If this isn't in the right column, please change it. I have watched on here as others have complained about being cold. Having only been DX with Sjogrens for two years, I cannot remember ever being cold like I am now. Hot flashes were more like it. I'm wearing turtle-neck long sleeved sweater, jeans, socks, boots and a bathrobe over everything. I have to be on the couch with my electric blanket throw every day.
I'm leaving for Fla next Friday and would not like to be like this. My hands are icy cold. My husband is a virtual heater and I take advantage of that in bed and put my cold feet/hands on him. He is breathing with a CPAP and sleeping as though nothing is going on. Doesn't faze him or wake him up.
My GP gave me some Adreset and DHEA to take as supplements when I was complaining of being cold all the time. I've also been on thyroid med for about a year, a low dose. I'm wearing gloves to bed tonight along with my layers of pajamas and sweats. I have a bit of a cold right now, but this freezing business has nothing to do with that.
I have the heat at 72 and this should be warm enough. If I have it any higher, my eyes will fall out. A car trip to Fla should be great fun with my eyes. I think I'll sit in the back seat. Lucy
Lucy, Is it still cold in Michigan??? We finally had above zero weather today and the snow melted some. I have never been as cold as I have this winter. I do think that chronic illness does something to us.
We bought one of those Eden Pure heaters that are advertised by Paul Harvey. We just love it and it is one of the best investments we have ever made. It is spendy and we bought the 1500 watt one. We run it morning til night in the family room and it keeps it warm without the LP stove in there. It is about 15 inches wide, 18 inches tall and about 20 inches long and looks very nice sitting wherever you put it. It is on wheels and can be pushed easily and it is also not that bad to carry.
You can adjust the temp with the remote control and the heated air blows out but it is not hot enough to start a fire and it is not hot on or around the heater. Could set jello on it and I doubt is would melt very fast. Kids can even sit on it. My hubby sits with it in front of him and blowing right on him and puts his feet up on it like a foot stool. He is very thin and has poor circulation and he just loves it.
Hope you have a good trip to Florida. Heard it was not very warm there this past week. Hope it warms up for you. Irish ;D
Hi Lucy,
I know exactly what you are going through. I never thought I would turn into my Mother, but I have. My poor Mother was always cold. We have pictures of her sitting on the beach in the hot sun with a sweater on. Now I seem to be going in that direction myself.
Good old Sjogren's gifted me with Raynaud's for Christmas and I knew then why I was so freezing cold all the time. I can't decide which is worse the Sjs or the Raynaud's.
Take care and have this checked out before you head south. Have a good trip and Please, Please bring some heat back with you when you come back north. ;D
I have a very narrow temperature range where I am comfortable and it is above normal for most people (73-75 degrees in the winter and 71-73 degrees in the summer). Try to find that temperature for yourself and you will function better.
Hi Lucy :)
Do make sure your doctor tests your thyroid function regularly. Feeling freezing cold, when nobody else is, could be a sign of hypothyroidism. Before there were bloodtests hypothyroidism used to be dxd by 'basal temperature'. Patients were asked to take their temperature upon waking up and keeping a chart for a month. If the basal temperature was consistenly below normal (I'm not sure how far below) then hypothyroidism was often diagnosed and thyroid supplements given.
Take care - Scottie :)
Quote from: Scottietottie on February 07, 2009, 06:18:25 AM
Hi Lucy :)
Do make sure your doctor tests your thyroid function regularly. Feeling freezing cold, when nobody else is, could be a sign of hypothyroidism. Before there were bloodtests hypothyroidism used to be dxd by 'basal temperature'. Patients were asked to take their temperature upon waking up and keeping a chart for a month. If the basal temperature was consistenly below normal (I'm not sure how far below) then hypothyroidism was often diagnosed and thyroid supplements given.
Take care - Scottie :)
I would sit with a hot water bottle to keep warm... I am extremely cold today..... although since I have been ill I have been unusually hot and not able to tolerate heat!! Not sure if it is illness related or not.
Lucy,
I read parts of your letter to my hubby, he thought I had written it! I dress pretty much the same most of the year. Heat pad and blanket over my lap. Keep fleece and wraps in car all summer long for cold restaurants. have learned to eat out mostly in my coat the rest of the year.
Will be very interested in how you feel in Florida, hope you find it healing. Wishing you a great trip. For me once on the way, I finally relax and everything works out just fine. Have a friend who has to remind me of this every trip.
Chico
Lucy, I am with you on this symptom... However I don't think Im as extreme as you, poor soul..
I keep getting the same 5 blood tests , and none ever show up abnormal... including thyroid..
We have had a more than average cold Winter here in the UK ( more like they were when I was a child) and I'm hating it.
I am just a pain to live with, moaning about open doors & windows , etc' supermarkets blasting cold air all over me makes shopping a nightmare! Ive even written to shops complaining, I really don't think that this can be good for anyones eyes, even those who don't appear to be affected by it ( yet) It just seems every where I go I am COLD!! and uncomfortable!
Rant over, anyway, enjoy Florida... Dolly.
Lucy,
We should be warmer here in Florida next week in the high 70's at least. This week has been miserable in the 30's at night and 50's and 60's during the day. I have been dressed the same way as you describe for the last two weeks. Be sure you bring your warm stuff here as well. Even though it is warmer here in Florida, if you are in a house that is mostly tile you will end up being cold and needing a heating pad to warm up ???. I often go outside just to warm up during the day because our house does not hold the heat in. I don't want to turn the heat on because it dries me out even more.
I hope you enjoy your trip!
Sue Ann
Oh honeys I totally get it!
I started getting COLD like 8 years ago.
My mom was always cold.
I sat in a sweater in spring out in the sun in April last year.
Then I thought about it! OH my!
I also don't want the heat on high because it dries me out.
And I don't want the shower hot because of the same :))
But it chills me!
I get HOT after I eat??? I sweat.
and tea or a mochi (icecream) they effect me greatly hot n cold.
My thyroid was fine last summer but who knows now.
I make rice "heating pads" and put them in bed with me :D
I have store bought booties, shoulder "U", circle, and two heating bottles LOL
Oh and I keep gloves and a beret with me all year long...
Noticing the temperature listing I never thought of taking my temperature for a month in the a.m...
Also my comfort range is 67 to 70 inside. Outside like 70 to 75?
Thanks for you all sharing - I must journal all of this and I am always learning so much at this forum!
Health and happiness,
P.
I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. last night wearing two layers. I finally got warmed up about 4 a.m. and took the sweat shirt off leaving just my pj top and the sweats on bottom. I have a dilly of a cold too that just came on in the last two days but I think the cold part is there anyhow.
I have stayed in bed all day today except for getting up to eat a little supper and post on here. I am coughing a lot of stuff and think this won't be a long time thing. I rarely get colds. But I'm always COLD. I have to get ready for Fla and I'm in bed and the house is a mess and I'm not packed! Lucy
Eyeamdry,
Just a hunch: are you taking Plaquenil?
I also have hypothyroidism, but feeling cold was cured when I started taking thyroid meds.
Last year I tried Plaquenil for Sjogren's and the 'freeze' came back. DR said it interfered with my thyroid meds...
Best wishes, Maria
Lucy:
Sending healing thoughts your way! I always get sick before trips, I think I stress myself out - I hate to pack. It's easy for me to say, but just relax your mind as you rest, try not to stress out.
I agree with Marie and Scottie, my feet were blocks of ice before I got the right dose and type of thyroid medication. My liver couldn't process the Synthroid - so now I take Armour thyroid dissolved under the tongue and what a difference, I feel so much better!
Have the docs check your free T3 levels - they won't do it unless you insist - that is what determines how well you are being treated, not the standard TSH test which is worthless.
Hope you are feeling better soon!
Hugs,
Sue
Hi Lucy-
Just thought I'd chime in- this winter has been my first freezing in years! I've been going through menopause after a hysterectomy in 2006 and could barely stand to wear t-shirts and shorts around the house the last few years. My pile of sweaters sat unused on chair in my bedroom and I slept on one side of the bed with a fan on all winter while my poor husband laid under extra blankets and slept fully clothed!
Not this year - I'm freezing! I'm not sure I got the Reynaud's gift as Pooh did, but my poor fingers and toes feel like they never get warm. I look like a bag lady around the house in my layers upon layers of nothing that matches but is warm. With gas heating prices still so high, we've really tied to keep the heat down and my hubby and I each have our own quilts that we use in the living room while watching TV and such, but still, I find myself nudging up that thermostat just a bit more each day. It's been such a cold winter here in northeast PA, but it's not just the weather, it's me - I'm always colder than my husband.
I have had my thyroid checked recently and that's not the case for me, but it's still a good thing to have checked as Scottie suggests, you never know.
I hope you have a great, warm and relaxing trip to FL and get thawed out, at least for a little while,
Tracy
I, too, am cold all the time. My poor husband is walking around the house sweating while I'm all bundled up and still cold. I have hypothyroidism which is supposedly being controlled with medicine (my rheumy checked it again a couple of weeks ago to make sure) but it doesn't seem to help with the bone-chilling cold I feel all the time.
I finally went out and bought a double control electric blanket for the bed so I can have my side warm. It makes all the difference in the world at night. I used to lay in bed for an hour trying to get warm.....now I turn the blanket on a little before I go to bed and get warm fast! It's pure heaven!
It's something you might want to try if you're as cold going to bed as I am. Take care.
QuoteI finally went out and bought a double control electric blanket for the bed so I can have my side warm. It makes all the difference in the world at night. I used to lay in bed for an hour trying to get warm.....now I turn the blanket on a little before I go to bed and get warm fast! It's pure heaven!/quote]
My husband is an electric blanket and he always goes to bed before me. ;D
I am also cold more these last couple of years than I have ever been. I have spoken about this to both endo's and neither of them seemed to be concerned (I guess if the TSH level is good, nothing else matters - as the first endo office let me know ::), and they wonder why I don't go there anymore).
My temperature was always right around 97.2 - steady. Now a days, it's all over the place (and it has been so low as to not register on a normal 4 minute thermomater), and no doctor really seems to care. Sad. If anyone has been helped to get their body temperature back to a normal range, please do pass the information, a some of us would love to know what helped.
Take care -
Patze
i'm really feeling for you guys who are feeling the cold. there is nothing worse and you've been hit with a really bad winter there.
if i could i'd send you some of our aussie heat we sure have enough to spare.
hang in there guys summer is just around the corner for you. until then keep warm and safe
pud
We use to have the dual control blankie. I would wake up to find my husband sweatting his brains out, with his side on high. I would have to climb over top of him and turn his side off. And he would never remember.
Now we have a heated mattress cover with one control, on my side. :) Poor guy says he misses his blankie, I just say, "sorry hon." Sometimes we ladies just need the control. :)
(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd355/klfowler7/img_8642a-Copy-Copy-1.jpg)
My feet can turn into blocks of ice, but I believe my Hypothyroid meds have helped.
kimbo
I also wish I had an electric blanket, but my husband heats up fast. lol... What are some good prices on electric blankets? I haven't priced one in a long time.
susanep :)
I just came back from seeing my GP. i have bronchitis and am running a fever of 100 d. I also told the PA my normal temp is 97. so that is several degrees of fever. She just looked at me.
I was given a 10 minute breathing treatment. She gave me an antibiotic and a spray for the ashthma. I also got some diflucan so I can deal with the yeast infection I'll get. Hopefully, I'll be good as new in a few days.
A fever like that would certainly make you feel cold!
Hope you feel better soon.
Rest up and take care - Scottie :)
Just another thought:
When I first complained to my rheumy of always feeling cold he said: "Well maybe that's a defence mechanism of the body in the fight against rheumatism." So in other words, there could be a good reason why we are feeling cold?
Hmph! Another good excuse for to going to the Caribbean! ;D
Maria