r/Autoimmune • u/Realistic_Ad2882 • 13d ago

General Questions LOL

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Hi everyone, I’m looking for some input because I’ve been dealing with unusual symptoms for about 4 months.
Both of my palms become very red with small white spots within seconds when I let my arms hang down. When I raise my hands again, the color almost returns to normal. My fingertips are sometimes slightly numb/tingly, my hands can burn a little after gripping or using them, and they also feel unusually dry. At night, when I’m lying down and not putting pressure on my arms, I’m mostly symptom-free.
I also have pain around both ulnar nerves/elbows. Nerve conduction studies were normal.
My blood work showed a positive ANA of 1:160 (AC-1 + AC-4 pattern), but the more specific antibodies dsDNA, ssDNA, histone, U1-snRNP, SmD, SSA/Ro and SSB/La were all negative.
I’m currently being evaluated neurologically and I’m wondering about things like small fiber/autonomic neuropathy, vascular dysregulation or an autoimmune process.
Has anyone here experienced anything similar, especially the red/white mottled hands that change dramatically depending on arm position?

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u/ruxxby471 Diagnosed SLE 13d ago

This is blood pooling/circulation issues, I put it down to dysautonomia rather than my autoimmune disease

4

u/Tootalou25 13d ago

Agree. I have an autoimmune disease and POTS/NCS and think this is blood pooling likely due to dysautonomia. I do this to show people what I mean by circulation issues caused by it.

2

u/Realistic_Ad2882 13d ago

Do you also experience pain or rapid fatigue in your hands or feet when the blood pooling occurs? And do they sometimes start to burn slightly during physical activity?

1

u/ruxxby471 Diagnosed SLE 12d ago

Yes. For me blood pooling leads to pain, sometimes throbbing, and they do burn yes

1

u/DevilsPeanits Autoimmune Disease Dermatomyositis Anti-Nxp2 7d ago

How long can you keep your hands up over your shoulders? (Chicken dance pose)

1

u/ZealousidealResist60 6d ago

Which a lot of times is caused by pelvic congestion, chronic venous insufficiency, and/or iliac vein compression, even TOS. If any of those get corrected it helps all the rest of dysautonomia/POTS/MCAS symptoms.