Why am I so cold all the time?

[Afternoonsnooze]

I’m 51 and in perimenopause and whilst all my friends of a similar age are dripping in hot sweats, I’m the complete opposite.

Obviously the UK’s dismal weather doesn’t help but I have always been a very chilly person and it’s just getting worse. The only time I truly heat up is during the height of the summer. The rest of the time I am wearing layer upon layer of clothing and have a hot water bottle on the go 24/7.

I have some chronic health issues but not sure any of them would contribute to feeling so cold all the time (IBS and endometriosis). I was anaemic for a very long time with ferritin levels of 3 but even after iron infusions and getting my levels higher I am still so cold.

My nose is cold, my feet are always cold (I wear 2 pairs of socks) and my hands are very cold. Yet weirdly, I can often have a hot face!?

I have no faith in my GP anymore (they let my carry on for 3 years with ferritin levels of 3 saying I needed to just push through) and they dismiss this coldness as just one of those things. I have had full bloods checked (ferritin, iron, vit d, vitamin b12, thyroid, kidney and liver function etc) and they say they all come back ‘within range’, so no action needed.

I literally despise the winter and the UK’s damp, dank weather as it makes me feel miserable. I don’t know anyone else who is as cold as me all of the time.

The only time I can truly warm up is if I sit in my little car with the heating on.

What could be making me feel so cold all the time.

Oh, I do need to add that I am currently under a huge amount of stress but not sure that would leave me feeling so cold, would it?

What was your last thyroid result, do you have a copy from the app?

I've been medicated for sub clinical hypothyroid for a year, first time ever I've not felt deathly cold all the time.

Could you change doctors? Just so you have confidence that there's nothing medical going on. I started doing a workout in the mornings and this keeps me warm until lunchtime! At which point I grab a hot water bottle and a blanket x

My nose is cold, my feet are always cold (I wear 2 pairs of socks) and my hands are very cold. Yet weirdly, I can often have a hot face!?

They are my exact symptoms too. I can be freezing, yet my forehead, temples and scalp are soaked in sweat.

My thyroid tests came back low, but not low enough to treat apparently.

I'm the same as you in terms of always having very cold hands, feet, nose etc. My mum and grandmother always had very poor circulation and wore compression socks so I assumed it was caused by that and genetic. I also gets pins and needles very easily. Interested to hear if there's an alternative explanation though as I've never actually been to a doctor about it.

Just to add - I find baths really helpful. It feels like the heat actually gets "into my bones" (non technical term!). I have a friend who regularly goes to the sauna in winter for this same reason.

Mine is under active thyroid so I was told. I also spend most of the year cold and even on the hottest days I was the only one still wearing a jumper in my family. It's miserable the only time I've been truly happy every day was abroad ah the heat soaking in beautiful for me

I have often wondered if I have an issue with my thyroid as I seem to have many symptoms, we also have thyroid problems in my family but according to my GP my levels are all ok.

Just hoping for lovely weather on the horizon but knowing the U.K. we will simply go from freezing miserable weather to horrible heatwave type which then flares up my digestive issues - deep joy!

Sadly the area in which I live has become so overwhelmed with new builds that most of our local GP surgeries are oversubscribed and it’s so difficult to move surgeries, there are only 2 other GPs at our surgery and it’s really difficult to get an appointment with either of them.

I do walk the dog over fields and hills over morning but it still fails to warm me through.

Me too. I always felt cold more than other people, all my life. My Dad was a very healthy person but was always cold in hands, feet and head so I always thought it’s something genetic.
And now I’m peri menopausal and have hot sweats but still feel cold between them. Madness.

I think you and I are twins separated at birth @Afternoonsnooze. I’m always cold and it doesn’t matter how many layers / thermals I have on. I’ve had my thyroid hormones checked several times but they’re normal even though I have most of the symptoms of low thyroid function.

I’m perimenopausal and seem to actually have cold flushes. What’s that all about? I fantasise about moving to the Caribbean. This cold damp weather is awful. Like a PP said, the only thing that truly warms me up is a boiling hot bath.

I'm a cold person too (always have been), afraid I just turn the heating up these days. I know not everyone can afford to.

I am like this when I am really run down but conversely also when I am not moving about a lot? Have you a desk job or sedentary lifestyle? I found walking got my circulation better if it's something like that. Hope you get sorted, big difference now not being cold all the time x

My friend is currently in the Dominican Republic, says the warm weather is making her feel fantastic. I begged her to smuggle me in her suitcase lol!

DH works outside, he is like a walking boiler. It’s a constant battle in our house. I turn the thermostat up, he walks past and turns it down!

I’m really active. I walk the dog for over an hour every day. Walk a friend’s dog. I’m on my exercise bike 4 times a week too.
I’m a PA for a disabled person and care for my mum so am always on the move.
When I do sit down I get even colder.

I am mostly always cold. Whenever we stay with my in-laws in the Winter (too stingy to put the heating on) my lips are blue. I am not underweight and no thyroid problems. Some people just feel the cold and I’m one of them.

What helps me is a hot drink - warming from the inside out works faster for me than putting on layers.

Are you underweight? Or existing on fewer calories than you may need?

Afternoonsnooze
I’d definitely look at food and health so

I'm the same, I'm still wearing thermal leggings & top, 2 pairs of heatholder socks, heatholder fingerless gloves & a hoodie. I'm on thyroxine for underactive thyroid & have raynauds.

Are you underweight? Or just really slim. My temperature varies so much with my weight. In winter when I'm overweight I never need scarf hat gloves at all, open coat, tshirt underneath. When I'm slim I were multiple layers, thermals, all the add ons and carry those heat things in my pockets.. and I'm still shivering.

I would get your thyroid levels checked, even if you have to pay to have them done privately. I was always a hot person, I used to have the heating set to 15, much to the annoyance of my husband but after I had my thyroid removed, I am almost always cold, including icy hands and feet, apart from my face which is hot quite often.

I have underactive thyroid which my stupid narcissistic doctor failed to notice even though so many symptoms there. Cold, eyebrow hair loss, leg hair loss, extreme tiredness, insomnia and so many more. When you get a blood test make sure you ask specifically for an 'antibiodies' test as it may not show up in other tests. Hope you get sorted soon.

Thanks everyone, I think I will get a full thyroid blood panel taken, even if I have to pay privately.