Could heat and cold intolerance suggest an underlying health issue?

[MrsSofC]

I have a few health issues - endometriosis, adenomyosis, adhd, daily IBS and functional dyspepsia, exhaustion (never found any cause for this) but I can't see that any of these could cause heat and cold intolerance.

I will have a window of just a few weeks/months per year where I will actually feel 'normal' temp wise, the rest of the time I really struggle.

During late autumn, winter and early spring months I am constantly freezing. My hands and feet are like blocks of ice, my nose too. I have to layer up and I go everywhere with a hot water bottle (which is actually a comfort due to the IBS/endo issues), I often have to wear a hat as well as I am frozen and struggle to get warm. My shower is set super hot and all the family can not understand how I tolerate it but to me it's just perfect.

Then, as soon as we have any kind of nice summer-like weather and the temperature rises anything above 16c I start to feel awful. It's about 17c today where I am and I have just taken the dog for a stroll and have come back feeling dreadful - boiling hot, sweating, nausea, stomach feels off and heart racing and panicky for no real reason, I have to sit in my kitchen which is cool, and come down from whatever it is. This always happens in the heat, even sitting in the garden. I spend most of the summer indoors.

I am only really happy in spring and autumn, the rest of the time is a bit of a battle.

I have struggled with this for years but it's getting worse as I age. No GP has suggested it's anything of concern, all bloods are fine and apart from the mentioned health issues all tests come back as normal.

Is this just me or could it indicate an issue? I do worry as we have heart issues on my mum's side of the family.

I used to be freezing at night. Hot water bottle, 2 pairs of socks, duvet and blanket and my feet would still be cold. I gave up sugar for a couple of weeks and was amazed with the difference it made. I'd completely cut it out, no sugar at all. Apparently the inflammation sugar can cause, impacts circulation.

When I was going through IVF, my consultant recommended No-flush niacin tablets to help with circulation, worth exploring and checking with Dr that you can take them. Don't make the mistake of getting the version that doesn't say "no-flush", I turned beetroot red for an hour and wasn't the nicest feeling, although I did feel good afterwards.

That sounds really tough, Im sorry you are going through that. What sort of things have you tried so far?

Have you questioned the GP about your Thyroid health?

Thank you for that, I will look into niacin.

I do follow a low fodmap diet for my IBS and anti-inflammatory diet for the endo and I only drink water so not sure if there is much more I could do diet wise.

Other than keeping out of the heat in the summer and wrapping up with my hot water bottle in the winter, not much tbh.

I try to eat well as many things upset my tummy and I also only drink water. I walk every day with my dog and do yoga every evening too. I am of a normal weight and don't smoke or take drugs.

I have had regular blood tests and they all come back as normal, including my thyroid.

Dunno,

what I will say is that I have the same issue and have managed to improve things by working on my temperature tolerance.

so a few years ago I started wild swimming, began in the summer when the river was about 20. I have worked on making longer the length of time I can stay in cold water and over a couple of years it had really helped with the winter. My body now tolerates cold much much better.

i also quite frequently do sauna. This has helped with my tolerance for heat.

i’m not anywhere near normal people levels but Imm better than I used to be.

i also have endo and ibs.

most of my group who I swim with have some kind of health issue.

I could definitely do with a regular sauna. Not sure if I would enjoy river swimming tbh as I hate any form of swimming but I will look and see if there is anything nearby, I may well end up enjoying it?

I do need to do something about it though. Now I am back home from my 'boiling' dog walk my hands are back to blocks of ice status and I've got the hot water bottle back on the go!

For me temperature tolerance and regulation issues are part of my POTS symptoms/dysautonomia. I also get really cold to the bone/blue lips and fingernails if I'm overtired and it can take an hour or more under a heated blanket with a hot drink to get back to normal.

I suffer from a similar issue, I also find if I have a panic attack (I do suffer from anxiety/panic disorder) I will become so cold and it takes an hour or two to warm.myself back up. I usually have to take to my bed with extra blankets and hot water bottle.

I have wondered for some time if I might have EDS but GP dismisses this.

I have autoimmune conditions and I have heat and cold intolerances (plus raynaud's). Do you have other symptoms?

I do suffer from many other issues alongside the heat/cold intolerances:-

TMJ disorder and tight jaws
Night time teeth grinding
Broken/damaged teeth due to the above
Hyper mobility
ADHD
Daily upper and lower gut issues which are not resolved no matter what I do (and I have tried everything) - colonoscopies, endoscopies etc all clear
I hurt all over (ache, pain in joints and muscles)
Lower back ache (I have moderate disc degeneration)
Skin often feels sore in areas but nothing visible
I often get petechiae and have done so for many years

I had anaemia for decades until I had infusions in 2022 but I feel my body never really recovered from it all.

I also have endometriosis and adenomyosis.

All anxiety according to any GP I have seen.

Oh, and a history of aura migraines and I am constantly knackered.

@MrsSofC I would go for another opinion from a different doctor, as bloods don't always tell us what's going on and that came from my favorite GP too. Just say that you're still suffering with all these symptoms despite blood tests. They might look into it further and order more specific tests or refer you to another professional.

From what you are describing it kind of sounds like POTS. There is some correlation between people having endometriosis and POTS, IBS and other chronic pain/fatigue syndromes. The issue is women's health is not researched half as much as it should and we spend our entire lives fighting Doctors to take us seriously.