Swollen fingers question

[DragonflyC]

I was taking a walk with my husband today, enjoying the warm weather, when my fingers became so swollen that I had to switch the fingers my rings were on because they had become too tight.  This happens to me a lot when the weather is nice.  They also swell at night.  The joints look white and the rest of my hands/fingers are red and puffy.

Does anyone know if this is a normal thing?  A Sjogren's thing?  Some sort of reverse Raynaud's? 

The only explanations I can think of are too much salt (definitely not a problem for me) or dehydration or retaining water, which I don't think are problems either. 

Thanks!

--C.

[Pegasus47]

Hi DragonflyC :

Interesting!  My fingers swell too when I go hiking ro a fast walk.  Always had it.  I think it is just blood rushing into the extremeties.   I use to hold my arms up letting the blood go back down.  I guess is, not a Sjogren's related issue.

What a nice thing to do - take a walk in the spring with your sweetheart!

Pegasus

[lindaneall]

Yes, this happened to me once when I went on a long strenuous hike. My fingers swelled so much that I could only bend the fingers a slight amount. My husband (a physician), said this wasn't anything to be alarmed about. It was just blood pooling in the fingers and would resolve given time. Sure enough, within 1-2 hours the swelling had nearly resolved.

[Billydude]

I get vaselvagel syncope issues which is a result of blood pooling at your lower extremities.  I wonder if the same happens to hands.   If so it would be a CNS thing which many of us have trouble with.

[Suzy]

Dragonfly,

I saw several people discussing this on the Sjogren's FB page recently. Maybe that was you? Anyway, it seemed that this would happen to those Sjoggies when they did physical activity. They put their arms in the air just as Pegasus said.

My feet swell quite often and I can't quite figure out what does or does not trigger it...standing, sitting, and walking all seem to have done it. Guess I just need to lay around with my feet propped up all day! Ha!

Suzy

[DragonflyC]

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I've had vaselvagel issues in high school, Billydude, so that sounds like a possible explanation.  I wonder if it's happening again.

Suzy, I don't belong to the SJS FB page.  Is it very active?  I'll have to check it out.  As for your feet, I fully support you propping them up all day.  Just make sure you have some bon-bons on hand before you settle in!

I'll have to try the trick of raising my hands when they swell.  It's an annoying problem and rather uncomfortable when it happens.  I've experienced it for years, but never knew what what happening.  A naturopath I saw a few years ago said she thought it was a Raynaud's thing (reacting to heat, as well as cold), but I've never found any research that indicated such a thing happening. 

[Suzy]

Right! Bon-bons! Great idea. The FB page on Sjogren's isn't very active at all. I am a member, but I prefer to lurk on the Lupus page because it's much more active. Don't feel like I should be a member because I don't have the "diagnosis," but as we all know they have similar issues.

[c991]

My fingers swell every night, I always make sure to get my wedding ring off early or I'm in trouble. I don't have edema anywhere so I'm certain that's not the issue. Exposure to sun also causes swelling along with a bunch of other issues.

[louise]

I have this quite often in the morning when I wake up. I also have swelling in my fingers when taking a walk. Not so much just every day walking but actually going on a walk. When I am working my legs will swell and get red.I stand all day when working. I mentioned this to my Rheumy but he did not give me any answers.

[meow]

My fingers swelled up when I went on long walks, too---especially if I was swinging my arms. I thnk Sjogrens' aggravates this.
My cure was to bend my elbows and hold my arms at a 90 degree angle, fingers curled in but not clenched, thumbs on top. When you walk,  your thumbs should follow the line of your lowest rib. No vigorous pumping like the race-walkers, just a controlled swing.
Worked for me.

[babycakes]

i get this also.  I do have reynauds and always thought it was related to this.  Quite often in the morning my fingers will feel swollen (and look a little bit puffier) and they are also numb.  Within half an hour or so when they cool down (they feel hot from the night) they go back to normal.

Also if i exert myself or i am in a hot shop or in the summer they go swollen and red, only to go back to normal when they cool down.  They are either freezing cold or hot and swollen.  very odd.

[Shashi11962]

When I go to get my rings inspected every six months, I have trouble getting them off in the summer time. (In winter, they are too loose.) Evidentially, according to the salespeople at Kay Jewelers, it's normal for your fingers to swell up in warmer weather or when you're exercising. They keep a big bottle of hand sanitizer so folks can use it to slide their rings off.

So, I think it's a normal occurrence, not a Sjogren's thing.

[Epson]

I have this problem all year long and go for months without being able to wear my wedding band, good thing my wife trusts me.

I bought us new bands a couple of Christmases ago, so it's not like they were size 30 years ago.  I guess I have to trade up to a bigger size since they can't be sized or cut, tungsten carbide.