Why I'm I always Cold?

[Chrissy]

Yanno, when I first started this woe...last March and now again since November , I am absolutely freezing most of the time. I mean, literally shivering.

I have to wear layers of clothing and have the gas furnace & coal heater running all the time so that I can keep warm. It’s really bad about an hour later after I exercise.

I'm wondering if my body is getting used to using fat as fuel and not carbs... but not sure. The mssg boards I belong to all talk about getting hot, well, would you think this would be a thyroid problem if Im freezing all the time?

but when I think about it... doesn’t shivering expend more energy (burns more cals) as your body it trying to warm itself up......maybe its not a bad thing. ;-)
Anyone else cold out there besides all you hot people????
:wave:

[Atriana]

You might want to think about having your thyroid tested. All weight loss diets lower thyroid function somewhat. Being cold all the time is a classic thyroid symptom. Of course, it could be from a bunch of other reasons, but the thyroid test is relatively cheap and painless.

[agonycat]

I went through the very same thing during the summer. About 3 months into the diet I could not get warm to save my life. Only thing that would warm me up were hot baths. I think it lasted for 2 months and now I am back to normal.

Maybe the body has to adjust temp wise due to the fat layers being burned off! LOL

Not sure...but it sounds good anyway. My thyroid is fine btw. :)

[doreen T]

Yes, low thyroid is a possibility, but you mentioned that the chills are especially bad after exercise. Are you drinking enough?? Chills can be the result of dehydration too, especially if you're drinking coffee, tea, colas or other things with caffeine, which is diuretic. You need to drink lots of water while you exercise and right after too. Our fat cells do act like insulation to keep body heat in, but it's WATER that carries the heat and warmth to our cells and tissues in the first place.

Just a thought :)

Doreen

[Silly boy]

I thought it was just me. I too feel cold lot of times. Before I started this diet I was known as the guy that goes out in his shorts and T-shirt during December. Now I curl up with a blanket at home. :confused: It is getting better now but I still feel cold most of the time.. Can't wait till Summer again.

Sorry I can't be of any help.

Dave

[vitaka]

I think there could be a much simpler explanation: fat is an insulator! This is why animals tend to carbo-load in the fall for instance because they need that extra layer of fat to feed them and keep them warm! So… wear a fur coat! :D

[Marlaine]

Chrissy......

I can only speak for my own experience. I've always had a problem with being cold. I've been tested for low thyroid several times throughout my life. They tell me that I'm low normal. A couple of years ago I asked my doc if I could try a small dose of synthyroid to see if it did anything for me. She agreed that it was worth a trial. It cured the problem. I ran out about 6 weeks ago and keep forgetting to get a new script and I'm having trouble with being cold again.

Marlaine

[Babs]

Yikes! Please, NO FUR!

But yes, I have been cold for months and hadn't even thought about it until you brought it up, Chrissy. Winter blankies in December is unthinkable! (Australia, remember...) I can't get warm enough.

[Homegirl]

I have always been sensitive to cold but in the past few months I have been walking round swaddled in layers because I am so cold all the time. My hands and feet, especially, are like blocks of ice unless I am in the tub, exercising, or running around like a chicken w/ my head cut off doing errands.

I am aware of the thyroid connection because just about every single female in my family (grandma aunts, mum) and even an uncle (not very common in men) take thyroid medication.

However, I was tested in March and was normal so I am assuming it has to do with the change in diet.

I wear more clothes, take more hot baths, exercise to get sweaty ( :D ) and use hot water bottles when DH is away on business!

[A thin me!]

I am sitting here with goose bumps.... I thought I was weird.
Had my throid tested - I am medications already but the last test came back fine in Nov.

I turn up the heat, too. I thought maybe I was cold because I drink my water ice cold....

Glad to know I am not the only one...... I just walk around with warmer clothes and things.

[ezandreth]

I've been feeling the cold a lot more recently. Partly because winter has only seriously hit us recently. I was putting it down to losing all my insulating layers of blubber!
For the last 15 years or more, I've been a sweaty fat girl who was always too hot and moaning about how high the heating was turned up in public places like hotels and shops, so I'm quite enjoying the novelty. I can wear nice winter clothes - recently went out and bough two cashmere tops that are lovely but I could not have lasted ten minutes in them earlier.
At a party recently, I wore a slinky long velvet dress with long sleeves (everyone commented on the weight I'd lost, too) and the last time I tried to wear that dress, about 3 years ago, not only was it too tight but it was way too hot.
I am using a hot water bottle or a wheat pillow for my feet every night in bed though, have been for a while because I get cramp in calves and insteps. Bed is very wide and dh escapes to the other side.

[Chrissy]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I will definately ask my doc to give me a thyroid blood test when I get my annual checkup this coming January. Marlaine, is synthyroid a natural form? And did you have any side effects from this drug, besides getting warmer? Or do you or anyone else know of, or recommend a natural drug that I should ask for if I do have hypothyroidism (sp?) I hope its not my thyroid, and it this coldness will eventually taper off.

Again, thanks everyone, I guess I'm not the only cold-hearted person in this group! LOL :roll: Going to make some hot herb tea now!!! Oh btw, Doreen, I faithfully drink lots of water everyday, during, before and after exercise too, thanks though! :)

[BillT]

Originally posted by Chrissy
Why am I always cold?Cuz ya ain't met me yet! :p

[Chrissy]

Oh Bill, your making me warm already!!! LOL :there:

[gwilson38]

well answers another one of my concerns!! thanks people..lol I have had my thyroid checked and its normal but holy cracky Im cold. Only time I feel warm is just after I work out. I now sit on a big heating pad most of the time. I cant wait for summmmmmer!!

[Elihnig]

Yes, I've been cold most of the time also. I attributed it to drinking 75-100 oz. of cold water throughout the day. Also, having moved to a 100 year old house that heat doesn't go upstairs in. I typically wear an undershirt, a t-shirt, a pajama top and a sweater with pajama bottoms and socks to bed. I'm getting an electric blanket for Christmas though!

Elihnig

[zellie]

I also feel cold often, then I found this:

http://www.lowcarbnexus.com/superhydration.htm

"Here's a little-understood fact: As much as 85% of your daily heat loss emerges from your skin. Heat emerging from your skin is important because another word for heat is calories, and another word for calories is fat. That's right, most of your fat is lost through your skin in the form of heat. Anyway, the remaining 15% of that heat loss is divided between warm air coming from your lungs and warm fluid being passed out through the normal urination process.
Superhydration can double, triple, or even quadruple your urine production. As a result, you'll be able to eliminate more heat. Remember, inside your body, fat loss means heat loss."

[Victoria]

Hi Chrissy,
I notice that my hands get icey cold right after I eat. I figured it had to do with digesting my food. Sometimes it is so uncomfortable I have to put on gloves and crawl under a blanket. But getting up and doing the dishes in warm water is a great way of dealing with the cold hands. I surprize my kids by touching their cheeks or necks with my hands and it makes them jump! Maybe it just takes more energy to digest low carb meals. It's good to know I'm not the only one. Victoria

[Homegirl]

Thanks for the very interesting article on water consumption, Zellie. It confirmed what I have always thought about water.

It also answered a question I had about water temp. I have tended to drink my water at room temp or just below but sometimes I drink it warm--especially when I am feeling cold. Going to try drinking it cold and see if that makes a difference and how it affects me when I am feeling cold.

Even as I type this my hands and feet are like iceblocks. Haven't had a shower yet so can't wait to get under the hot water.

[Chrissy]

Thanks Zellie, I feel much better knowing that!

Great article!

And Victoria, I'm always rubbing my cold feet against the hubby at night, he hates that! LOL :p

[zellie]

Chrissy, just noticed this with myself today.
I've been "extra cold" since I started adding a lot more water (quit smoking preparation). Last two days, I upped my calcium-magnesium intake since I was drinking so much more, didn't want to be lacking in calcium (leg cramps).
Tonite I'm barely shivering.
:)

I was wearing silk t-shirt, cotton t-shirt, woollen sweater, sweat-shirt and a fleech vest and shivering. The indoor temp was 75F.
LOL!

[MaryB]

I've never been a cold person either - they use to tease me about being such a "young person for all those hot flashes" but lately I've been freezing. Particullarly my hands and my feet. I sleep with two pillows over my feet across the blankets after I take a hot shower! Makes you wonder about all that goes on with my metabolism. I'm glad to hear other people voicing the same sypmtom, altho I know it is annoying to you all. I was beginning to wonder if I had a circulation problem!!!
MaryB

[zellie]

This morning I had leg cramps (for me it means not enough calcium-magnesium). I think in my case there is a relationship between coldness, water intake, and calcium-magnesium levels.
If I up my water intake i have to watch the calcium very carefully and increase the quantity dramatically. I was cautious yesterday, didn't take enough.

[BillT]

Originally posted by Chrissy
Oh Bill, your making me warm already!!! LOL :there: http://homepage.mac.com/ChefBillT/excellent.gif Excellent!

[Chrissy]

Can anyone tell me what is normal?


Now I know why I've been so cold all those months and why I was gaining all that weight so fast. I’m officially diagnose with hypothyroidism (low thyroid) and will have to take a prescription for the rest of my life to control it.
I hate to take any med, but I guess I better, if its important for every cell in your body!

TSH 8.62*
FREE T4 9.5

Can someone explain these numbers, I had another test done last week, and don't have my result back yet, but I was wondering what numbers are normal, what range our you guys?

Take care :wave:

[doreen T]

hi Chrissy,

I posted this information to another member recently The TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is an indirect, but generally accurate measure of thyroid function. TSH is produced in the pituitary gland ... and as the name implies, its job is to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce the thyroid hormones. If your body isn't getting enough thyroid hormone, the pituitary will secrete more TSH to nudge the thyroid gland into action. Thus a higher TSH level means low thyroid function. Conversely, a very low TSH suggests over-active thyroid. ("normal" TSH ranges from 0.5 to 5.5)

There's some suggestion that for women, a TSH of 2 or lower is more desirable, and higher than that may be an indicator of low thyroid function, especially if there are hypothyroid symptoms such as low body temp, dry skin, thinning hair, slow pulse rate, fatigue, difficulty losing weight, high cholesterol etc.

Measuring the free T4 and T3 thyroid hormone levels along with the TSH will give a more accurate picture than just the TSH alone. If you have symptoms but the dr. won't prescribe treatment based on the "normal" TSH result, it would be worth having the other tests done. Normal range for free T4 (FT4) is 0.7 to 2.0 --- There's another T4 measurement called Total T4 .. the normal range for that is 4.0 to 12.5.

Here's a chart from the about.com Thyroid site, that lists lab values for thyroid blood tests (http://thyroid.about.com/library/weekly/bltest-values.htm).

Hope the dr. gets to the bottom of things and you're feeling better soon :)

Doreen

[Bloom]

What an interesting thread!!
Ive always felt the cold hate hate hate it!!!
I am far colder than i ever have been at this time of the year. For the past week or two ive been noticing it.
In the winter my hands and feet go numb quite often , and my feet and hands are like ice blocks in bed at night.
It is only Autumn (its 17 c) and I am begging hubby to get fire wood in cos its just so damn cold and the shops all still have their airconditioning on :eek: .
Hubby says you could scald a pig in the baths I have :rolleyes: yes I love heat. Im putting the eletric blanket on the bed.

I have never had my thyroid checked , but maybe I should.
I will look on the net for a list of the symptoms.

[fiona]

I had an interesting chat with my homeopath today. I was telling her how I could be fine for fairly long periods and then have a period of lethargy. The lack of action often results in my being very cold and then I get even more lethargic because I am so cold. I mentioned that my GP had done all the tests and thyroxine levels were all normal etc butttttt ..... Rather guiltily I confessed that at times I took an extra thyroxine pill because it seemed to help break the vicious cycle but I was a little concerned.

She said thyroid tests need to be improved a bit. That when you have your own normally functioning thyroid gland it is producing thyroxine all day as and when it is needed. So if I have a dose at the beginning of the day sometimes it doesn't last through the day. She suggested I have half the pill in the morning and half in the evening so it would be spread a little. That an ocasional extra pill would not do any harm if I was that cold.

Thought I'd share it with you all. Now my challenge is to remember to take it TWICE a day. I'll let you know if it helps.

Take Care.

[mpsp7]

Christine before I started the Atkins diet I took high blood medication and was always hot. After 5 days on the diet I became weak and found out my blood pressure was very low. I was taking medication for the blood pressure. I stopped taking medication back in october and have been freezing here in Californic since. People stare at me as I bundle up in movie theaters. By the way I have lost 61 lbs since Oct 15th so I candle deal with a few goose bumps and low bloodpressure. :roll:

[gecolon]

Well, I wish I had this problem (being cold). I've always been too hot, but when I was low carbing and deep into ketosis I was cold all the time. Since I feel off the wagon I am back to being hot all the time. I can't wait to be back into ketosis and shivering. ;)

[Schwarz]

I was just to my dr yesterday (I just changed doctors recently) to get the results of a bunch of bloodwork that was done about 3 weeks ago. I was still feeling a lot of low-thyroid symtoms even though I had been taking Synthroid for many years. This is what he found:

1) My T4 levels & TSH levels were fine (thanx to Synthroid) but my T3 was way off. It was only yesterday that I learned (he drew me a diagram) that the T3 hormone is not measured by the TSH (which the pituitary gland excretes). TSH can only reveal if the thyroid is producing the proper levels of T4 hormone. The T3 hormone only works inside the cells (the cell takes T4, converts it into T3 for use). Synthroid only provides T4. He put me on a dose of Armour Thyroxine to take with my Synthroid in hopes of raising my T3.

2)I was iron deficient (anemic). Low iron can cause cold extremities (as well as mimic other low-thyroid symptoms). Low iron can also inhibit may body functions including the metabolizing of our thyroid hormones.

Hmmm....we'll see how this new treatment works. I get retested in Sept.

[ace88]

I just started a diet which is torture for me. For 2 weeks, all I can eat is vegetables, fruit, and some meats. All I can drink is water, no exceptions. No breads, pastas, cereal, or sugar, and no dairy, either. No sugar substitutes. Hardly any carbs. Is this similar to the Atkins diet?

Anyway, I did this diet due to lightheadedness and stomach problems I'vehad for five years just to try to get healthy. While I lost 15 lbs, I have noticed I am very cold now all the time. And my lightheadedness isn't better nor is my fatigue. My stomach is a little less bloated. I am freezing, just like many of you, which is how I found this thread!

[nawchem]

ace the atkins diet is similar in that it is lowcarb but it includes dairy (cheese, cream, butter) but no fruit at the beginning.

I had to think of dysautonomia from your symptoms, and of course thyroid as well. I found an article that explains dysautonomia, its in a womens section but men get it as well. Many people with thyroid have dysautonomia too.

http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/womensissues/a/dysautonomia.htm

In people suffering from dysautonomia, the autonomic nervous system loses that balance, and at various times the parasympathetic or sympathetic systems inappropriately predominate. Symptoms can include frequent, vague but disturbing aches and pains, faintness (or even actual fainting spells), fatigue and inertia, severe anxiety attacks, tachycardia, hypotension, poor exercise tolerance, gastrointestinal symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome, sweating, dizziness, blurred vision, numbness and tingling, anxiety and (quite understandably), depression.

Sufferers of dysautonomia can experience all these symptoms or just a few of them. They can experience one cluster of symptoms at one time, and another set of symptoms at other times. The symptoms are often fleeting and unpredictable, but on the other hand they can be triggered by specific situations or actions. (Some people have symptoms with exertion, for instance, or when standing up, or after ingesting certain foods.) And since people with dysautonomia are usually normal in every other way, when the doctor does a physical exam he or she often finds no abnormalities.

I have light-headedness and found potassium supplementation helps.

[Mousesmom]

In the winter my hands and feet go numb quite often , and my feet and hands are like ice blocks in bed at night.

Realizing that this is a VERY old post I had to jump in anyway.

The symptoms you describe here are very similar to Reynaud's disease. I have the same problem. My fingers and toes go white and numb when exposed to cold for any length of time. Reynaud's usually strikes younger women (18-30) - there is treatment but no cure.

Just a thought for all of us freezing people out there.

Julie

[riplips]

hey read this got it off off a lc'er site Shivering Through the Summer...

by liz pavek



...is a symptom, and is very common in hyperinsulinism/ insulin resistance. It is caused by insufficient glycogen being accepted into the cells to maintain body heat. When you are insulin resistant, your cells either lose or mutate their insulin receptors (probably both), which causes them to refuse the insulin/glycogen loads that arrive from the liver. This condition is known as insulin resistance. The body creates more and more insulin (hyperinsulinism) in answer to the cells' cries for glycogen, and the vicious cycle repeats and repeats: More insulin, fewer receptors, starved cells, cries for glycogen, carbohydrate consumption, more insulin, and on and on. A diet high in carbohydrate and low in protein and fat will yield this phenomenon.

You will know when you are getting sufficient calories, protein, and fat when your fingers warm up, since the body "shuts down" the extremities in order to shunt all possible heat and energy to the brain, heart, lungs, and other internal organs. The thyroid gland is frequently underactive, and a good course of supplementation and therapy can restore function here.

The longer the high-carbohydrate diet continues, the worse the body's resistance to insulin becomes. It becomes hyper-efficient at conserving and storing energy, since the perverted diet deprives it of the proper nutrients. The body interprets this situation as starvation, and goes into "CONSERVE AT ALL COSTS!!" mode, a situation that means that "unimportant" areas of the body, like fingers, toes, nose, and skin, are given very low priority, while every possible calorie of energy is stored as fat to be meted out carefully to maintain brain function, heart/lung action, and core temperature. This produces the unhappy condition of gaining fat while literally slowly starving to death. (Stored body fat does NOT mean that a person is not dying of malnutrition and starvation, if all possible caloric energy is being diverted to produce nothing but more fat.)

As soon as you correct your diet, your body will respond by restoring insulin receptors on the cells. The more receptor sites, the more insulin/glycogen can be admitted, and the more body heat there will be available for skin, fingers, and toes.

[jebi]

I'm right with you! i thought it was my insulation in my house or something! i already take thyroid med for hypothyriodism never thought about my "chilled to the bone" was stemming from my thyroid. It really makes sence i just wish there was someting we could do about it, like a vitamin or something. Thanks for letting me know i'm not alone.

[deirdra]

Dr. Mary Enig's suggestion of eating coconut oil every day and adding the supplements codliver oil and Ca/Mg with Vitamin D, not only raised my temperature to "normal" for the first time in 35 years, but my thyroid levels are now normal too.

[TilaBC]

My thyroid has been tested and is fine. Ever since I lost almost 80 lbs back in 2202 I have been freezing. I've since gained back 15 and I am pregnant and still freezing all the time. It drives my husband crazy. Before 2002, I never had a problem being cold that I can remember. It's not like I was skinny even after loosing 80 lbs either.. I still weighed 185 lbs.

[LAnderson]

I thought it was just me, but after reading that this seems to happening to alot a of people I don't feel like such a freak. I started low-carbing in 2004 and lost 105lbs, and since that time I have been like a walking ice cube. Several layers of clothes, space heater at my desk, even in the middle of Aug, gloves on my hands with the fingers cut out so that I could type. I really thought I was crazy. A friend of mine started the diet a couple of months after I did and lost alot more weight than I did, but does not have any of the same complaints about being cold. I want to thank all of you for your idea of having my thyroid tested, I would have never thought about it. Thank you! I hope that sometime I will have some good advise for one of you.

[Whoa182]

Maybe you should read below... when you go on a diet and reduce your calories T3 usually does drop, but TSH and T4 stays normal. Which is fine... if you can put up with feeling a little chilly.

"The researchers found reduced T3 levels -- similar to those seen in animals whose rate of aging is reduced by CR -- only in the people on CR diets. But their serum concentrations of two other hormones -- thyroxin (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) -- were normal, indicating that those on CR were not suffering from the thyroid disease of clinical hypothyroidism. The findings are published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. "
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/wuso-cra053106.php

and see this

Cool mice live longer
36.5 °C may be the best body temperature for fighting ageing.
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061030/pf/061030-11_pf.html

Have such a low body temperature is a good thing, if you want to live younger for longer. Same thing has been found in humans who have lower than average body temperature.