. However, this was also accompanied by feeling very foggy and having a lot of depersonalization, essentially feeling outside of my body. I'm not having any of those symptoms now, though (just the purple hands, which I've never had before, and the arm and leg pain/tingling).

Would you recommend I just eat the typical Peat way, or should I eat more of something in particular?
I dont know what a “Peat way” is to you.

What I recommend in particular are easy to digest nourishing foods in a macro ratio of 40/30/30 or 50/20/20. C/P/F at each meal.

No PUFA of course.

Get sun. But sun requires energy- so make sure you are eating enough.

If you don’t tolerate big meals just go with more frequent smaller ones.

And try to eat food. Not too many liquids.

I don’t know your age nor your temps nor your diet hx. But this is a good start.
 
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Peatness

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Dr. Peat on Raynauds

Calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and K are closely involved in regulating circulation. The balance of thyroid, progesterone, and estrogen is important, with too much estrogen being a problem. A blood level of vitamin D3, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, around the middle of the normal range, e.g., 50 ng/ml, is desirable.

Rheumatol Int. 2013 Mar;33(3):751-5.
Raynaud's phenomenon and vitamin D.
Hélou J, Moutran R, Maatouk I, Haddad F.
To our knowledge, there have not been studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). To test in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, and prospective way whether 8 weeks of 600,000 IU monthly supplementation of oral vitamin D3 would contribute to improvements in RP, 53 patients describing RP were recruited during winter 2010-2011. 42 patients were deficient in vitamin D dosage and randomly assigned into either the vitamin D group or placebo group. Every 4 weeks (for a total of 3 doses), patients received their treatment and answered on a visual analogue scale (VAS) basis about their RP. In the vitamin D group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 20.9 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 48.09, and 36.2, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 32.9 ng/mL. In the placebo group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 21.8 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 51.19, and 64.28, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 23.2 ng/mL. Following our observations, we concluded to an objective augmentation of vitamin D blood level and RP self-judgment improvement after 8 weeks of monthly supplementation of vitamin D3. One can ask whether vitamin D has as a vasodilator effect in patients with RP who are deficient in vitamin D. Other studies and researches are needed to answer these questions.


Have you had a covid injected recently?

 
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chh1138

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I dont know what a “Peat way” is to you.

What I recommend in particular are easy to digest nourishing foods in a macro ratio of 40/30/30 or 50/20/20. C/P/F at each meal.

No PUFA of course.

Get sun. But sun requires energy- so make sure you are eating enough.

If you don’t tolerate big meals just go with more frequent smaller ones.

And try to eat food. Not too many liquids.

I don’t know your age nor your temps nor your diet hx. But this is a good start.
Weather in my area is going to be great - 70s/80s F for the next few days, so I'll be out in the sun a lot. Thanks again for the tips.
 
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chh1138

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Messages
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Dr. Peat on Raynauds

Calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and K are closely involved in regulating circulation. The balance of thyroid, progesterone, and estrogen is important, with too much estrogen being a problem. A blood level of vitamin D3, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, around the middle of the normal range, e.g., 50 ng/ml, is desirable.

Rheumatol Int. 2013 Mar;33(3):751-5.
Raynaud's phenomenon and vitamin D.
Hélou J, Moutran R, Maatouk I, Haddad F.
To our knowledge, there have not been studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). To test in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, and prospective way whether 8 weeks of 600,000 IU monthly supplementation of oral vitamin D3 would contribute to improvements in RP, 53 patients describing RP were recruited during winter 2010-2011. 42 patients were deficient in vitamin D dosage and randomly assigned into either the vitamin D group or placebo group. Every 4 weeks (for a total of 3 doses), patients received their treatment and answered on a visual analogue scale (VAS) basis about their RP. In the vitamin D group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 20.9 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 48.09, and 36.2, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 32.9 ng/mL. In the placebo group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 21.8 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 51.19, and 64.28, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 23.2 ng/mL. Following our observations, we concluded to an objective augmentation of vitamin D blood level and RP self-judgment improvement after 8 weeks of monthly supplementation of vitamin D3. One can ask whether vitamin D has as a vasodilator effect in patients with RP who are deficient in vitamin D. Other studies and researches are needed to answer these questions.


Have you had a covid injected recently?

I stopped all supplementation a few days ago in case something there was causing this. But I have a magnesium complex I can start taking again, and I'll get some D and K.

I had a covid booster 6 mos ago.
 
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Peatness

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I stopped all supplementation a few days ago in case something there was causing this. But I have a magnesium complex I can start taking again, and I'll get some D and K.

I had a covid booster 6 mos ago.
Sorry to hear about your booster.

I would focus on diet for your K, cooked greens if you can tolerate them. Vitamin E is great for circulation too.

When you see the doctor please ask them to check your heart. Good luck.
 

David PS

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Mine don't look quite as bad as hers, thankfully. LOL. But I'm also half her age.

I had two shots plus a booster.

That picture was taken in march, 2019. Here is one from 2022 and it looks like some of the color is subsiding. It takes a long time for the body to heal.
I agree with Peatness, you need to increase your dietary vitamin K . I would also add bioflavonoids if it was me. Friends have reported good results using an over-the0counter complex of hesperidin and diosmin.

Regarding time to heal, here is the video that I like to share. It starts with a nice visual showing how much vascular healing took place in lungs of a patient after 9 months of healing. If you are substantially younger than 96, then you might bounce back faster than the Queen.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LONbpI3bDg
 
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chh1138

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Jul 26, 2020
Messages
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That picture was taken in march, 2019. Here is one from 2022 and it looks like some of the color is subsiding. It takes a long time for the body to heal.
I agree with Peatness, you need to increase your dietary vitamin K . I would also add bioflavonoids if it was me. Friends have reported good results using an over-the0counter complex of hesperidin and diosmin.

Regarding time to heal, here is the video that I like to share. It starts with a nice visual showing how much vascular healing took place in lungs of a patient after 9 months of healing. If you are substantially younger than 96, then you might bounce back faster than the Queen.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LONbpI3bDg
Thanks, David.

That’s a great video. I’ll probably check his book out.
 

Deborah888

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Fwiw, my 19yo son has always gotten purple hands and feet (blood pooling). At age 13, he had a LOT of blood tests. Nothing. He's always been on the thin side, eats when he remembers to. However, he and I have the Factor V Leiden deficiency (genetic), which causes clot-prone blood and he has all the symptoms of POTS. (Even the blood pooling can be POTS). Only thing that's helped out of the vitamins and minerals is sublingual methyl-B12. He says his circulation is better as well as orthostatic tachycardia/BP issues. I looked it up after he said at helped and did find some studies that link B12 to helping POTS, anyway.
 
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chh1138

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Thank you, Deborah. I watched a YouTube video of a boy whose hands turn purple when he lowers them, then return to normal when he raises them, which is exactly what happens with me. Doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong.

That’s kind of what I anticipate happening in my case. I’ve had a couple minor, but nagging, health issues over the last two years. They run all kinds of tests, then say, “We don’t know what it is.” So, then, I’m stuck with a big bill with no resolution to my issues.
 
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chh1138

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Here’s a follow-up to my purple hands issue:

I felt better today than any other time this week, though hands are still turning purple and tingling/having some numbness. Saw my primary care physician, who was pretty perplexed. She didn’t know what it could be but ran several blood tests. Told me my blood pressure and pulse were good.

The only things that stood out were:

Magnesium was low: 1.7 (range showed 1.9 to 2.3). I’ve been taking a magnesium supplement for about a year, so was a little surprised by this.

D25 was low: 24.10 (standard range 30-100. Talked to a nutritionist friend who said he’d like to see that above 70)

Monocyte # was flagged as high: .77x10 (standard range 0-.70x10) was reading that this can be sign of infection or leukemia, but I don’t understand how high it needs to be to be alarming. White blood cell count was 5.8 (standard 2.6-9.8), so I don’t know if they go together.

T4 - .90 (range .78 to 2.19)
TSH - .924 (range .465 to 4.680)
T3 - 2.7 (range 1.7 to 3.7)
 
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Peatness

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You’ve had 3 covid injections and your doctor is “perplexed. She didn’t know what it could be”? You are good-natured so I guess that’s why you are not outraged. So forgive me for being outraged on your behalf – I think your doctor is negligent and frankly criminal. Insist she have your heart examined. If you don’t have skeletal issues then I think there might be issues with the heart. Has she considered doing a d dimer test? Also elevated monocytes in the context of these injections should be investigated.

If this is an adverse event from the injections it needs to be reported in case you wish to make a claim later.

:mad:
 

David PS

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If your magnesium is low (below range), then you need to take more magnesium for a while. If your thyroid is not working properly, you will burn through your magnesium. Try taking additional magnesium before bed; it may help you sleep better.


View: https://youtu.be/vOvO_kH7lwQ?t=1048


Once again, I agree with Peatness
You’ve had 3 covid injections and your doctor is “perplexed. She didn’t know what it could be”? You are good-natured so I guess that’s why you are not outraged. So forgive me for being outraged on your behalf – I think your doctor is negligent and frankly criminal. Insist she have your heart examined. If you don’t have skeletal issues then I think there might be issues with the heart. Has she considered doing a d dimer test? Also elevated monocytes in the context of these injections should be investigated.

If this is an adverse event from the injections it needs to be reported in case you wish to make a claim later.

:mad:
 

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