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Always Feeling Cold

Katrala

By Katrala
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted

I saw this mentioned in another thread and was curious if anyone else has a symptom of not tolerating cold well.

I've always thought of myself as cold-natured. However, when my problems began last August (8ish months until gluten-free at that time,) that entire winter was pure hell for me.

I received an electric blanket for Christmas that I carried around like a security blanket at home. Everyone else in the house was OK with the temperature.

I've been dreading fall / winter because of how much I hate feeling cold, but I've been very surprised to find that, even when I've stepped outside in the mornings and it's a little chilly, I'm not miserable. I'm cold - almost like I used to be before my problems started - but I'm not unable to function because I can only think about how cold it is.

Could gluten have caused this?

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Twinklestars Contributor
Twinklestars
Posted

I'm curious to know too. I get cold easily. I live in the tropics and a coolish morning here (19 degrees Celsius) will have me rugging up in warm clothes. I visited Mum recently in early winter and was so cold I shook. I've always felt the cold easily, even before I lived in the heat!

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

I was always cold until going gluten-free... I still like warm weather, but I can now tolerate cold better... I use to bundle up/sweat/FREEZE... Long story short, gluten-free cured the sweats....

T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

That's how it was for both me and my daughter before diagnosis. I couldn't get warm in cold areas, no matter how warmly I dressed. We live in a desert, and when it was 110 outside, I was literally walking outside and enjoying it because I was nice and toasty!

After going off gluten, I notice that the summers here are not as comfortable for me (kind of miss that, LOL) but the winters are much more tolerable. And if either of us get gluten cc, all of a sudden we're freezing again.

cait Apprentice
cait
Posted

YES! I'm always always always cold. And miserable when I'm cold. Friends started referring to one particular blanket as my "soul" because I was always huddled under it on the couch. It may be changing slightly, but it's hard to tell yet. I definitely feel better enough that I'm not always on the couch at least...

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted

I'm always cold. Been that way for years. Even after gluten-free, I'm still cold. The only thing that seems to change my cold tolerance is increasing my thyroid med dose.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Lack of cold tolerance is often thyroid-related. Going gluten-free can lessen thyroid inflammation and allows you to absorb iodine and selenium. As your thyroid function improves, so does your cold tolerance. I always know I'm hypothyroid when I shiver in 70 degree weather.

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pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Thyroid. Primary symptom.

wheeleezdryver Community Regular
wheeleezdryver
Posted

yep, caused by thyroid issues for me, too.

But it has gotten a little better over the years.

At least now I can actually start sweating while working out. (assuming, first of all that I am ABLE to go work out-- but that's a completely different issue.)

And I don't seem to keep my coat on quite as long as I sued do when I'd come in from outside during the winter.

But i still get and stay cold easier than most.... my freinds who refuse to sit in the front passenger seat of my van when I'm driving during the winter could probably attest to that!!!!

Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted
  • Author

For me, once I get cold I just can't seem to get warm.

I lost a lot of weight before being diagnosed and I've always assumed that was why I was colder than normal.

I'm also the type who can go outside in the summer (100+ degrees) and not complain one bit.

lucia Enthusiast
lucia
Posted

Does low blood pressure impact this too?

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Does low blood pressure impact this too?

Don't know but mine has always been on the lower end.

Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted
  • Author

Don't know but mine has always been on the lower end.

Mine as well.

wheeleezdryver Community Regular
wheeleezdryver
Posted

Mine as well.

same for me

cait Apprentice
cait
Posted

Yep, me too.

And totally with you on the can't get warm once I'm cold thing. It's like it gets to my core and no amount of warming from the outside fixes it.

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

I freeze all the time too. For me it is related to thyroid and raynauds. Get your thyroid checked. It can be a symptom of thyroid disease. Raynaud's disease can also cause you to be cold, but usually affects the hands, feet, ears and nose. However I find if I keep my core body temp up it helps the raynauds symptoms.

AVR1962 Collaborator
AVR1962
Posted

I have a terrible time with it. However, I thought it was due to my thyroid issues rather than the glutens. Even being clean with my diet it has not made a difference for me. If I get too chilled my lips and fingr tips will actually turn purplish. At times I have had to jump into bed with my fannel pjs on under thick cover and it will take hours to warm up.

Once on vacation in DC with friends I got too chilled and was walking around the house wrapped in a blanket over my sweater. Everyone else that went wondered what was wrong with me. My body really has a hard time once it gets chilled. However, I can tolerate the heat very well and while my family is sweating and complaining about the heat, I am fine and loving it!

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Does low blood pressure impact this too?

That's another hypothyroid symptom.

Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted
  • Author

At times I have had to jump into bed with my fannel pjs on under thick cover and it will take hours to warm up.

My body really has a hard time once it gets chilled. However, I can tolerate the heat very well and while my family is sweating and complaining about the heat, I am fine and loving it!

This is me completely as well.

I'm glad to see there are others like this.

My thyroid was checked when I first got sick and they said it was normal. Don't know if I should have it rechecked or not.

I had a colonoscopy last December and they made me do the prep where you had to drink the stuff the entire time (no pills.) It was already so cold outside (we were having an unusually cold week of December) and the stuff you had to drink was refrigerated all day.

About 3 hours into it I had blankets over my entire body and was shaking. Apparently that much cold drink makes you even colder. Everyone told me, "It's not THAT bad."

I have several mini-heaters I keep in strategic places around the house. It's September and I'm already looking at getting them back out again.

AVR1962 Collaborator
AVR1962
Posted

This is me completely as well.

I'm glad to see there are others like this.

My thyroid was checked when I first got sick and they said it was normal. Don't know if I should have it rechecked or not.

I had a colonoscopy last December and they made me do the prep where you had to drink the stuff the entire time (no pills.) It was already so cold outside (we were having an unusually cold week of December) and the stuff you had to drink was refrigerated all day.

About 3 hours into it I had blankets over my entire body and was shaking. Apparently that much cold drink makes you even colder. Everyone told me, "It's not THAT bad."

I have several mini-heaters I keep in strategic places around the house. It's September and I'm already looking at getting them back out again.

Did they happen to do a scan of your thyroid? My blood tests indicated that my thyroid was functioning properly however, the scan devealed a growth which I am now on meds to try and reduce. It might be worth checking into a little more.

kitgordon Explorer
kitgordon
Posted

I have always been the "always cold" and can't warm up type. Come to think of it, it is a little better since going gluten free; I thought perhaps the perimenopause hormones were making me run a little hotter, or the 10 pounds I've gained, but maybe it was the gluten all along? My blood pressure and thyroid are both normal.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

I have always been the "always cold" and can't warm up type. Come to think of it, it is a little better since going gluten free; I thought perhaps the perimenopause hormones were making me run a little hotter, or the 10 pounds I've gained, but maybe it was the gluten all along? My blood pressure and thyroid are both normal.

"Normal" thyroid labs are a matter of debate among endocrinologists and the ranges have been recently revised. If your tests were evaluated using the old "normal" ranges you may have had subclinical hypothyroidism.

Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted
  • Author

"Normal" thyroid labs are a matter of debate among endocrinologists and the ranges have been recently revised. If your tests were evaluated using the old "normal" ranges you may have had subclinical hypothyroidism.

Are thyroid problems closely related to celiac?

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Are thyroid problems closely related to celiac?

Absolutely. First, we don't absorb selenium and iodine well so simply producing enough thyroid hormone can be a problem. Second, the inflammatory cytokines (sort of like hormones) your intestine produces in reaction to gluten travel in the bloodstream and can inflame the thyroid gland. Between the two, many celiacs and gluten intolerant folks are hypothyroid to some degree. It's subclinical in a lot of folks, where you have mild thyroid symptoms like tiredness, a little depression that might be treated with Prozac, and feeling cold, but not full-blown hypothyroidism with elevated TSH so doctors miss it.

The inflammation can lead to the development of Hashimoto's autoimmunity in some folks. Celiacs in particular are genetically prone to autoimmunity and development of Hashimoto's. In the reverse, there are some thyroid experts saying everyone with Hashimoto's thyroid autoimmunity should go gluten-free.

Katrala Contributor
Katrala
Posted
  • Author

Absolutely. First, we don't absorb selenium and iodine well so simply producing enough thyroid hormone can be a problem.

Why is the absorption sub-par?

Sorry for all the questions - this is new info for me.

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