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Treatment with sildenafil or fluoxetin

Posted , 3 users are following.

gee013
gee013

i have read in an American medical site that thes two drugs have been trialled for Raynauds. Do anyone have first hand experience? I cannot take Nifedipine becUse of low blood pressure and headaches.

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • coldhands
    coldhands gee013

    Posted

    59 years old, have had Raynauds in an obvious manner for over 20 years. My touch has been like "Mr. Freeze." Unlike most, I don't experience pain with it, despite developing small ulcers on my fingers during the worst of winter. I finally decided to try and deal wit hit as I've noticed that my trigger temperature has been steadily rising. Used to be that it would only happen if daytime average temperature was in the 50s; I'd guess it's up to 64 or 65 these days (meaning that I have to deal with he worse of it, in Northern California, from late October through early May).

    ​First doctor had me try Norvasc, insisting it wouldn't have a negative effect on excercise. Yikes, that stuff lowered my max heart rate and for the first time ever, caused a decrease in libido. I took myself off the stuff after a few weeks.

    ​My former doctor retired so I got to shop for a new one; found a guy who specialized in sports medicine (former doctor probably thought exercise was reaching for the remote). Talked with him about Raynauds and possibly trying Cialis, which would also help with BPH. He thought there was validity to a PDE5 therapy, but apparently my health plan wouldn't cover Cialis, but would cover Sildenafil under the Revatio label.

    So I'm on 20mg of Sildenafil 3x daily. It does ​not ​eliminate cold hands, but it reduces the serverity and dramatically shortens recovery. Too early to know for sure that I won't see ulcers this year, but hoping.

    ​20mg of Sildenafil is lower than any prescribed dose for ED use (25, 50 & 100mg are the norm) and it will not create any spontaneous, er, issues. Side effects were initially a bit of face flushing (now gone), nose stuffiness for about 20 minutes (has not diminished over time) and... that's about it. Heart rate during exercise has curiously increased about 4bpm.

    ​It's worth a try. I'm staying with it, partly because there has also been "get up & go" benefits, often having to visit the bathroom only once/night instead of 2 or 3. But also because, so far, it's helping with Raynauds.

    • gee013
      gee013 coldhands

      Posted

      Dear "coldhands"

      Interesting and helpful. I dont have any ED and only get up once per night and normal US of prostate. We cannot get 20mg sildenafil, but breaking up a 50 mg might be worth it and more cost effective in the uK.

      dDid they offer you fluoxetine as well for a trial. Still waiting to hear about that from someone. G

    • coldhands
      coldhands gee013

      Posted

      Not sure why anyone would want to take Fluoxetine, with all of its potential side-effects, unless they'd first tried sildenafil and it didn't work. After a month on sildenafil the only thing I notice is a slightly-stuffy nose. It's not mood-altering. And, in my case, it's working. My hands may still be colder than most, but they're not icy anymore, and while they still might get triggered (something causing them to quickly drop in temp), they recover very fast. I went on a bike ride this morning with temps that dropped below freezing and I was actually comfortable. Not only that, but there was no adverse reaction in the shower afterward. That would NOT have been the case before sildenafil.

      Your mileage may vary, of course. 

    • gee013
      gee013 coldhands

      Posted

      Pleased it works for you. This mild weather (in the UK) has meant that so far I have not been suffering, although hands are colder than others except after exercise. All drugs have potential side effects. Neither drug is licenced for use in Raynaud's so the prescribing doctor may balk at issuing either drug. The other consideration is cost of the drugs. Although the cost of sildenafil (pounds per tablet) has come down it is still far more than fluoxetine (which is pence per tablet) and out NHS is very conscious of costs!
    • coldhands
      coldhands gee013

      Posted

      Yes, sometimes the doctors have to get creative. I had asked about Cialis (tadalafil) which is supposed to work even better and has the advantage of just one pill per day. Unfortunately, the cost of tadalafil is much higher than sildenafil. Most-expensive is Viagra, but sildenafil is the exact same drug, made by the exact same company (pfizer) but in 20mg does suitable for pulmonary hypertension and Raynauds use. The normal dose for ED is 50-100mg. Cost per mg is far cheaper with sildenafil, even though it's the exact same drug. Go figure.

      ​Glad you're having a milder winter. Exercise didn't help my cold hands but actually provided a trigger, especially just after, in the shower. Yikes. Unlike you we're having a colder winter than normal; yesterday I got the chance to see how my hands would hold up at 29F/-1C. Very well indeed!

      ​Again, my hands remain colder than most, but no longer ice-like. And, so far, no ulcers. It took about a month to get to the point where I don't notice the effect of the sildenafil taking hold (an odd sense of tingling moving gradually down my arms, plus face flushing). Only remaining side effect, and it's still there, is the stuffy nose.

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