Why am I always cold?

[Anonymous]

Usually my hands are always significantly cooler than the rest of my body and I've gotten used to the fact that they're normally cold. But recently, I've found that I'm overall colder than normal. It's been around 70+ degrees lately and I've been wearing hoodies, sweatpants, and have been wearing throw blankets on top of that around the house. Why am I suddenly cold constantly? It have to say it just began a few weeks ago and now I'm having a hard time shaking the chill.

[jointhepatriarchy]

A nurse told me than men tend to be exothermic (their bodies give off heat) whereas women are endothermic (their bodies take in heat) this is why women have a cooler body temperature and men seem to be warmer. There are exceptions though, my mother was exothermic and I noticed at a young age she was very warm whereas most other women were cold to the touch.

[molan]

Exothermic vs endothermic, is not gender related, the nurse was wrong. It depends on the species, all human are Endotherms.

[jointhepatriarchy]

Then why do most men feel warm and most women feel cold?

[molan]

Has no relation to exothermic vs endothermic, as you stated. Beside I have no knowledge about most men feeling warm and most women feel cold, do you have any documentation about that fact?

[jointhepatriarchy]

No that's just how they've always felt to me, with a few exceptions like my mom.

[molan]

Then stating "most men" is a bit overstated, wouldn't you say?

But how did you ever come by the idea, that women are endothermic like snakes and lizards?

[jointhepatriarchy]

Nurse told me so.

[molan]

ok, but then the idea that women are endothermic, surely it was not the nurses idea?

[jointhepatriarchy]

I don't know, she said she learned it in medical school.

[Adenn]

One word for you. Woman...

My theory as to why women are always cold is that they are 1- less active than guys (generally speaking) and 2- generally have a lot less muscle than guys do. Muscle generates heat just sitting here, therefore the more you have the warmer you will be.

[molan]

Nice theory but not true.

[Adenn]

which part?

[molan]

"Muscle generates heat just sitting here, therefore the more you have the warmer you will be" that part. Body temperature is not regulated by muscle mass, it's regulated by the hypothalamus.

[Adenn]

muscles do generate heat, muscles burn a lot of energy, when your body burns energy you produce heat. It may be regulated by the hypothalamus but the hypothalamus itself does not generate the heat. Check out number 8 on this website for one of the many examples online: www.huffingtonpost.com/.../...-warm_n_4302091.html

[molan]

Your link talked about how men and women experience body heat differently, not that body heat actually is different.
Otherwise we would also see a difference between men with low muscle mass and bodybuilders with high muscle mass, but we don't do that either.

[Adenn]

you mean besides this part? "Turns out that men tend to have more muscle mass than women, who typically have a higher fat ratio. Muscle is good at producing heat and fat is good for storing it" Also, think about what happens to your body when it gets cold. You start to shiver. What does shivering do? That is right, it makes your muscles contract, which in turn gives off heat as it is burning energy.

[molan]

yes yes, you are right about that, maybe I don't expresses myself clearly.

It doesn't causes any prolonged difference in body temperature, any difference caused by muscle will be equalised. Just as drinking something warm or cold, will causes the body to regulate for the heating or cooling, so the body temperature will remain the same. Of cause small temperature difference for a short periods exists, based on influence from both indeside and outside temperature, but it is short and not prolonged and the body do regulates it.

[Anonymous]

could be poor circulation. or you're getting sick.. or anemia. or if you have an eating disorder, it often messes your body up and makes you feel really cold and sick.

[ArabianPwincess197]

My feet are always freezing cold -I asked my mum - its due to lack of circulation to the feet

[ArabianPwincess197]

So I guess the same must be in your case :)

[jmr2191]

Sounds like your symptoms are primarily in your extremities and triggered by stress or cold. In that case, I'd say Primary Raynaud's Phenomenon is a possible explanation.

[molan]

Again, is prolong lower body temperature a symptom of Raynaud?

[jmr2191]

Not directly, but its pathology is characterized by constriction of the blood vessels in specific aras (particularly in the extremities), which can cool down the affected areas and result in cell death. It does not cause general lowering of body temperature, but in locally affected areas, the answer is yes.

[molan]

Your answer is wrong, as you said, it does not cause general lowering of body temperature but only locally affected areas, just like diabetes or the already mentioned poor circulation, anemia and hypothyroidism.
Locally affected areas can have many causes.
or circulation,

[jmr2191]

The QA has not presented any evidence of a specific lowering in body temperature. Instead, she has stated that she feels colder. Thus, no evidence has been presented that proves her body temperature is or is not of any clinical significance here. Therefore, Primary Raynaud's Phenomenon remains a possibility. In addition, the QA's sex and age drastically increase the likelihood of an autoimmune or other rheumatic etiology.

[JustinCaseUDontKnow]

Most females are naturally cold due to blood loss
cause they have menstrual cycles each month
there is also a illness called Raynaud's disease
sometimes if your iron is low that can make you cold

[molan]

You are right about Raynaud, but wrong about "Most females are naturally cold due to blood loss
cause they have menstrual cycles each month"... it's simply not true.

[molan]

Since you said you are overall colder than normal, I assume you mean general body temperature below normal over at sustained period of time, correct? If so, go to your doctor.

[hswhis]

Could be anemia. Another very common cause is hypothyroidism. Both would require a blood test.

[molan]

What... where did you get that information?

Do you even know what anemia is or it's symptoms?

[hswhis]

List of symptoms for anemia: www.mayoclinic.org/.../con-20026209

List of symptoms for hypothyroidism: umm.edu/.../hypothyroidism

Million dollar question: do you know what anemia and hypothyroidisn are?

[molan]

If you read your list of syntoms, where is prolong lower body temperature listed?

[molan]

The same goes for hypothyroidism by the way.

[hswhis]

Hypothyroidism is a well known cause of secondary hypothermia. A classic symptom of hypothyroidism is a low basal body temperature (BBT), less than 97.6 degrees F4 averaged over a minimum of 3 days. https://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/hypothermia-pro

Same goes for anemia as a cause for secondary hypothermia due to iron-deficiency or pernicious anemia.

Sorry, but instead of demanding answers to pathologies you seem to know nothing about, post the answer yourself.

[Anonymous]

Could be low iron levels.

Coffee/tea (caffeine) can also make your hands/feet feel colder as they're vasoconstrictors.

[Anonymous]

maybe you're dead and you don't know it.

[knotme]

You could be anemic

[molan]

Same as hswhis