A simple test could have explained my 18 years of pain
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I was standing by a fridge in the supermarket for my weekly shop when a cold, tingling sensation spread through my fingers. One by one, they started to turn a blue tone, which quickly escalated into pain. My lips also took on that blue tinge, and my ears, although not blue, started to hurt too.
![[Karen Raney-Marr: I suffer with Raynaud's]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235936430-030a.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
I realised then I needed to finish my shopping quickly and return to the warmth of the summer sun outside, so I quickly grabbed what I could and headed to the tills. It’s a feeling I now know all too well. I’ve been living with Raynaud’s disease for as long as I can remember.
![[Karen Raney-Marr: I suffer with Raynaud's]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236806977-8540.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It’s a condition where the blood vessels in your extremities constrict in response to changing temperatures or stress, limiting blood flow to the fingers, toes, and sometimes other parts of the body. In the UK, Raynaud’s affects up to 10 million people, but many live with it undiagnosed.
![[Karen Raney-Marr: I suffer with Raynaud's]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235929773-5036-e1736862898614.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
I was first officially diagnosed with Raynaud’s at 18, but the signs had been there long before. As a child, my fingers would turn white or blue, and I’d get tingling sensations that would lead to numbness and pain. I remember being at a water park as a child, in line for one of the slides, when a lifeguard asked if I was OK because I looked really cold, since my hands, lips and knees were blue. I brushed it off saying I was fine – partly because I was with friends and embarrassed, but also because I had got used to it. It was just what happens when I go swimming.
![[Karen Raney-Marr: I suffer with Raynaud's]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235929669-5fc6-e1736863627735.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
After being diagnosed and trialing medication, my GP referred me to my local rheumatologist. Despite ruling out any secondary cause for my Raynaud’s, I was still struggling with the symptoms and finding it hard to carry out day to day tasks such as doing up the zip on my coat.
