Cold intolerance anyone?

[VeganAthlete]

Greetings all,

Does anyone else experience intolerance to cold temperatures (even when others aren't cold)? I am typically always cold..even when others complain of being hot. I am not sure why this may be, but I am hoping someone else has some insight as to why this happens?
I appreciate your input!
Thanks in advance!
VA

[olivenpine]

Hey there,

I don't know that I have cold intolerance, but I do have a condition called Raynaud's. It's not life-threatening, but is uncomfortable and sometimes very painful. You can check out http://www.raynauds.org/index.php if you want detailed information, but in a nutshell (quoting from that site's FAQ) it's "a disorder of the small blood vessels of the extremities, reducing blood flow. When exposed to cold, the blood vessels go into spasms, which may cause pain, numbness, throbbing and tingling. Emotional distress may also trigger such a response." Is that the nature of your response to cold?

I'm going to find a more appropriate thread to post to with this issue, but I thought I'd mention that I'm looking for non-wool socks. I've always depended on wool socks to deal with my troublesome feet, and finding a good alternative to wool is tough. Let me know if you have suggestions!

~olivenpine

[Risker]

Aren't you quite slim VeganAthlete? I mean, fat does keep you warm...

I get cold sometimes when Enchantress doesn't, it's somehow related to how the room's laid out, my sofa is in a cold spot.

[DiaShel]

Some people just seem to always be warm while others cold. I can't really figure any common factors. I know that people body temperatures do vary by a fraction of a degree. Maybe this is enough to effect how they feel. Just thinking that even a slight fever can make you feel very warm so if you run a slightly lower then average body temperature you might get cold easier.

[leedsveg]

I don't usually feel the cold but my sympathy goes out to those that do (including Mrs Lv).

Leedsveg

[Enchantress]

fat does keep you warm...

I get cold sometimes when Enchantress doesn't.

How rude .

[VeganAthlete]

fat does keep you warm...

I get cold sometimes when Enchantress doesn't.
How rude .

You two are so funny!

@olivenpine: I wouldn't say I experience pain, but I do experience distress. It's a sort of unbearable cold you cannot escape from. My hands are typically very cold to the touch regardless of the temperature around me or if I am resting or active. Is Raynaud's simple to diagnose? I would suggest tencel or synthetic shearling...doesn't look bad, it's warm and looks fashionable!

@Risker: Hmmm, I wonder if it could be due to my build or body fat...I am not certain if there are other metabolic factors involved...but very well could be.

@DiaShel: Last year my physician told me my temperature was about 97.6, which is about a degree away from 98.6...that one degree could be associated with the sensitivity to cold...and feeling cold all the time.

I should mention this as well.....
My blood pressure is usually 110/70 or 100/60...my pulse ranges in the forties and fifties. Some times it reaches 60.

[BilTan]

I am the complete opposite to you, VA, because I rarely feel cold, and I wear a short-sleeved shirt, with nothing underneath all year round.

When I go outdoors in the winter I put on a cardigan, and sometimes a wind/rain resistant lightweight jacket on top of that. That is all, even in wet and windy Wales, which can also be very cold in winter!

Is it only your hands that feel cold? Or do your feet get cold as well? If so, that could be a sign of poor blood circulation.

Your pulse rate seems very low. I wear a Polar heart rate monitor when I go Nordic walking, and sometimes when I am using my Kettler cross trainer indoors, and I always aim for between 100 - 130 as the optimum range, but then my normal low rate is in the 60s. However, I am a lot older than you, and I have never run any marathons, and so our metabolisms are probably completely different.

[VeganAthlete]

Wales is definitely much colder than the Southeastern regions in the United States! My partner thinks I am a nut case because I walk around indoors with a heavy bulky sweater and a pea-coat with my warm baggy lounge pants WHILE the heaters are on. Nope, just my hands. My feet are cold too, but I put on socks and warm shoes. Maybe I should wear mittens year round :P Jk jk. I should invest in a heart rate monitor as well. When I run I do use the gym's or sponsors' heart rate monitor...it's usually 130-160. Hmm let me ask you this (don't mean to put you on the spot) but do you feel your metabolism has slowed down a bit due to the aging process?

[Andy_T]

I am very sensitive to draft normally.

If somebody opens a door at the other end of the room, and cold air comes in, I am the one to shiver and demand that the door be closed again.
Was like that already some decades ago, long before I went vegetarian or later vegan.

Best regards,
Andy

[Mymblesdaughter]

It was always a joke in my family from when myself and my sister were small that she was always cold and I was hot. We are still the same now. I found that when I was working in an office I was always one of the people who was too hot, funnily enough all the other people who were too hot were men. When I visit my sisters house I find it unbearably hot. I really strange though isn't it?

[VeganAthlete]

It is pretty strange. I suppose some of us are more sensitive than others to slight temperature changes. I think it may have something to do with our internal temperature. There have been times when I eat a large meal, my body gets really hot (as if I were running a fever) but I feel intensely cold. Friends and family members think I am a complete weirdo. I've had a weird body temperature since I was much younger as well. It became more noticeable when I hit my teens though. I guess I grew too tall for my frame too fast.

[Firestorm]

I am quite sensitive to the cold, my feet & hands get really cold - this has not happened since becoming vegan, it started several years before when I became diabetic (a bit of circulatory disfunction is the norm for diabetics apparently) and it takes me a while to get warm again once I am cold - hours usually. This might also have something to do with spending so much time in a cold swimming pool

[VeganAthlete]

You noticed your cold intolerance alongside being diagnosed or did it start happening prior to that? Yeah, circulatory dysfunction is a common recurring problem for most people living with diabetes. My grandmother had some sort of special socks to help with circulation (and an electric blanket for her legs and feet. Ouch! I can relate...it takes me a few hours to warm up but I speed the process by drinking something REALLY hot (typically coffee) and shivering/shaking until I feel better. Holy cow...that reminds of swimming out in the lake in the canyon out by the aquifer this past summer. I should have known that the freezing cold water water in the aquifer spills over into the lake. Pretty painful swim that was.

[Firestorm]

You noticed your cold intolerance alongside being diagnosed or did it start happening prior to that

It was after being diagnosed (and started on insulin), but before becoming vegan. Before being diagnosed I was constantly roasting hot because of all the excess sugar in my system. I have an electric blanket because my bedroom is the coldest in the house - its like an old friend on cold nights!

[VeganAthlete]

I hate to ask you this...but does it run in your family (you don't have to answer if it's personal) I need an electric blanket. I am living in a colonial type of house built in the 1930s so the insulation is not a good as what is used now. It was almost 35 degrees inside my bedroom when I woke up! Awe, there are other ways of keeping warm on cold nights too :P

[Firestorm]

Do you mean the Diabetes? It doesn't run in the family (my uncle was diabetic but that was through surgery that went wrong - and he's not a blood relation), when I was diagnosed my doctor told me there was "no reason for me developing it, shits just happens sometimes"!

[VeganAthlete]

Yes, that's what I meant. Diabetes is rampant in my father's family. All of my paternal grandmother's siblings had diabetes (including my grandmother) and it carried over to my father's generation. My father and I both have hypoglycemia. We've always had low blood sugar and low cholesterol levels. Diabetes is a huge problem in South Texas, especially in the Hispanic/Latin population. I'm sure obesity is the major risk factor contributing to that though (at least in my region). The Mexican-American diet and the Tex-Mex diet are TOO fattening and very poor in nutrition. My parents grew up in Mexico but their diet consisted of whole grains and legumes (rice and beans) with lots of salsa and veggies. When they moved to the US they noticed that other immigrants who had lived here longer had a diet consisting of too much meat, too many tortillas and LOTS and LOTS of fast food.

[Firestorm]

My father and I both have hypoglycemia. We've always had low blood sugar and low cholesterol levels.

I feel warm when my blood sugar is high (Hyperglycaemia) maybe people feel cold when blood sugar is low?

[veganosie]

i ALWAYS feel cold and i have low blood pressue and low body fat. i always wear jumpers even in summer and i get even colder especially when i'm sitting still for a long period of time, like unbearable coldness that i can't warm up unless i do exercise. i have quite bad circulation and i think a touch of raynauds - my hands go grey when they're cold!

[VeganAthlete]

I can relate to that veganoise, except for that my hands go blue/purple. It doesn't help that the temperature is 26 degrees Fahrenheit at the moment.

[mythil]

This is kinda odd. I never really "feel" the cold.. I know it's cold but it doesn't really bother me that much. However my partner always complains that my limbs are freezing when I go to bed *shrugs*

[cedarblue37]

i feel the cold and really hate drafts. i don't even like to be in the direction of a fan on a hot day, especially on my face.

paying out for my electric blanket for the bed was the best £40 i ever spent!

i like it to be really hot in the summer before i feel really good and i also get have raynaud's syndrome.

i've always been this way, my feet are always cold to touch.

i've also been sllim build so not much fat insulation either.

[veganosie]

i hate summer, it's too hot and i hate sweating. i think i just have really bad temperature regulation. i'd rather wrap up warm than have to keep cool.

[leela]

I hate the cold.
When the weather gets cold I automatically eat more carbs because I crave them, and putting on a few pounds definitely keeps me warmer.
The times I haven't put the 'winter weight' on, I've suffered more with the cold.
I'd much rather be too warm.

[VeganAthlete]

I love the winter (my favorite season by far) but I strongly dislike the cold temperatures.

Cedarblue37: I'm with you on that one. I can't stand having a fan pointed at me no matter what time of the year. I actually enjoy the warmth of the sun (in the summer) and the hearth (in the winter)! I just love feeling warm year round. I need to get my electric blanket from my home. I really don't want to invest in another one right now with Christmas expenses coming up. The lack of insulation is certainly a contributing factor to feeling cold and Raynaud's does not help I'm sure.

leela: It's funny how the body functions, huh? We're not too different from other animals.

[Holly78]

I really feel the cold too. Even when I am running outside I don't warm up that much - yesterday I wore a base layer, long sleeved fleece top and a waterproof jacket, plus hat and gloves whilst running and I was just about comfortable. (It was about 6 degrees celcius.)

Maybe I should move to Mexico...