Feeling cold all the time

Does any of you suffer from feeling cold all the time. Sue seems to be complaining of this most of the day apart from the times she has the odd hot flush which is down to the menopause. She is taking 40mg of simvastatin to lower cholesterol, but i think this is been go on for longer than she has been taking the statins and i don't remember her like it before the SAH last August,we have to have the heating all the time and even then she sometimes has a cover. I know England is cold and wet most of the time but it doesn't seem right to me just wondered if any of you suffer in the same way.

John,

Yes, I had this problem and it was my thyroid. Started with hot flashes, nervousness and then cold all the time. She needs to have blood work done. Have dr. check t3 and t4.

I also had high cholesterol and brought it down with two cinnamon capsels a day.

If you have any questions let me know. I hope this helps.

Deanna

Hi Deanna

Thanks for replying to my post, tomorrow i will ring our GP get an appointment and ask them to check that. It was interesting in what you were saying about the cinnamon i imagine you would get them for the health food shop is there different strengths and do you know if you can take it with the statins only her cholestrol is quite high 8.5. Did you also have any joint pain as well i.e.knees,shoulders, although she is nearly 60 so that could just be arthritis.Thanks Deanna for your help best wishes.

John & Sue

John,
Yes, cinnamon should be safe to take. My cholesterol was 250 and now 150.
Joint pain is a symptom of thyroid as well as muscle cramps.
Oh, you can get cinnamon at drug store or health food store. Don’t know if it comes in different strengths.
Let me know how things work out for Sue.
Deanna

Hi John & Sue-

I had a stroke 3 years ago which caused "nerve damage" on my left side. My left arm & leg (especially below the elbow and knee) are constantly cold (they also burn & tingle...yes, all at the same time...go figure)! We live in the south (one of the reasons we moved here was warmer weather more often than the northeast) but I still wear long sleeves, long pants and socks most of the time...I just can't get warm unless the temp goes into the 90s. I've been to several drs...one told me "central pain syndrome" and another said "dysesthesia"...I don't really care what it is but wish there was something they could do to get rid of it. Although I've been put on several medications, for me, so far, no luck. I hope you guys are able to find a reason and a remedy...it is very frustrating! All the best!

Lisa

Hi Lisa

Thanks for replying to my post , the nerve damage you suffered sounds pretty miserable and uncomfortable i hope the warmer weather is making things easer for you.I will mention it to the doctor to see if this could be a possible cause thank you, although i don't think where ever you go in the UK it would get any warmer as i am looking out the window it is hail stones. best wishes John & Sue

Hi John I am totally the same as Sue in this. I am always cold and find I have to wear about 3 layers when everyone else has bare arms. But the trouble is that it is easy to associate all health issues to the sah and that isn't necessarily the case. I reckon my temperature issues are probably connected to the menopause as I am starting with that now I'm 50. I haven't discussed this with the doc yet but will do at some point if I can be bothered! Thanks for your reply to my question about struggling to follow the thread of complex conversations as well. I don't think anybody else really notices but I just know that I am a bit less sharp than everyone else sometimes, but then I do come from a pretty clever academic family. I am 2 and a half years on from my sah and I do feel 99% normal and am able to carry on with my teaching. I never had any short term memory loss as your wife does, but I have heard other people say it can improve with time, and it is still early days for your Sue. Good on you for getting support on this site. Take care x

Sue,

Thanks for your reply Sue, yes i suppose that it is easy to put every little twinge and pain down to the SAH, but yeah your probaly right that a lot of it is the menopause she was on HRT for about five years until they pulled the plug on it because of the health risks, i do think sometimes whether or not that had anything to do with aneurysm, there i go again blaming the Sah for something else. Strangely enough she was in tears this morning saying she just wants to feel normal again i will get her to read your post it may give her a bit of a boost, i would be lost without this site.

Hi John and Sue, I know how you feel Sue about just wanting to feel normal again. I used to get very frustrated with the tiredness. I remember dragging myself off the sofa to sit at the dining table to eat for 15 minutes and even that made me exhausted as if I'd run a marathon! I stayed conscious through the experience of the burst aneurysm, felt a 'pop' in my head and then POUNDING pain in my head like someone banging a drum inside my head with every heartbeat. I've just been reading John's account - you were unconscious a long time and I think people who go unconscious have more problems after with memory loss, but I'm sure this will improve with time. Be patient and kind to yourself, both of you. I read a book called Dented Image in the months after my sah. It is an account of recovery from sah by various people. You might find it encouraging. What I did as well which I found helpful, was I got a little notebook and every day I wrote down 4 columns headed BODY (how well I felt physically, head and otherwise), ENERGY LEVEL, MOTIVATION and POSITIVITY and gave marks out of 10 in each category that day. Also I wrote a bit of a diary about how the day had gone. It helped me because little by little, I could look back and see progress in all those areas. Eventually I just stopped doing it because life just felt normal again and I didn't feel the need anymore. It's early days for you, especially as you were unconscious for so long. I'm sure you will improve and get to feeling more positive again. Just be patient and try to be focus on the positives. It certainly makes you grateful for your fam,ily and friends doesn't it?

hello sue.. its sue here. i just wanted to thank you for your comments. Even writing this feels weird.. as if im talking about someone else. I cant get my head round whats happened, maybe thats part of the problem. I have all thats important - my husband, family and friends, just need to find me. i look at stuff around me and cant explain how it looks different.... it just does- as if im in a dream-as if part of me is still asleep.

Hot flushes are a real newsance but because i'd been on hrt for a number of years, the doc took me off-within a few days the sweats started again, and i was on my own. Didnt seem to matter that my mum was 70 before they left her alone-gp's know best????? I think maybe theyre still learning about these. so when im not hot i feel really cold.

i have no choice but to be patient-its just so incredibly hard-wished i could fast forward life, but then i suppose everyone thats been in our world has thought the same.

thank you again for your kind supportive words, they really do help.

sue.

Hi Sue--

I had to follow up on your comment. I spoke to my gyn about hrt and my stroke. She told me she would not allow me to go on hrt because of her concern with estrogen & stroke but said she would treat my individual symptoms. I have not needed it yet but I believe she said she would prescribe progesterone if I ran into issues with hot flashes. They do not feel my stroke was due to sah so I don't know how that applies to your situation but you may want to see if your gp can help with the hot flashes without going on hrt--there are alternatives to it (even herbal supplements). Just a thought...

Lisa

yes john &sue i was cold also-chills nonstop all winter but now its very warm here,hail really wow thats hard to imagine-hopefully you'll get some warm weather soon-thinking back i had sweatpants and sweatshirt,flannel sheets,comforter &down blanket and still chills-was curious is Sue taking coumadin/warfarin-i have been for 10 yrs and was told once they were the cause but i never was cold untill after sahemmorage-wish i could send u some of this heat-its zappin my energy-85 to 90,of course i forgot to tell the doc-i guess it doesnt matter now since were cookin across the pond! Good Luck-Warm regards & may God Bless

Hi- I just joined last night. I had two aneurysms and a stroke in december 2011. I am cold, too! I’m just like Lisa; my left side is always cold and people say it’s nerve endings. I’m 36 so there’s no sign of menopause. The dr. says it may always be there. Only I can feel it; other ppl say my arm feels fine to them, even tho I feel cold. I try to ignore it because I know it’s not really real, but it hinders my walking because that side is always stiff (from the cold). You’re not alone!

Ronald, last night had night had a bad frost and today has been sunny but cold, what i wouldn't give for a bit of your sunshine, this weekend we are supposed to be going to suffolk on the east coast to stay in a caravan it's Sue's mums 90th birthday there having a party. I can't imagine 85/90 degrees in april does it get any hotter then that in the summer. No Sue's not had to take coumadin or warfarin only statins for cholestrol,got an appointment with our GP for friday so he may be able to do something for her, mean while got the central heating on. Hows life treating you at the moment apart from feeling extremely hot hope you are keeping well. Best Wishes John & Sue

Hi Sara,

Thanks for replying, yeah someone else mention nerve damage Sue's does seem very similar to what your experiencing, got an appointment at the docs friday he may be able to give her something to help her . I hope you are making good progress and that the coldness is not going to be a permanent problem for you. Best Wishes John & Sue

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your reply, Sue was on HRT for five years and being a smoker at the time they took her off it due to possible health issuses, thats when the hot flushes started. She has tried a few hebal supplements without any success, i think she's given up with the pills just trying to ride it out now. I got her an appointment at the GP on friday may be able to sort it out then. I hope you are making a good recovery and keeping well. Best Wishes John & Sue

Hi John, I'm cold most of the time, I need central heating and in between I have hot flushes- I DON'T KNOW WHY THIS IS. My feet and one leg always feels frozen. I hope that Sue gets better.

All my best

Shauna

John, yes...and, it expanded year after year...I wear long johns apx 10 months of the year; have an electric master pad warmer; keep the heat on apx 10 months of the yar (it is expensive); have a heater in my car seats...

It advanced year after year...until I thought I was having seizure in my left body...EEG determined it was not. About same time frame, I got a terrible sunburn that I did not feel; worse, it was not that hot compared to my years of sunloving... I have become so reclusive to avoid weather / body temp issues; it is exasperating trying to find an md to address the issue. As I type I cannot remember more than the lower portions of the brain for the part of body temp control. I take no meds; not for 8 years...so cannot relate mine to that at all... unless it is somehow related to my last f/up angio and/or the short-term plavix that initiated the problem.

Prayers you can get answers from her mds...and share w/us...

Pat

Sara, welcome; you are blessed to be doing so well in your short time after two aneurysms and stroke.

Below, I left a message for John re: body temp issues.

When I am typing, I am not competent to access my personal file notes...and, I try to remember to include the website for later access... You may want to google "body temperature anatomy" or some related words...my memory somewhat straggles between thryoid and another part of our brrain...

I keep thinking/hoping more of us will come forward with same/similar symptoms of which few of us get answered beyond "menopausal"... and which is used over apx 4 decades of our lives...

Prayers for your continued healing...

Pat

Deanna...your cinnamon capsules are of interest...I make one cup of coffee day and put a 1/4 tsp cinnamon in the filter w/the ground coffee...for flavor... have no idea if it helps keep my cholesterol reasonable' it is a great flavor...I use Pete's Italian roast, pre-ground...no need to clean the grinder...

Have a great weekend...