Hello doctor, My wife has arthritis and has become very weak over the last few months. Now she has a condition that is more or less like Raynaud's phenomenon. Her fingers are turning pale violet and one of the fingers had gangrene like occurrence. Not only hands but even the toes are experiencing the same. Please help.
Hello. You are right in saying that she has the symptoms of Raynaud's with digital gangrene which is on going. With arthritis, there are 50 variants of it and it is very important to distinguish which one she has it as the management will differ for every arthritis. I would like to ask a few more queries: Any history of oral ulcers? Hairfall? Any history of fever? Which joints are affected? Swelling in the joints? Any deformity? Any changes in skin color or skin becoming tightened? Any history of dry eyes or dry mouth? Any muscle weakness which you have observed? With the start of Raynaud's, it seems like a systemic involvement more, something like lupus, but we need to rule it out. Kindly let me know these queries and I am advising a few tests. If they have been done, please attach the reports as well. CBC (complete blood count). ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate). CRP (C-reactive protein). Rheumatoid factor. Anti CCP antibody. A NA(by immunofloroscence). Serum creatinine. Urine routine. Connective tissue disease.