Constant Coldness - Thyroid Disorders Message Board

Arms · 12-10-2003, 08:43 PM

Hi, I would like to ask a question and sorry but this is the best forum thread i could apply my question to.

I'm posting this question about my GF. When i say cold I mean cold, she gets so cold so easily, she'll be hot one minute and we'll walk outside and within seconds she'll be freezing, and even when it's pretty warm out she'll be cold, and when she sleeps she'll wear sweatpants and socks and a shirt and a sweater and has a heat blanket and a quilt and a couple more blankets and still wakes up in the middle of the night or in the morning cold. I was curious if there is something wrong with her blood circulating in her body or what. When i say this above about her being cold i realize that some people get cold easily but this is really bad and i feel bad and was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what it could be. Thanks a lot i appreciate it.

ANSWER FROM WOMEN HEALTH FORUMS

I can relate! She needs to have her thyroid checked. She should have an antibodies test, Free T3 and Free T4 done. This is a common complaint of hypothyroid patients. (BTW I am hypothyroid). Does anyone inher family have a thyroid problems? It does run in families. No one in my family had it though. It might be a good idea to go on the thyroid board to se if she has any other symptoms. She should check to see if she has anemia. Good Luck to you.

I really don't know what the thyroid even does could someone fill me and so i'm informed about this subject so i'm not completely distant to what she told me because I don't really understand but I'd like to.
Thanks!

midwest1 · 12-10-2003, 09:52 PM

How sweet you are to go in search of answers for your girlfriend! Oversensitivity to cold is but one symptom of an underactive thyroid gland, but it's a very common one. She probably should be screened for a problem.

The thyroid does so many tasks to keep the metabolism running smoothly, it would be hard to describe it in this small space. Here is a link to really good, basic information on hypothyroidism. It outlines what the thyroid does, what causes it to malfunction, a complete list of symptoms, and the treatment. Be sure to click on all the links at the bottom of the first page to view all the information available on the subject.
[URL=http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ucdhs/health/a-z/38Hypothyroidism/doc38.html]Hypothyroidism[/URL]

If you have any more questions, just ask!

Arms · 12-11-2003, 05:05 AM

Thanks a lot i really appreciate your help, when i get home tonight I will do some more research from what you'd said it was much help. Just curiuos though if there could be any other possible reasons that anyone may know from top of their head or anything, because she's gone to doctor before and he pretty just dismissed it and I'd like to kind of research anything that it may be.

Thanks again!

mezzaluna · 12-11-2003, 06:04 AM

Quote:

When i say cold I mean cold, she gets so cold so easily, she'll be hot one minute and we'll walk outside and within seconds she'll be freezing, and even when it's pretty warm out she'll be cold, and when she sleeps she'll wear sweatpants and socks and a shirt and a sweater and has a heat blanket and a quilt and a couple more blankets and still wakes up in the middle of the night or in the morning cold.

this was exactly me as a teenager - i always had to wear mittens instead of gloves to keep my hands warmer, and i slept in sweats with the hood up and 3 blankets. and socks... We have all these family photos of me at the beach on vacation all bundled up in sweats and a towel.

got diagnosed hypo at 22, had had a goiter since i was at most 8 or 9, but my TSH must have come back normal.. i just remember getting a blood test...

Since getting treated, am still often the coldest person in the room, but it is *way* better. I sleep in the buff, too, now which you might appreciate for your GF

-rosemary

midwest1 · 12-11-2003, 06:23 AM

Anemia is another cause of inappropriate coldness, but it's pretty easy to find with the right lab tests.

Arms, the thing is... With the standard TSH screening test for hypothyroidism, there is a "range" that doctors take as "normal" for everyone. For example, a lab's "range" might be between 0.05 and 5.5, and they consider anything between those numbers as being fine. It often isn't. It has been found that healthy people with no signs of thyroid trouble have TSH between 1 and 2, so it should be assumed that almost any number outside 1-2 is very capable of producing symptoms.
The TSH isn't even the most reliable test to detect a problem, anyway; but most doctors use that one and only that one to wrongly pronounce people healthy. That ignores a large number of more subtle cases of disease. Tests for 'free' T4 and 'free' T3 should also be run to see whether there is a high enough level of active thyroid hormones circulating in the blood. And tests for thyroid antibodies are useful in finding a possibility of autoimmune thyroid disease, the most common kind.

If you read some of the experiences in the "Our Stories" thread at the top of the subject page, you'll see just how negligent doctors can be in detecting this problem. Most of us who have this disease were told by at least one doctor... and usually more than one... that we are "fine". It takes persistence and good fortune to find a doctor who is truly educated in treating thyroid disease.
Once a diagnosis is made, though, it's a relatively easy condition to fix. Just one tiny pill per day supplies the hormone the body is in short supply of.

If your GF has been to the doctor in the more recent past, tell her to obtain a copy of her latest blood tests for thyroid. If you (or she) can post the results here [Be sure to post both her result and the lab's normal ranges for the test], someone here should be able to tell you if the doctor is missing the diagnosis. She should not feel funny asking for this; if she lives in the US, she's entitled to it by law.