Health education 10: Why do you feel cold all the time?

In the winter season, if you go outside and feel cold, it is a 100% normal thing. You no need to worry about it. In your office, if you have an aggressive AC, the feeling of cold in normal as well. But if all the time you are feeling cold without any specific reason or in the same situation/place, no one but you is shivering due to cold there may be something wrong with your body. Let us know some reasons for what you might feel like a giant walking icicle all the time.

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You are suffering from hypothyroidism:

You have thyroid gland in front of your neck which produces thyroid hormones. These hormones are necessary for regulating the metabolism in your body. If the hormones are deficient in your body which is called hypothyroidism, the metabolism slows down. As metabolism produces heat, lack of it leads to the situation where you feel cold in an exaggerated fashion.

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Besides feeling cold, hypothyroidism may manifest in many ways, e.g. fatigue, unintentional weight gain, constipation, depressed mood, dry skin, thinning of hair, irregular and/or heavy period etc. If your increased sensitivity to cold is associated with any or a combination of these symptoms, hypothyroidism is the likely cause. Treatments are available for it. You have to take thyroid hormones in the form of tablets.

You are having anaemia:

When your blood RBCs count or haemoglobin concentration is below the normal limit, the condition is called anaemia. RBCs are the blood cells which transport oxygen in the blood. As a result of anaemia, adequate oxygen is not carried throughout the body. Anaemia may set in due to less production of RBCs by bone marrow, rapid destruction of RBCs or losing a huge amount of blood for some reasons. In any of these cases, the circulation of blood to the limbs reduces and you may feel colder. Remember, less blood in the peripheral area, cold limbs. More blood in the peripheral areas, feel warm.

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Like hypothyroidism, besides feeling cold, there are other features of anaemia such as weakness, fatigue, headache and faintness, pallor of the skin, raised heartbeat or palpitation, breathlessness, angina etc.
To treat anaemia, the exact cause needs to be identified first. With appropriate treatment, you can get rid of your cold problem.

Maybe you are suffering from Raynaud’s disease:

Raynaud’s disease is a condition where your limbs (mainly fingers and toes), nose, lips, ears and nipples become cold, discoloured, numb and even painful when exposed to the cold temperature. All people will feel cold while exposed to cold temperature but if your response is exaggerated it is called Raynaud’s. The blood vessels of the above-mentioned sites constrict more in comparison with other people who are not having Raynaud’s. In a typical attack, there will be 3 types of colours: 1. Initial whitening of the fingers due to vasospasm 2. Blue discolouration and 3. Red colour (when the attack subsides).

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Raynaud's disease typically presents in young women (e.g. 30 years old) with symmetrical attacks. In most of the cases, it is found in association with other disease conditions such as connective tissue diseases (e.g. Scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, SLE etc.), cryoglobulinemia, leukaemia, polycythemia, Berger’s disease, use of vibrating tools and drugs (e.g. OCP). It is called secondary Raynaud’s or Raynaud’s phenomenon. On the other hand, when no exact cause is found, it is called Primary Raynaud’s or Raynaud’s disease.
The main treatment option is avoid cold.

You are having an anxiety or panic attack:

When a person becomes very anxious or has a panic attack, his/her hands may feel cold and clammy. In some serious cases, even the full body can have a chilly feeling. So, along with an overwhelming sense of worry or fear if you have a rapid heartbeat, difficulties in breathing and cold limbs as well as a cold body, you are most likely having a panic attack.

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In the milder form of anxiety you may also feel cold if your stress response activates your sympathetic nervous system excessively. As a part of fight or flight response, activated sympathetic system diverts blood from the peripheral parts (hands and feet) to the more vital organs (heart and brain). As a result, you may feel cold in your limbs.

Most likely you are not getting enough sleep:

Sleep is essential to main our body’s circadian rhythm; a physiological process which follows a 24-hours cycle including body temperature, metabolism, hormones levels etc. Normally according to the circadian rhythm, when you are asleep your body temperature drops. If the rhythm is disturbed due to lack of sleep and you are not sleeping at the time when you are supposed to be asleep and at that time your body thinks that you should be asleep, you might feel colder because of your internal thermostat being set to the wrong timing.

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You should try to have the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

Recently you have lost a significant amount of weight:

Subcutaneous fat acts as a thermal insulator. It helps our body to conserve heat. If you are doing heavy exercise to reduce your weight, you are essentially burning your fat. If fat is lost significantly in that process of weight reduction, you may feel chilly all the time.

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In another way, when there is intentional weight loss, besides exercise you are doing a strict diet as well. You are eating loo low calories to expedite the process. As a result of low calories, your body metabolism may slow down and body temperature regulation may not be as efficient as before. This is why cold intolerance can be one of the symptoms of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, particularly when associated with significant weight loss.

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