Feeling hot - General Health Message Board

lwnd · 08-31-2007, 07:32 AM

I have always had a bit of a problem feeling hot, so I don't even know if I can blame pre-menopause for this.
This summer has been a bit hard on me, I know we had many hot days but I seem to feel hot more than the rest of us here at home. I had to keep the window air conditioner on almost all the time, which never happened before, and my husband kept complaining that the room was too cold - still I was feeling hot.
I have no fever at all. But the heat seems to come from within.
I will be 46 yeard old in September and I've been told it could be pre-menopause symptoms. But I also heard the the hot flashes were felt mainly in the upper part of the body and I feel hot allover.
Also I sometimes felt like this ever since I was at least a teenager - I don't remember if earlier -.But it was something that happened very seldom and without a pattern.
I am overweight. I am 5' 5" and weigh 210 lbs.
MY mother was very thin she weight 97lbs. She had a thyroid problem ( hyperthyroid ) but I was tested in in my case the results were normal if a bit to the low side suggesting according to the doctor that if there was a problem it would be more hypothyroid than hyper. But in any case according to him it was normal.
The heat feels like it's coming from inside allover. I feel like I'm burning from head to toe literally. MY legs and feet seem so warm to the touch, my arms, my neck, but if I check to see if I have a temperature I am still at around 36.4 C. I often feel like this when I wake up but also during the day - and night as well.
My period still seems to be normal and I am healthy otherwise so far - at least everything was fine on my last check up a few months ago.
I've been feeling a bit depressed for a while now, but that has to do with personal problems and I don't see a connection health wise.
Could this really be pre menopausal symptoms ? Or something else?

P.S. sorry about the lenghty post

NY 1009 · 09-01-2007, 06:18 AM

Hi lwnd,
I am curious to know if you feel hot all the time thru out the day? or does the hot feeling come in intervals?
being overweight can put alot of strain on our body which makes the body have to work harder. Just to walk is harder for an overweight person.
I noticed in the 47 yrs of my life that overweight people tend to be much warmer than the people who are lower in weight.
there is more storage of fat on the body which is a form of insulation.
In animals, the storage of fat on their bodies protect them from the enviroment temperatures such as cold water and just the cold air itself.

I think you should be evaluated by your doctor and have a complete physical and have blood work performed to check your hormone levels and to have your glands checked too. when something goes wrong with the adrenal glands, there's a symtom of what they call "flushing".
but it comes in intervals.
depression can also be activated by a hormone problem.
you might want to check with your gynocologist for a specific test to see how low your estrogen is. woman start the phase of menopause as early as in their 30's and don't even know it's happening. menopause takes YEARS from beginning to end. the end being finally reaching the point where you don't have your periods anymore. that's when you've finally reached menopause. but as I stated, it takes years for the entire process to happen.
oh, and don't forget to check for diabetes also.
I wish you the best and hope that turns out to be nothing serious.
I'm interested in hearing an update from you and hope that you got this message.
sincerely,
Linda

lwnd · 09-01-2007, 08:21 AM

Thank you so much for answering me

I think I feel a bit hot all the time, but at intervals it seems to be worse.
I have noticed what you said about weight putting strain even for walking. I just started feeling it believe me. I can walk forever but it's at a slow pace - always was though so this is not anything new - however just last week I actually felt tired as I was walking and my legs and ankles hurt - this is the new part. I know I need to loose weight but the depression part is not helping as I tend to eat more when I'm depressed.
I have an appointment with my doctor at the end of next month but maybe I should see her earlier.
I have been wondering about diabetes as well, but wasn't sure if it will make me feel hot.
In any case, in June all my test results were normal, which doesn't mean a thing because things can change and also it doesn't mean that any specific tests for something like this were done.
Once again thanks for responding.

NY 1009 · 09-02-2007, 09:21 AM

Hi lwnd,
I'm so glad you recieved my reply. people tend to come and go and sometimes you don't get replies.
I feel bad for you that you're having a hard time. we take such simple things as walking for granted. I know I do, until I come across someone who has a difficult time and I feel bad for them. My mom had a hard time because she had some form of arthritis that bent her knee's inward and her back hunched forward. she wasn't like that when I was young, but as she grew older it grew progressivly worst. so I understand somewhat how you feel with your pain.
I hope that you consider some attention for your depression. You can mention this to your family doctor. Their drug representatives drop off different medicaitons for them to try on their patients and if it works, they will write a prescription. IF the med's don't work, the dr will then refer the patient to a therapist who can be of great help, I know, because it happened to me.
I fought the idea of taking any type of anti depressent or an anti-anxiety med. for years until I finally broke down and agreed to.
it changed my life greatly and I can once again see life as it's meant to be.
to enjoy it to our full capacity no matter what's going on in our lives.

yes, I do know too that people will turn to eating more food when they're depressed, or go the opposite and not eat much at all.
we tend to chose foods that are soothing to us yet may not be good for us as far as nutrient wise goes.
if you can write down during the course of the day what you eat, ( keep a journal) this will make you aware of how many calories you're consuming. you'd be suprised how it add's up, the little picking here and there.
drinking water before you eat a meal and eating slowly, because it takes somthing like 20 minutes for the brain or an organ in the brain to tell our stomach it's full. or vice a versa.
did you ever notice when you're eating dinner and the phone rings and you get up to answer it and you converse with the person for a while and then you try to go back and eat the rest of your meal? I find I"m not hungry as I started out, and I feel full. because time went by from the time I ate. those 20 minutes went by.
some may not agree with me, but try it.
do you take walks? just a little walk after dinner can make a big difference in getting your system started so it begins burning calories.
these are just some tips. I know how hard it can be to get motivated if someones not around to help give that motivation.
especially if you're ankles are hurting. are you in a location where there's lyme's disease? if so, maybe you should consider getting a lymes test performed. that will not show up in a routine blood test.
your joints will hurt and you'll feel more tired than usual and it does even cause depression. there's a host of things it causes to the body. you can't die from it but you can feel horrible.
I think personally you shouldn't wait till the end of next month to be seen by your doctor. If it's possible for you to be seen sooner and if possible, maybe you should make an appnt. to see an endocronolgist instead of a primary doctor. they deal specifically with the endocrine system and can perform a glucose test on you to see if you have the beginnings of diabetes.
another thing, I too was having heat flashes that were unual because i never got them before. I wound up having an ovarian cyst that had to be surgically removed. certain ovarian cysts can cause the body to flush like that.
a cyst on the adenal glands can cause flushing too.
If too much seratonin is being produced, it will too cause flushing.
certain tumors cause this.
It's rare that the possibility of these are the cause and by doing research on computers for symtoms can bring up a all these scarey diagnose's. I go more along the lines of menopause.

If your symptoms still persist even though your doctor is saying your lab work is coming up normal, I would go to an endocronoglist and have them perform special blood work and a glucose test.

I hope I was of some help for suggestions. I just want you to know that you're not alone and that people really do care about others.
I wish you the best outcome and don't give up hope on getting an answer, even if it means you have to hire a new doctor if he or she doesn't continue searching what it is that's bothering you.

it's your body and you know your body the best.

sincerely,
L.

kkl · 09-04-2007, 12:57 AM

Hi,

I just wanted to say that it can still be your thyroid. What tests did your doctor run? I would post your results on the thyroid board. There are a lot of experts on that board and they can tell you whether or not you need more tests run.