Back in 2012 I first got serious about Raynauds, my circulation issue that causes my fingers to turn white and icy-cold to the touch. Not so much for me, but for my wife, you would complain and recoil if my fingers brushed against her. Back then my trigger point (the temperature below which my fingers would turn to ice) was pretty low, maybe mid-40s, although Raynauds can also be activated by vibration, and typing was a reliable way to set it off. The doctor I had at the time didn’t really believe Raynauds was a thing, but looked into it a bit and saw that Amlodipine (Norvasc) was commonly used because it dilated blood vessels and was also useful for controlling blood pressure. I was skeptical, but gave it a shot.
And promptly gave it up. Two days, one ride, and I knew all I needed to know. One of the worst Tuesday/Thursday-morning rides of my life. Felt like a slug! Heart rate wouldn’t respond to effort. Abandoned the stuff quickly, and it was another 4 years, another doctor, who was willing to try a more unusual approach that actually worked out well. Trouble is, over the last 4 years it’s become progressively worse, with a trigger point that has gone all the way up to 63 degrees now. I’m normally really tolerant to cold, and the rest of my body has no issues, but the hands… earlier this year, I made the bold move to electrically-heated gloves (they work!!!). And now it’s time to get to serious work on the breathing issues again, because the hills aren’t getting any steeper.
My current GP has been trying to get me back onto Amlodipine for the Raynauds, although I think her not-so-secret agenda is to lower my blood pressure with it. Since the meds I’ve been using had been becoming less effective, I decided, OK, I’ll give Amlodipine a try again. Maybe it won’t be so bad. Half the dosage as before.
Well, I tried it. And I repeated one of the worst Tuesday/Thursday morning rides of my life today. After several rides of doing pretty well, this was dreadfully slow. No power; dropping for 240 watts to about 200. That’s huge. Just like before. So guess I’m back to heated gloves again, which I may even bring to France. I was really hoping for an alternative, but when faced with nearly 37 minutes up Kings (vs 31 last time), it’s time to write off Amlodipine, permanently.
