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Sensitive To The Cold?

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Posted 11/3/2014 4:26 AM (GMT 0)
Do you guys have any idea why I might be so sensitive to the cold? My wife and I were at a football game this weekend, and I was so cold I just wanted to go home. I had long underwear on my legs, thick socks, three shirts, a jacket, a stocking cap... and it was maybe 45 degrees and windy. It wasn't warm, but the cold felt like it physically hurt me... while my wife did not have that issue at all, with less clothes on.

I've sometimes wondered if it's just how I am, or if it has to do with UC. When my wife and I ride in one of our vehicles together I would enjoy having warm air blasting until it was very warm, whereas she's not so keen on that idea.

My sister though, who has a great gut, can't stand being cold either. Her and I hop in a car together and get the car to be about like a sauna, lol.

Just was curious. Thx
Posted 11/3/2014 1:15 PM (GMT 0)
I'm assuming you mean that you don't remember being like that before and now you are. What is your weight like in comparison to days in the past? It's very possible that meds have done this to you if it isn't the weight thing.
Posted 11/3/2014 2:37 PM (GMT 0)
I am the same way and do consider it one of my symptoms; whether to UC or something else I am not sure. I go through episodes where I get very cold and nothing I do helps. I will start shivering and end up getting into bed piled high with blankets. Usually after a few hours I will warm up and be otherwise fine. I have been doing this for a few years and believe it's part of whatever auto immune thing I have going on.
Posted 11/3/2014 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
sounds like you're getting too much sex t man- you need to get some unresolved tension going there, because tension and frustration will increase your body temp by almost 400 degrees !
Posted 11/3/2014 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
I hear ya on the cold sensitivity. I've been like that since I first became ill. I used to ski/snowboard literally every night. I haven't been in about 10 years. Once winter hits I cannot keep my body warm. And once I get cold - I cannot warm up. Often the only way for me to raise my body temperature is to sit in a hot bath for a period of time.

It sucks. I'm pretty sure it has to do with IBD and some sort of altered metabolism of sorts. I've spoken with a lot of others that have the same problem.
Posted 11/3/2014 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
I can tell a huge difference depending on how many calories I am taking in (and actually absorbing).
Posted 11/3/2014 5:14 PM (GMT 0)
When my symptoms are bad and i'm flaring I definitely get really cold easily and can't seem to warm up, but it seems when I start getting better and getting back into remission it disappears, I kinda account it to the fluid loss and anemia but not sure if its scientifically correct.
Posted 11/3/2014 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Are you going through any withdrawal or tappering of medications? The worst was when I would tapper off of Pred in the Winters; I would get so cold from the withdrawal and just couldn't stay warm.

Also it takes a little while for my body to adjust to the seasons' weather changes but after a few weeks the cold doesn't bother me as much but the first few really cold days of Fall are miserable.
Posted 11/3/2014 9:20 PM (GMT 0)
I am always cold unless it is very warm out. I have been this way my entire life. When I was tiny my grandfather used to tell me that "colds hands make a warm heart" to help me deal with being cold all time. My blood pressure is also on the low end of normal. However since I developed UC, I seem to have also developed some symptims of reynaud's disease. Fun times...
Posted 11/4/2014 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
Yup, I'm always cold...and when im out in the cold and wind I always have to poop!
Posted 11/4/2014 3:06 AM (GMT 0)
I don't have experience to share on feeling cold, but I do want to ask you about your experience in tapering remicade to 4-month interval? I know most people stay with 2-month, I know someone who gets infusion every 6-months. Doc convinced me to stay aggressive on my son's remicade infusions and stay with 2-month regimen, o/w risk of anti-bodies being developed that may make remicade less effective, or not work, in future.
Posted 11/4/2014 3:33 AM (GMT 0)
i have had reynauds prior to my UC diagnosis so my hands go white/numb easily. I also am always cold, I need tons of blankets, layers, heat blasting in my car. I think part of it is from the fact that I am also slightly anemic from UC.
Posted 11/4/2014 3:56 AM (GMT 0)
i've always had the cold problem my whole life. cold hands and feet. it was when i was diagnosed with UC that i started having an extreme heat intolerance. i was hot ALL THE FREAKING TIME. now that i am in remission, i am back to being cold all the time. i definitely prefer it this way since it means i am back to my old self!
Posted 11/4/2014 4:09 AM (GMT 0)
I'm always freezing when flaring. Can never warm up (unless it's summer weather).
Posted 11/4/2014 4:19 AM (GMT 0)
Could it be a side effect from the Remi? This is totally unrelated, but when my mom was receiving chemo treatments for colon cancer a side effect of the chemo was severe sensitivity to cold. Such a weird side effect.
Posted 11/5/2014 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hey guys, sorry for my slow response. I am still very busy during the days, and last night I spent my free time reading up on all the candidates so I could make a decently educated vote today...

garylouisville said...
I'm assuming you mean that you don't remember being like that before and now you are. What is your weight like in comparison to days in the past? It's very possible that meds have done this to you if it isn't the weight thing.

I don't remember before UC at this point... but just within the last few years I've noticed that I am really sensitive to the cold. My weight is steady with a healthy BMI. I wonder sometimes if taking Tramadol and Lomotil together has really caused some sensitivity increases in the way I feel certain things... like the cold.
I can stand warm temperatures easily though.

soystud said...
sounds like you're getting too much sex t man- you need to get some unresolved tension going there, because tension and frustration will increase your body temp by almost 400 degrees !

Lol, not sure how to respond to this... ;)

Jean123! said...
I am the same way and do consider it one of my symptoms; whether to UC or something else I am not sure. I go through episodes where I get very cold and nothing I do helps. I will start shivering and end up getting into bed piled high with blankets. Usually after a few hours I will warm up and be otherwise fine. I have been doing this for a few years and believe it's part of whatever auto immune thing I have going on.

I've definitely got the shivers many times. At night I will often wake up soaked in sweat, and sometimes I shiver terribly. I have a space heater in my bedroom, and I turn in on until it gets 80+ degrees in there. I also have an electric blanket that I turn on at the same time. I kind of wonder if those night symptoms are part of being on Remicade...
Posted 11/5/2014 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
Canda Mark, Serenity Now and Ctech21:

It is interesting about you speaking of metabolism and symptoms as a cause of the sensitivity. I would agree in large part. However, I have been in remission for over 2 years while on Remicade, and I still had the sensitivity even without symptoms. My body was able to better get nutrients from foods while in remission, but I still had that cold sensitivity.
Posted 11/5/2014 3:34 AM (GMT 0)

ks1905 said...
Are you going through any withdrawal or tappering of medications? The worst was when I would tapper off of Pred in the Winters; I would get so cold from the withdrawal and just couldn't stay warm.

Also it takes a little while for my body to adjust to the seasons' weather changes but after a few weeks the cold doesn't bother me as much but the first few really cold days of Fall are miserable.

Interesting about the Pred withdrawal. I am sort of tapering off of Tramadol now, but that is just starting today... so that wouldn't be the cause. Good point about the acclimation to the seasons!

Madpotter said...
Could it be a side effect from the Remi? This is totally unrelated, but when my mom was receiving chemo treatments for colon cancer a side effect of the chemo was severe sensitivity to cold. Such a weird side effect.

As I noted just above in another posted reply, I think the Remi could be increasing this sensitivity. I always have preferred warmth... but it seems I REALLY need warmth now. I will find out more over the next month as to what Remi was and was not causing in terms of side effects. I am presently two weeks past due for Remicade, and have another 6 weeks through this "washing out" period before I get to be on any other medicine. So far I have noticed one thing: My pulse going in to the doctor's office was always around 90 to 100 beats per minute, every time. I thought I noticed a much higher pulse rate soon after I started Remi, but it was hard to tell because it would still be somewhat lower sometimes. Well, my pulse was 68 at the doctor's office yesterday... so there is definitely a change there. Blood pressure was 102/66.
Posted 11/5/2014 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
"I used to ski/snowboard literally every night."


just curious cm - where were you that you could ski and ride every nite - somewhere up north, eh ?

"my" hill only offers lights on Saturdays -
Posted 11/5/2014 4:14 AM (GMT 0)

BV said...
I don't have experience to share on feeling cold, but I do want to ask you about your experience in tapering remicade to 4-month interval? I know most people stay with 2-month, I know someone who gets infusion every 6-months. Doc convinced me to stay aggressive on my son's remicade infusions and stay with 2-month regimen, o/w risk of anti-bodies being developed that may make remicade less effective, or not work, in future.

I should be clear here, that I am not tapering Remicade to four months. I am SKIPPING a dose and seeing if what I think are side-effects of it (pains) go away. If they do, I will move on to Humira. You are right that the medicine needs to stay in the system regularly to avoid antibody build-up. That is why they recommend every 8 weeks, as that seems about the right time that the meds are running low. If the pains are still persistent without the Remi in me, then I will resume it as it will not look like that was causing the issues (which I am 99.9% sure it is). IF I restart, I will be pretreated with certain things like benadryl and maybe steroids to help my body accept Remicade after an absence of a couple months without it being in my body.
Posted 11/5/2014 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
I was in my 30's when the cold really started bothering me (flaring of course) and it doesn't matter if I'm my usual thinner self (even before getting sick I was always very lean) or a little heavier, I get cold very easily and I do find it painful, it actually does hurt.

I know I'm slightly anemic and probably have been especially since getting sick in my early 20's so that may be a contributing factor to how being cold affects me...when I was a teen I didn't even wear proper winter clothing to walk to the bus stop and even in -30 it didn't bother me back then the way just being a little cold bothers me now. I just figured never dressing proper especially during my teen years taking the city transit to school in cold harsh winters caught up with me and it was in my 30's that I really noticed I was having issues with how cold started to affect me.

Kinda sucks too cuz my hubby is a sweater (he's got some health issues) so I can be freezing while he's sitting there on the couch sweating, it comes in handy for us though for a little bit, we cuddle and he feels some relief from my cold body while I warm up from his lol.
Posted 11/6/2014 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
"somewhere up north, eh ?"

Haha

There are no real mountains where I live unfortunately, but there are ummm small hills... Very small. Kinda sucks eh... Chicopee Ski Club with a whopping 200+ vertical feet, and Glen Morris about the same are both 15 min from me. But mostly I would make the drive to Blue Mountain which is a little less than 1,000 vertical feet. All have lights at night to! I didn't really care that they were small, I used to love simply being outside on the hills in the winter at nights. Memberships are pretty cheap so I would get one at all three places each year.

I used to go to Vail and Copper Mountain a lot for spring skiing. I sure miss that place.

Here is Chicopee - note that they don't really show you pictures of the hill errrr bump, haha... www.discoverchicopee.com

Here is Blue Mountian www.bluemountain.ca

Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 11/5/2014 8:00:25 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/6/2014 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
I had never been to the mountains before this summer. We went to Colorado to hike and relax a few months ago though... and I have to tell you... those mountains are TALL! They look decent when you look at them, but man when you start climbing them you realize they go on forever!
Posted 11/6/2014 4:54 AM (GMT 0)
hey, thanks cm -

this where I mostly ride www.skiwhitepass.com/the-mountain/hours,-lifts-trail-maps.aspx


it's about 45 minutes from my house - there are a few others I go to once in a while, but they are a couple hrs away -

as far as I'm concerned, any place with snow where I can point my ride and go down, is a good place :-)
Posted 11/6/2014 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
I'm cold when I'm anemic.
I'm also cold when I am running a fever.
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