We've been noticing over the past week that our 22-month old son's lips, hands, and feet have been turning bluish/purplish at times throughout the day. They are also cold to the touch. Doesn't seem to bother him though. At daycare, our provider noticed the bluish lips even when he was running around with the other kids and his cheeks were flushed. We saw our pediatrician today and he listened to his heart and sounded good. He checked is blood oxygen level and that was at 100%. They drew blood and hemoglobin was fine. He said that it could be Raynaud's disease/syndrome where fingers and toes and sometimes other body parts turn white, blue, red due to poor blood flow to those areas and often affected by cold. He said to keep watching our son and keep his hands and feet warm. Of course I looked up online and am scared that there could be something underlying. Has anyone had a toddler diagnosed with Raynaud's? If so, did they do any further workup to make sure there wasn't any underlying causes? Thanks in advance for any advice! For now, I'm just going to keep my little monkey warm and write down all the symptoms we see!
this is not the answer you want....I have raynauds and was diagnoised with it in my early twenties. However before I knew the name of what I had I remember as early as 12 yrs having problem with my 2 of my fingers turning competely white and lossing feeling.
With myself I try to stay bundled or stay out of the cold.
Two of my three children had/have the blue lips, feet, and hands. Both of my daughter's experience this still. As recently as last night. My daycare person was very concerned with my youngest as her lips, hands and fingers were purple nearly everyday for a while.It is scary to me but I have talked to the doctor about it. Both girls had a suspected heart mumer to go along with this. We were referred to the Children's Heart Clinic for an echocardiogram. Both girls had good results. That was a sigh of relief. I still wonder why this happens and if it can be prevented. No one ever mentioned Raynaud's to me but I learned about it through research. Now I watch and see if anything changes and do my best to make sure they are warm and comfortable. Like you said, it never seems to bother them--some shivering though, but otherwise fine.
Good luck and I hope things work out great.
Toddlers can get Raynauds, but this is rare - rare enough that it really warrants clinching the diagnosis with a referral to a good quality pediatric rheumatologist. Also, any time a child's lips are blue, especially after activity, cardiac disease needs to be ruled out with an echocardiogram. I would not accept the watch and wait method here. I would absolutely pursue the echocardiogram first, and I would not take no for an answer; at the same time I would insist on a rheumatolgy referral...to ensure the diagnosis is correct, and to look for other possible autoimmune diseases, which sometimes are apt to occur more often if a child is diagnosed at a young age. I would also do my own research -- make sure the person you are being referred to is the best in your area and a PEDIATRIC rhematologist (which are hard to find, so be prepared to travel) and not an adult one. There is a difference.
Good luck and let us know what happened.
I was diagnosed with Raynauds while I was taking a medication. Don't remember which one. When I stopped the medication my hands were once more warm and not blue.
It's my understanding that the actual cause of Raynaud's is unknown. I recently read of a toddler having it but don't remember where. The medical person answering the question said it's not something to worry about.
I urge you to do whatever you need to do to reduce your concern. Stress makes the symptoms worse and your son will pick up on your tension. Also it does not help to worry and only makes life miserable for you. I have found from many years of living that it really is true what some political figure said: "The only thing to fear is fear itself." Every thing that's happened in my life, including lung cancer, has been OK. I've learned and grown from every experience.
I read a couple of articles that I found on the Internet and I suggest that the conditions that can cause Raynaud's are not likely to be seen in a toddler. However, if you're still concerned, make a list of the conditions that concern you and perhaps his doctor can either do a test to rule them out or reassure you that's it's unlikely for your son to have them.
I know when my husband was a baby, he had this, and after he hit puberty he apparently grew out of it. However that works. All I know is that he's a walking furnace at this point in his life.
Only reason I knew this is that when my son was born, he was showing similar symptoms, which is when hubby mentioned his diagnosis when he was tiny. We didn't get an official diagnosis for lil' man, but the doctors keep a very close eye on him. So it's just been a matter of keeping the wee one bundled up, but even now as he hits his growth spurts, he seems to be getting less frosty and more furnacy.
Good luck though!
Ny niece ( that lives with me) just started showing signs of this. Our provider took a lot of blood to rule out any under lying conditions. Thye checked for any auto immune disorders, thyroid, and other things. We get the results next week.
I would have them check for anything that could cause this just to rule it out. But what I was told this last week was unless she has pain there is not much to worry about.
