90⁄60 mmHg according to what a doctor told me during a measurement a month ago (though my journal says 98⁄60 for some reason).
105/60 in an another measurement a week before that.
The last one is TPO antibodies.
The parentheses are the reference ranges at my lab.
All values are within what is considered normal range. I’ve also had the thyroid physically examined (though palpation) and it appears there are no abnormalities (it’s not swollen or enlarged).
Your systolic is low, but I’m sure you’re well aware of that.
The thyroid panel looks normal, but there exists a bunch of people (including a few doctors one of whom, I believe, wrote a book) who think that hypothyroidism is seriously underdiagnosed and that it will not necessary show up in the TSH/T3/T4 tests. Google it up. I have no opinion on their claims.
There is also, of course, the non-answer that your thermoregulation set point just happens to be very low :-/
I doubt it’s a “thermoregulation set point” issue, since I haven’t always felt this way.
Thanks for pointing out the blood pressure thing. I hadn’t considered it might be related to cold sensitivity.
I have considered it might be a thyroid issue, and I am familiar with the controversy around thyroid disease.
Not completely trusting all the alternative claims—but I think there’s enough evidence to believe something might be going on.
I think I might try to get a prescription for thyroid hormone medication, and see if it improves my condition. I’ll probably try other options first, since there are potential side effects.
If you’re male you might also want to check your testosterone levels. And if your doctors and insurance are amenable, run a thorough hormones check in general.
Given that you were/are under much stress, I’d focus on the HTA axis.
In particular, try to get a 24-hour cortisol test—cortisol has a pronounced circadian cycle so one measurement taken at a single point in time might be misleading.
Your thermoregulation set point could have moved. In fact, I’d say that’s exactly what happened, since I get the impression your temperature is fairly stable. The problem is that it’s too low.
Very tentatively—maybe you should get your hormones checked. This is based on a weak hypothesis that if menopause can send body temperature too high erratically, maybe there’s a hormone problem which is keeping yours too low.
First question: what’s your blood pressure?
Second question: did you do a thyroid panel and what did it show?
Third question: did you measure your body temperature in controlled settings (e.g. first thing upon waking up before getting out of bed)?
Common causes of sensitivity to cold are low blood pressure and hypothyroidism.
90⁄60 mmHg according to what a doctor told me during a measurement a month ago (though my journal says 98⁄60 for some reason). 105/60 in an another measurement a week before that.
Thyroid panel:
P-TSH mIE/L 1.5 (0.3-4.2)
P-T4, free pmol/L 15 (12-22)
P-T3, free pmol/L 5.2 (3.1-6.8)
S-Ak, (IgG) TPO kIE/L 8 (<34)
The last one is TPO antibodies. The parentheses are the reference ranges at my lab.
All values are within what is considered normal range. I’ve also had the thyroid physically examined (though palpation) and it appears there are no abnormalities (it’s not swollen or enlarged).
I have not measured my body temperature.
Your systolic is low, but I’m sure you’re well aware of that.
The thyroid panel looks normal, but there exists a bunch of people (including a few doctors one of whom, I believe, wrote a book) who think that hypothyroidism is seriously underdiagnosed and that it will not necessary show up in the TSH/T3/T4 tests. Google it up. I have no opinion on their claims.
There is also, of course, the non-answer that your thermoregulation set point just happens to be very low :-/
I doubt it’s a “thermoregulation set point” issue, since I haven’t always felt this way.
Thanks for pointing out the blood pressure thing. I hadn’t considered it might be related to cold sensitivity.
I have considered it might be a thyroid issue, and I am familiar with the controversy around thyroid disease. Not completely trusting all the alternative claims—but I think there’s enough evidence to believe something might be going on. I think I might try to get a prescription for thyroid hormone medication, and see if it improves my condition. I’ll probably try other options first, since there are potential side effects.
If you’re male you might also want to check your testosterone levels. And if your doctors and insurance are amenable, run a thorough hormones check in general.
Thanks, these seem like good suggestions.
I’ve made a list of what I’ll try to have checked. Any comments?
DHEA-S
DHT
Estradiol
Estrone
PSA
Pregnenolone
Total and Free Testosterone
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG)
Insulin like Growth factor (IGF-1)
Given that you were/are under much stress, I’d focus on the HTA axis.
In particular, try to get a 24-hour cortisol test—cortisol has a pronounced circadian cycle so one measurement taken at a single point in time might be misleading.
Your thermoregulation set point could have moved. In fact, I’d say that’s exactly what happened, since I get the impression your temperature is fairly stable. The problem is that it’s too low.
Very tentatively—maybe you should get your hormones checked. This is based on a weak hypothesis that if menopause can send body temperature too high erratically, maybe there’s a hormone problem which is keeping yours too low.
Thanks. A hormone check does seem like a good idea to me.