Temperature regulation

[Sarah94]

My body is strange

First year or two of CFS (when it was mild/moderate), I always felt too cold more easily than normal people.
Then for the last year or so (severe), I've always felt too hot more easily than normal people.

And now (still severe) it seems like I've gone back to more easily feeling too cold. Weird. For example tonight I'm underneath a blanket here, whilst my mum is walking around in a summer dress and complaining about the heat. (I was actually feeling too hot earlier today but it's cooled down now it's evening but my mum still thinks it's too hot.)

Am wondering what biologically causes a person with ME/CFS to be predisposed towards feeling either too hot or too cold? I wonder if it would shed some light on what's going on in my body. Also, it would be great if I could have control over it. If I could be predisposed towards getting cold easily in summer and getting hot easily in winter then that would be great!

 

[skwag]

I've noticed the same temperature regulation problems. I had a huge improvement in my cold tolerance this past winter after I started the carnivore diet. It seems fairly well known that protein has a thermogenic effect, that is, it warms you up. Here's an example reference, but there are plenty others.

I was able to get away with wearing shorts and a t-shirt most of the winter, while others were covering up. I haven't been able to do that since I was a kid. My point is this isn't some small effect - it is very noticeable.

We haven't had any significant heat recently where I live, so my heat tolerance hasn't really been tested and I can't say much about that.

I would suggest upping your protein intake to see if that has any effect. As far as biological mechanisms go, I can't really suggest anything specific except to note that perhaps PWME have some protein imbalance or deficiency or that some thermogenic pathway is suppressed.

 

[Wishful]

My guess is that the brain isn't working quite right, which affects some systems in the body, and it also affects how we process the information the nerves in our body sends to our brain. If your body temperature isn't changing significantly, then the latter explanation seems more likely. If a fat or protein rich meal has a dramatic effect on how warm you feel, then the metabolic explanation is more likely. Test it and see.

I prefer a environment of about 12C. A few degrees more than that and I feel overheated. However, a hot day doesn't seem to make me feel much more overheated than a merely warm day. My response to -40C didn't seem abnormal (dressed for it and felt fine, even after hours outdoors).

A fat or protein rich meal can make me feel overheated too. I don't know if the response to such meals is greater than for people without ME.

 

[taniaaust1]

I suspect that often when we are feeling feverish or getting warm too easily or feeling very cold, it may be became we have some kind infection going eg viral reactivation. The nurses at the hospital have noticed on occassions when I'm feeling like that that I are actually running a slight fever.

Getting warm too easily may also be caused by autonomic issues such as the kind of POTS in which the noradrenaline is increased (Hyperadrenergic POTS). Suspect this possibility if the getting too warm is happening when upright and standing.

 

[Wishful]

Our ability to sense our body's temperature seems easily confused. Sometimes I feel feverish, but my temperature is normal. Other times, I've had my temperature up several tenths, but I didn't feel feverish. I did wonder whether our brains are measuring absolute temperature or the temperature of one part of our bodies compared to another part used as a reference. If it's the latter, we might be more sensitive to a body temperature that is changing rapidly.

 

[kangaSue]

It's quite common to have sudomotor dysfunction (sweat abnormality) when you have other autonomic issues and the flow on can be poor temperature regulation. We are very poor judges of whether we are sweating properly or not and reduced sweating is common in Autonomic Neuropathy/Small Fiber Neuropathy. The thing that can throw you with having reduced sweating in sudomotor dysfunction though is that you can hot flush-like sweats, night sweats or sweats isolated to certain parts, or just one side of the body.

 

[panckage]

I had problems with temperature dis-regulation even when I didn't have ME... but one thing that seems to help is exposing the body to both hot and cold temperatures. Think of it as the equivalent of a range of motion exercise. Wim Hoff has talked about this