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I get cold very easily and am freezing when other people are comfortable or merely cool. I am also more comfortable than most people in the summer heat and humidity. I got my blood tested and am not at all anemic. What could be the problem?
In Reply to: Cold body temperature posted by Cold fish on July 17, 2001 at 14:16:59:
Possibility from a Western medicine standpoint: You're hypothyroid.
Possibility from a Western alternative standpoint: You lack DHEA and Omega-3 EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids).
Possibility from a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) standpoint: You're Yang Deficient. Do a search on here for Yang Deficiency. I did a previous post on the many possible symptoms. Feeling cold all the time and having problems warming up is one of the main one. I have been known to sleep under a quilt in summer. The problem can be corrected easily though it will take time.
None of these possibilities precludes these others. People who are Yang Deficiency frequently are hypothyroid. People who have Yang Deficiency frequently have problems with the adrenals.
Judy
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by Judy on July 17, 2001 at 14:25:30:
Thank you, Judy.
Is there a supplement I should take if I'm lacking in DHEA? I'll do the search on Yang deficiency, as you suggested.
I appreciate your help!
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by Cold fish on July 17, 2001 at 14:31:27:
You'll want to research DHEA before starting to take it as there can be some problems associated with it.
The DHEA helped me some, but what helped the most was seeing a TCM herbalist. If you're having problems right now with feeling too cold, here's something you can do right away. Get some powdered ginger from the spice section of the supermarket. Stir an eight to a fourth of a teaspoon into a cup of hot water and drink the ginger tea. If this is something you need, you probably will know right away. After I had been on it a while, my response was, "All those years of suffering, and all that time there was something as simple as ginger that could have helped this much!"
In TCM dried ginger is classified as an herb to Warm the Interior. So is cinnamon bark (though what is available in the supermarket frequently is inferior). Both have Hot thermal energy. (In TCM herbs are classified according to if they heat the body (Hot or Warm energy), cool the body (Cold or Cool energy), or neutral.
IF (and I stress IF) you are Yang Deficient, fenugreek seeds are a Yang tonic (supplement Yang) herb. They too can be found in many supermarket spice sections.
As with anything you try, proceed cautiously and discontinue immediately if you have any side effects. Yang Deficiency may or may not be your problem, and even if it is, there may be other TCM syndromes present which these particular herbs could aggravate. A trained TCM herbalist knows how to diagnose all TCM syndromes that are present and knows how to mix a formula which will address all problems without side effects. Herbs are not without cautions and contraindications.
In addition to warming the Interior, ginger has a number of properties which make it a very useful herb. It can be very good for digestive system problems with a Root of Cold. (But not for those with a Root of Heat.) It can relieve pain which is caused by Cold. It does have some mild Yang tonic properties, but people who are Yang Deficient usually need more than just ginger. It can raise blood pressure slightly as it acts as a stimulant to the sympathetic nervous system, so this is something people with high blood pressure need to be aware of. It can stop chronic bleeding associated with Yang Deficiency Cold. It's contraindicated in Deficiency of Yin with Heat, and in cases of Hot Blood. It should be used cautiously in pregnancy. It's particularly good when there's Cold in the Spleen or Stomach.
Judy
In Reply to: Cold body temperature posted by Cold fish on July 17, 2001 at 14:16:59:
Anemia tests will not detect iron utilization at the cellular level, just the free iron floating in the blood. A negative result for anemia can be totally misleading. Your coldness is a classic symptom of anemia, the consequence of a basic mineral deficiency. No herbal or hormonal supplement is going to correct that. A deficiency in copper can also cause a breakdown in haemoglobin production. In that case, the presence of iron will not compensate. One test for poor iron uptake, though somewhat subjective, is to see how long you can hold your breath. If you have a tremendous struggle to hold your breath for more than 45 seconds, that along with other symptoms (ie., usually cold and easily tired) may suggest a breakdown in haemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron uptake failure can also be the result of other medical conditions, including ulcers and colon cancer. My mother has been anemic for many years. Her primary haemoglobin breakdown was a result of the near-total absence of copper in the diet. Without copper, iron will not do its job. We are correcting this by supplementing 4mg copper per day (weekends off), 5mg zinc (also essential when taking copper), and 4.5mg of iron daily. Note that zinc and iron are in lots of food, so there's less need to heavily supplement them. The iron and zinc are coming from food-state vitamins that improve utilization and help limit any risk of toxicity. Before too long, it will be possible for her to reduce the copper to 2mg daily, the RDA for that mineral. She also takes lactoferrin (binds free iron and gets it out) just in case there are any problems with iron build up. I hope this helps you, good luck.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by PeterB on July 17, 2001 at 20:15:14:
Peter, you may want to read up on herbalism before making the blanket statement that no herb or hormonal supplement is going to help the problem.
In the first place, not all cases of a person being too cold and/or having breathing problems is due to anemia problems. And, not all cases of anemia are due to lack of iron or lack of the minerals needed to absorb and utilize iron.
In the second place, even when the anemia is due to poor absorption of iron due to shortages of other minerals, there are herbs which are highly effective. You may want to research yellow dock in particular. This mineral-rich plant contains iron in a form which is easily assimilated. In addition to being mineral-rich, the herb is antiscorbutic. And, unlike many OTC and prescription iron formulas, it doesn't create constipation. It is particularly valuable in cases where there is both constipation and anemia due to lack of iron or poor absorption and utilization of iron due to lack of other minerals.
There are cases where only prescription drugs can help. But, there are a great many cases where herbs and supplements can work better and safer than prescription drugs.
Please don't make blanket statements that all cases of being cold and having problems warming up are due to iron-deficiency anemia and that nothing is going to help anyone except the protocol you followed. Some cases will be due to not having enough iron and/or the other minerals needed to utilize the iron correctly. But some cases will be due to other things. What works very well to correct a problem with one cause will do nothing to help and may even worsen the same problem (as well as other problems) when it's caused by something else. This is why I'm always careful to list possible causes of a particular symptom. There usually can be a number of possible causes for any particular symptom. It's the total picture which counts. When a trained doctor or herbalist or other healer is seeing an individual in person and is able to examine and ask questions or able to extensively question via phone, some possibilities can be ruled out. Otherwise, all one can do is raise possibilities and where to find more info.
Judy
In Reply to: Herbs - Peter posted by Judy on July 17, 2001 at 21:37:08:
Good advice, Judy!
In Reply to: Cold body temperature posted by Cold fish on July 17, 2001 at 14:16:59:
You could be hypothroid. Get a mercury thermometor and take your oral temp 3x a day starting at about 4 hours after getting up. Space out the readings throughout the day. At the end of the day, add up all 3 temps and get the average temp for the day. If it is below 98.2 degrees for 5 days in a row, It is HIGHLY likely that your thyroid is underactive. To what degree depends on several factors. This should give you a place to start. I find it more accurate than the axilary temp upon waking. Try it and post the results for 5 days straight.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by Helping you on July 18, 2001 at 00:10:26:
I'm taking 0.2 Levoxyl (like synthroid) and just had my thyroid checked. It was actually found to be slightly hypERthyroid, which surprised me. Even if it's a little high, I don't notice it and I don't want to stop taking the thyroid pills, though my doctor was talking about doing just that. But as you said, being cold should indicate the opposite condition. I'll do what you suggest with my ear thermometor. Thank you for the advice.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature - to Helping You posted by Cold fish on July 18, 2001 at 08:20:46:
I have a long history of thyroid problems that somehow are connected to the mono and the CFIDS. Most of the time I was hypo, but once I was hyper.
In my particular case, the thyroid replacement helped, but didn't do enough. And, after I had been on the thyroid replacement for a while, even though the blood work was in the low normal range and I supposedly didn't need thyroid replacement any longer, I still had the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
In recent years I've talked to others who have this problem. The thyroid tests are in the normal range but the symptoms of hypothyroidism are still present. They're eased from what they were, but still present. Most of these have been people with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) like myself or people with MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity).
I don't have the problem now, but I did for a long time. In my particular case there was a tie-in between mono, major flare-ups of the CFIDS, and the thyroid problems. This isn't always the case, but it was for me and is for some people. The thyroid replacement would help some but it wouldn't do enough as far as the way I felt or the symptoms. Then the blood tests would be normal, I would be taken off the thyroid replacement, and I would limp along until the next bout of mono when the doctor would also discover I was hypothyroid again (or hyper- one time) and start me back on the thyroid replacement until the blood tests came up to normal.
Most of the time I was on synthroid when I was hypo, but the last time this happened I was placed on the Armour thyroid. For me it worked better than the synthoid, but I still had the problem of having the hypothyroid symptoms even though the blood tests were in the normal range. I just didn't have it as severe as I did with the synthroid.
Today, if I had to have the Armour replacement again, I'd do a lot of research because I have some concerns about the safety of the food and medicine supply. There also have been some articles in the US press about the safety of synthroid so I wouldn't automatically chose it either without some research.
Judy
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by Judy on July 17, 2001 at 15:03:52:
Wow! I really appreciate the information. I'm printing out your post for future reference and I'm going to do some reading about Yang deficiency - I must admit I've never heard of it before. And I'm going to try the ginger tea you suggested. Thank you very much for your time and help!
The best of health to you.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by PeterB on July 17, 2001 at 20:15:14:
Thank you for your answer, Peter B. There's so much the doctors don't tell us - I was just told I was not anemic, period. As usual, I can't rely too much on conventional doctors and must research this myself. I hope your mother is doing better. I appreciate your response.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature posted by Cold fish on July 18, 2001 at 09:25:43:
The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk (I think I spelled his last name correctly) is a classic introductory book to TCM.
The Bob Flaws general books also are good intro books. I believe a list may be available on the Blue Poppy website. Flaws does use the term "vacuity" instead of the more common "deficiency" or "emptiness", but they all mean the same thing - the person doesn't have enough of something.
The acupuncture.com website has articles written at all levels - general public, student, and professional. Do a search for Yang Deficiency. The site isn't limited to just acupuncture articles but also has articles on TCM herbalism, Qi Gong, diet, etc. Some articles I wrote under my pen name are on it.
A good website for information on various aspects of alternative medicine is the healingpeople.com website. Check out the general encylopedia on there. I believe there is a section on hypothyroidism. You also can check out herbs in the herb section. The info in the healingpeople.com website isn't restricted to just TCM but often have a wide range of alternative information included.
Judy
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature - to Peter B posted by Cold fish on July 18, 2001 at 09:32:40:
You're welcome. Good luck again.
In Reply to: History of thyroid problems tied to mono & CFIDS posted by Judy on July 18, 2001 at 09:25:14:
I've read in several articles on the net from, reputed doctors like Dr. Mercola, that synthroid is basically worthless. If you need thyroid replacement, Armour thyroid is the far superior choice.
In Reply to: Herbs - Peter posted by Judy on July 17, 2001 at 21:37:08:
Judy,
Please re-read my post and note that I never said herbs could not "help," i just said herbs cannot correct anemia (and I stand by that.) Herbs can certainly support the physiology, but they are not appropriate to correct a chronic mineral deficiency, if one exists. And I never told the person she is anemic, I simply said that her primary symptom is a classic symptom of anemia. I believe in herbs, and I found your post very compelling and informative. I can't see why you think I said all cases of anemia are due to iron-deficiency (in fact, I went to some lengths to explain all the exceptions to this.) I do believe this person is probably anemic, it may even be a case of ischemia. But there's little doubt that she suffers from an oxygen transfer problem. Is it ok that we disagree on what may help? I'm sure all your suggestions would be very beneficial to this person, in fact my mother takes ginger just to crank up her body heat! Take care and thanks for all your insights.
In Reply to: Re: Cold body temperature - to Helping You posted by Cold fish on July 18, 2001 at 08:20:46:
Keep in mind that Synthetic thyroid hormones contain only T4. Since T3 is the active hormone, this doesn't make sense tot me. Taking a twice daily dose of armour thyroid (T4 and T3) seems like more logical approach and may be the reason you are still experiencing these symptoms. Anyway, please come back with the temp readings for 5 days
In Reply to: Re: Herbs - Peter posted by Peter on July 18, 2001 at 13:19:57:
I still recommend looking into herbs for this because my mother had this problem. She was in deteriorating health for a few years. She was anemic to the point she had to have blood transfusions. She was so severely constipated that she would have to be hospitalized to have the feces picked out of her. The iron supplements made her worse. If her doctor treated the anemia, the constipation got far, far worse. If he treated the constipation, the anemia got far, far worse. This was back in 65.