Raynaud's and Radiation

Hi ReadyAbout,

I have Raynaud's as well and I had radiation a few months ago. My Oncologist was not concerned at all about it and I did very well. I also have Psoriasis and that was ok too. I used Cerave lotion several times a day. I'm not sure how many sessions you are going for but I had 16 whole breast and 4 boosts. The whole breast sessions were in the prone position. I healed very well soon after. I hope this puts your mind at ease a little. I was very nervous about getting radiation and for me it wasn't so bad. Going there every day was the worst pare. Good luck.

I know this is an old thread, but radiation seems to have caused my Raynaud's to spread to my affected nipple (had previously only had in fingers and toes). Needless to say, I am not thrilled. Anyone else experience this? I'm not loving the pain every time I go outside right now. I'm hoping it'll mellow out after I've recovered a little more, but I'm trying to figure out how to manage it in the meantime.

Thanks for your thoughts! I haven't asked my RO because this started right after I finished, so I'm in a gap between appointments. I can call if it gets bad but they'll probably say to hang in there and see if it improves over time which is more or less what I'm doing. I haven't been able to check for blanching when it's really bad because I'm typically out in public at those points, but I've definitely seen some color shifting with more mild pain flares so I'm guessing that that's what's happening. Also, during many of the really painful times my fingers and toes have been doing their bloodless thing as well, so it seems to make sense. I couldn't find anything specifically linking radiation and Raynaud's, which I thought was weird. It makes sense to me that in someone who already has it, the tissue damage of radiation would be enough to trigger it in other areas. I already layer so much because keeping my core warm helps even with the fingers and toes, but I need to see how I can add to that. I know I have some of those emergency handwarmers around somewhere. Wondering if tucking one of those into the inside pocket of my winter coat would add a little extra warmth on super cold mornings. Probably need to look for a vest or something like that if it continues. I tried nifedipine at one point for my fingers and toes and it helped but caused some side effects. If this continues I may talk with my doctor about trying it again or other options like baby aspirin. Good to know that's an option.

It's pretty much a daily occurrence for me in fingers and toes during the colder months, and I still didn't think to mention it. I don't think knowing it was a risk would have changed anything anyway. I'm still definitely having the color changes in the nipple and some pain, but it hasn't been as extremely painful as it was for a week or so, so maybe it's getting better already. Or maybe it'll come and go. We shall see. Either way, it is what it is and like everything else, I'll learn to manage it.