The Raynaud's Winter Survival Kit

The Raynaud's Winter Survival Kit: 2013 Update!

Last year I put together a list of things that I found helpful when coping with Raynaud's and the cold weather. Even now I feel the temperature dropping and it's very unpleasant, even though to most people it's an insignificant difference.. to us, it's vast.

So, I've checked the links from last year and they appear to all work. All of those items are still useful yet there's a couple of items I'd like to add which really have proved to be invaluable.

Tip: Keeping the legs warm!

One of my biggest issues is my legs and feet, they just decide to sting with cold, even when it's not reallly 'that' cold. It hurts. So in preparation for winter I've been trying to work out how to keep them warm and yet not have to wear huge ski trousers or bulky uncomfortable things. I usually wear leggings and a long jumper or a pair of 'skinny' (ha) jeans. Last year I championed fleece lined leggings, though the problem here is that they stretch and after a few washes the fleece is not so fleecy. This year I've found something much more shiny...and WARM! It's actually a combination that seems to work for me, so I hope it can work for you too!

Base layer:
Faux-Fur Lined Footless Leggings: £7.99 (eBay)
I'm a 12-14 and the M/L fit me.

Middle Layer:

Campri Thermal Pants - £6 (Sports Direct)

Top layer:
Any pair of jeans or viscose/cotton leggings.

Voila! It should feel like you're wearing ski trousers, but you certainly arent!

More Additions for 2013

Arthritis Gloves: £9.99 (Amazon)
These can be really helpful for those who suffer with Raynaud's too. I've found them a great help for the pain in my hands and wrists. I wear them a lot and my only 'complaint' with them is that the threads at the top of the fingers are a little poor in places so they may need a few stitches in the future. Other than that, I've found it hard to get gloves that have some sort of compression and grip, these have both, so I love them. There are more expensive versions available and an eBay/Amazon search for 'Arthritis Gloves' will bring them up.

Wool Slippers: £9.99 (eBay)
Yes, they are not the best looking slippers around.. yet they are great for keeping the feet warm. These are the 'best looking' of the lot..sorry!

Wool Insoles: £3.50 (eBay)
I love them.. LOVE! I had resisted the urge to buy them earlier as I thought 'well, what real difference can they make'. My parents brought me a pair back from holiday and.. well the difference when I put them in a pair of my boots was amazing. This is the link for the size 6 but there are other sizes available - just click 'view sellers other items' in the right hand side panel.

Winter Boots: £22.95 (eBay)
I read reviews on these from Amazon, then searched on eBay to get the best price. From what I've read they are super warm and lovely to wear. I'll update this again once I've actually tried them but I thought I'd add them to the list for now.

Coney Fur Poncho: £13.99 (eBay)
Now.. It might be very unpopular for me to add 'real fur' to this list. For me personally, I find as many alternatives to 'real fur' as possible, as you can see from this list. However, I've tried this item, its light and I can take it anywhere with me and to be very honest, it does a better job at keeping me warm than half the coats I own. I only buy fur as a last resort and I only own two items of such material. When the temperature causes such pain and illness, I need items that work.. and this works.

Conie Fur Scarf: £8.93
Please see above!

The All in One Glove: £14.99 (eBay)

EDZ Merino Wool Touch Screen Gloves with Extra Grip - I've not tried them yet but from what I read, they're really good, have a high wool content, allow you to use touch screens and still keep your skin covered. The grip is a bonus and that's usually the flaw in most touch screen gloves.

Hope you've found some of this helpful. For more ideas on keeping warm, please check out the 2012 list below!

The 2012 List

Today, something a little different. I don't usual creep into the land of illness through this blog but it may be that a few posts will appear here that relate to it, this being one of them. One of the conditions I have is called Raynaud's (http://www.raynauds.org.uk/). Through sheer incompetence it took the Dr's 10 months to diagnose it. The medication that I'm on now  (Nifedipine) is helping but the cold is still bloody painful. For those that don't know about this condition it basically means your body kinda allergic to the cold. Any cold! So just going to the freezer can bring on an attack. The cold causes the blood vessels to cramp and restrict blood flow to parts of the body, mainly hands and feet. For those with this condition, winter is a horrible and very difficult and painful time of year. This year I've been building and testing a stock of items that may hopefully help fellow Reynaud's sufferers keep a bit warmer. If you are house bound it is perhaps the case that much time is spent by the computer so quite a few bits are designed for keeping you warm at your desk. I'm not rich so I've been hunting for the 'cost effective' options. If you want to save money you can shop about between eBay and Amazon, but I've found eBay to have the cheaper options with more variety of styles (I'll include the search criteria). If you don't suffer from Raynaud's there are still quite a few nifty things here to keep you warm in the winter. If you're super rich then there are expensive alternatives in your local ski/fishing or outdoor hobby shop. I hope it can be of some use!

At The Desk

USB Heated Gloves £3-£10 (eBay)

I've got a pair of the furry ones with little penguins on and they are amazing -but- they make it slightly hard to use a mouse and keyboard so I think the thinner ones are a better option for flexibility.

USB Heated Slippers £4.69 (eBay free p&p)

I've only just ordered mine today as I had no idea they existed! Very excited as from my knees down my legs just don't seem to know how to produce heat. You can even get a Totoro version, but for £7.68 but I panic bought the other first!

Slanket/Snuggle Wrap £4.99 (free p&p)

It's thin (if you want thicker fleece buy the branded one), long and not really intrusive when trying to do things. Wearing it back to front then wrapping it round you makes for a nice cozy wrap, or if you get a brown one like me, you can pretend you are a Jedi.

Heated Mouse £13.99 (eBay £2.99 p&p)

I've not tried this as I need more buttons on the mouse but it looks like a fantastic idea!

Heated Mousemat £5.99 (eBay £1.49 p&p)

Another cute option and there are loads of style options but if you need a lot of movement in your mouse actions then it might not be for you!

Bed Time

Electric Blanket £15-£30 (eBay)

A must have! This has made such a huge difference for me. When I get into bed at night it feels like my legs are defrosting and the pain relief is incredible. It used to get to about 4am and I'd be shivering and shaking, nothing would warm me up so I'd have to take baths at 4am just to reheat myself. Luckily this has all stopped and I keep the blanket on all night to keep me warm.

Thermal Bedset: £20-£30 (eBay)

Super soft, comfy and works really well with the electric blanket.

*Hats*

Yes, hats! Possibly one of the most important things for any person suffering with a temperature based illness. Sometimes simply by covering your head it makes you feel a lot warmer, it certainly does for me.

Faux Fur Animal Hood (14.95 (eBay free p&p)
By far one of the best purchases I made. If my head gets cold when I sleep I feel sick and well.. can't sleep. So, I put this on and it solves that problem. Yes, it looks a little silly but I don't really go out with it in public aside from wearing it in the car while the car warms up. It's been near me all through the winter and even just worn as a scarf it's incredibly warm and cozy. Don't make the mistake of one with faux fur on the inside, the warmest is fleece inside, faux fur outside. For a more 'manly' or 'fashionable' approach to hats, see the next item ;).

The Trapper Hat £4.89 (eBay free p&p)

Something a little more fashionable to wear out. Warm and also covers the sides of the face.

Fleece Balaclava Hood £4.89 (eBay free p&p)

Looove this, either as a snoody under scarf or to wear in bed to protect my head from the cold.

On The Move

I find that pre-heating socks, boots & gloves with a hair dryer before going out can be helpful in keeping the heat in.

Driving Gloves & Touchscreen Gloves £1.46-£2.69 (eBay)

I found myself always having to take off my gloves in the car which became more and more painful because it was so cold and the car doesn't heat up for ages. Then I discovered that they do little gloves with rubber dots on them so you can keep them on once you leave the house and start to drive.

Battery Heated Scarf  £22.99 (eBay free p&p)

It's not the most practical scarf about but it is warm. It doesn't have two heat settings as on the listing, just on and off. I looked like quite a muppet trying to work out how it actually fits round. Sticks together with velcro and kind of folds over itself. Takes 3xAA batteries (best to invest in good rechargeables) and you get about 3 hours of heat per charge. The battery pack isn't much of a problem at all and if you just want to use it as a normal scarf you can take the pack out. When I say heat, its very very warm so the extra heat setting would have been nice. It's great to wear under a bigger 'normal' scarf and really helps if you get pains up the neck or dysphonia.

Zippo Handwarmer £12.67 (Amazon free p&p)

I got this for Christmas and it's amazing! Lasts for absolutely ages and is really really warm, even in the pouch that's provided. The fuel costs about £1.50 per bottle and because its a Zippo product I stick to the Zippo lighter fuel. Preparing it isn't fiddly and there is a brilliant review on the Amazon page by a customer that gives detailed instructions on how to get the best out it. Randomly enough, I usually keep mine down my top to keep my chest warm.

Clickable Reusable Handwarmers £5.99 (Amazon free p&p)

I don't own these as I have the Zippo but I thought I'd add them in for good measure^^.

Clothing

Tog Socks £3.99 (eBay free p&p)

Very thick and very warm. Come in a huge variety of colours. You can also pick these up in Primark for about £3.50 a pair.

Thermal Underwear £5 each (Primark)

I grabbed these and even though they don't look that pretty, they do what they say on the.. erm.. tin! There is such a huge variety online that linking something would be useless and the male versions are so different to the female :). If you bought via eBay it should cost between £7-£15 for a set of top and leggings.

Thicken Clothing

An eBay search for 'thicken clothing/jumper/top' brings up some really good options for nice warm clothes that aren't that expensive. I've gone for the hoodie lined with fleecy stuff. Now the items from China take a long time to come and always look better in the pictures than when they arrive BUT if you can wait then it's well worth it! As with anything on eBay, check the sellers feedback and see what other customers have said.

There is also a hairy/supersoft/fleece PJ top in Sainsbury's. It's £12 and by far the warmest and softest jumper I own. Yummy!

Moody Tresspass Jacket £49.99

Sadly Raynauds and highstreet fashion coats don't really mix. Many pretty jackets don't seem keep much warmth in. When I think of ski jackets I'm usually put off by how heavy they are. The thinner ones don't look that warm but this one is super warm and is windproof/waterproof which makes a huge difference.

eBay Fugg Boots £7.99 (£2.99 p&p)

If you can't afford Uggs there are always Fuggs, A friend of mine from Poland said she'd got a pair and they were super warm. If she's wearing them in winter in Poland then they must be good right? Thankfully she was right and they really are great at keeping your feet warm, I even bought a second pair! :) Work really well with the tog socks mentioned above.

Microfibre/Fleece lined leggings/tights £2.22 (eBay £1.50 p&p) or £3.50 (Primark)

They're so lovely, I pretty much wear them under everything unless wanting to wear a long jumper, then I'll put the thermals as layer one then the fleece lined tights/leggings on top.

In addition to all of this, heat bags of all different shapes and sizes are really useful but I won't link anything specific as there are so many!

**More For Feet (some untested)**

Thank you for all the comments and lovely feed back so far. I've added this little section in as it's the items I've had the most questions about.

One Use Heated Insoles £1.65 (eBay 95p p&p)

I've only just seen these for the first time! Air activated heat pads for shoes, what a good idea. Cheap too but sadly not reusable. Not a long term solution but if you know you're going out for a trip they are a great item to keep with you or wear for the day.

Microwave Slipper Boots £10.99 (eBay free p&p)

I have a pair of slip on microwavable slippers and they're not very comfy and you can't even walk in them. The heat lasts all of five minutes. These are a boot version, so slightly more expensive and hopefully slightly more useful :)

Battery Heated Socks £19.99 (eBay £2.50 p&p)

Very pricey, but if you have the money to spare I think for people who particularly suffer with their cold feet, this is a brilliant option. You do need 4x'D' size battery, whatever those are! Hopefully you can get them in rechargable else these would end up being a money sink. These come in different sizes so you would have to perform a new search if you aren't looking for size 6-8 (UK).

Electric Foot Warmer £23.99 (eBay free p&p)

This looks great, not only for the heated element to it but it is also massages the feet which is really good for the circulation.

Normal Furry Boot Slippers £5-£8 (ASDA or Primark)

Without heated options available I've always found furry boot style slippers to be the best at keeping heat in so I thought I'd add these in here. The ones I own are no longer in stock but I've linked to similar so you can get the idea :)

Thanks for reading!