Aa
Coldness
Since about 2011, I have been having some vague symptoms like fatigue, digestive issues, light-headedness, vertigo, extreme difficulty with concentrating, etc. My heart sometimes feel like it stops and then starts up with a bang. All I ever get told is it's anxiety. I am so frustrated with feeling lousy and just want an answer. One of the most bothersome is feeling cold a lot. It's very rare I am not cold. I've had blood work done, my thyroid checked multiple times.....everything comes back normal. Some people tell me it's because I am underweight, but I am 5'3 and 123 pounds; I'm at a perfectly healthy weight. I work out 5 days a week for 30 minutes, but my diet isn't the best so I have often wondered if I am lacking vitamins. Unfortunately, my doctor told me insurance companies don't always want to cover those tests so I didn't have them done at the time.
I also have cold hands constantly. They feel like ice and I can't even put my hands on my own body most of the time because they are so cold. Sometimes the fingertips are red and the rest of the fingers are pale. And occasionally- usually after exercising or a hot shower or drinking something hot and sometimes not even for any reason at all- they will get warm, splotchy red, puffy, and sometimes itch. They also will tingle. And after it's over, they're right back to being cold. Sometimes a few fingers will be warm and the rest are freezing cold. The only thing I have been able to find close to those symptoms was Raynaud's. Are there any other possibilities for these symptoms?
I also have cold hands constantly. They feel like ice and I can't even put my hands on my own body most of the time because they are so cold. Sometimes the fingertips are red and the rest of the fingers are pale. And occasionally- usually after exercising or a hot shower or drinking something hot and sometimes not even for any reason at all- they will get warm, splotchy red, puffy, and sometimes itch. They also will tingle. And after it's over, they're right back to being cold. Sometimes a few fingers will be warm and the rest are freezing cold. The only thing I have been able to find close to those symptoms was Raynaud's. Are there any other possibilities for these symptoms?
Hey, I just looked back up at your original post and saw that we are exactly the same height and weight. Interesting. Oh except the last nurse who measured me tried to say I am 5'2" and I was like, "um I know we shrink as we age but a whole inch in less than 6 months???"
Pphhhh LOL (I think she was just wrong, LOL, at least I hope so, LOL)
Pphhhh LOL (I think she was just wrong, LOL, at least I hope so, LOL)
Hi Nikki,
I am just now seeing your replies, my apologies. I am actually still trying to figure out how to use this website, LOL. Forgive my delayed response :) I am glad you read my journal, sometimes it just helps to know we are not the only ones out here with these health challenges :)
It is funny to me that you relate your stuff to the hurricane. It may very well have something to do with it...especially if it the hurricane brought something to our local environment.
I have always had it in the back of my mind that something in the environment changed and set this off for me. I know that might sound crazy to some people.
Something I can remember CLEAR as day ...I was saying to my boss "Boy, I would hate to have vertigo! So many of our clients have vertigo, at least I shouldn't have to worry about it for a little while." I said that at work probably 3 days to a week at the MOST of mine starting! The reason I said it is because where I work we work with a lot of older retired folks, and I had simply concluded that vertigo is something that comes with old age...which I don't consider myself yet :) But the more I think of it the more I am starting to believe that it is not the old age in our area but that many folks simply started getting this vertigo around the same time.
I could go all out a do a "conspiracy theory" things and suspect we have been hit with mold spores....but we don't need anyone to "hit" us with them considering how many grow quite quickly and nicely on their own in the humid wet east coast horrible construction :)
Ok, now I got all sarcastic, LOL.
But mold is one of my things. By 'things' I mean things that I HATE and know how bad it is! I have been exposed to black mold in the past (which I believe I haven't written in any of my journals). AND mold 'could' very well be`behind may of my health issues, but I am doing my best to stay away from any sources of it now and hoping if that is a culprit I will slowly get better (if it is indeed the cause of any of it).
As for hormones; I am very convinced that my hormone fluctuations totally effect the severity of ANY health issue I already have underway but I don't think the hormones are the cause...with one exception....
Several years ago I had 2 fairly large fibroids on my uterus for a couple of years that were clearly visible on ultrasound and were causing me tons of bleeding and cramps. After reading about what causes fibroids I realized I had probably actually grown them by consuming too much soy. I was consuming an over abundance of it thinking it was good for me, NOT. The fibroids let me know I was estrogen dominant. I had other symptoms, like breast being very swollen and painful all month long...not supposed to be that way. Anyway when I cut out the high estrogen foods from my diet and started using health care products that were paraben free as much as possible, the fibroids LITERALLY went away, disintegrated I guess you could say... definitely resulting in less cramping and slightly lighter periods. Thank God.
3 ultrasounds since cannot find any fibroids, breast do not hurt anymore. Just thought that was note worthy.
But, yes, the hormones seem to play a role in all my health issues lately, just not sure that they are to blame. I suppose they could be. I see many on here in the women's health threads who think ALL there health issues are due to perimenopause and menopause...which YOU do not have to worry about for quite some time :) Thankfully.
And you do know that the ovarian cysts are something that all women have every month as we ovulate, right? Many times the docs don't take the time to explain that and let us go on thinking that we have something wrong. Of course there are cysts that are problematic, which the doc should then also explain and discuss remedies/treatment.
Our anxiety certainly contributes to our physical health issues and vise versa. I just don't like it when there is something physically wrong and the docs want to focus on our anxiety and not just TRY to look at the physical.
OK now I am rambling :)
I will close this time by saying it is very interesting to see someone else has thought to make a connection of the vertigo/surfing to something environmental, I totally didn't think of Irene. I am now going to look at the date of that too...
I hope you get some answers, too!
If you do I hope you'll remember to post an update on here AND HOPEFULLY I will be able to figure out how to get back to this thread, LOL.
BLESSINGS! (oh wait I think I need to check this box for "watch list", gee whiz)
I am just now seeing your replies, my apologies. I am actually still trying to figure out how to use this website, LOL. Forgive my delayed response :) I am glad you read my journal, sometimes it just helps to know we are not the only ones out here with these health challenges :)
It is funny to me that you relate your stuff to the hurricane. It may very well have something to do with it...especially if it the hurricane brought something to our local environment.
I have always had it in the back of my mind that something in the environment changed and set this off for me. I know that might sound crazy to some people.
Something I can remember CLEAR as day ...I was saying to my boss "Boy, I would hate to have vertigo! So many of our clients have vertigo, at least I shouldn't have to worry about it for a little while." I said that at work probably 3 days to a week at the MOST of mine starting! The reason I said it is because where I work we work with a lot of older retired folks, and I had simply concluded that vertigo is something that comes with old age...which I don't consider myself yet :) But the more I think of it the more I am starting to believe that it is not the old age in our area but that many folks simply started getting this vertigo around the same time.
I could go all out a do a "conspiracy theory" things and suspect we have been hit with mold spores....but we don't need anyone to "hit" us with them considering how many grow quite quickly and nicely on their own in the humid wet east coast horrible construction :)
Ok, now I got all sarcastic, LOL.
But mold is one of my things. By 'things' I mean things that I HATE and know how bad it is! I have been exposed to black mold in the past (which I believe I haven't written in any of my journals). AND mold 'could' very well be`behind may of my health issues, but I am doing my best to stay away from any sources of it now and hoping if that is a culprit I will slowly get better (if it is indeed the cause of any of it).
As for hormones; I am very convinced that my hormone fluctuations totally effect the severity of ANY health issue I already have underway but I don't think the hormones are the cause...with one exception....
Several years ago I had 2 fairly large fibroids on my uterus for a couple of years that were clearly visible on ultrasound and were causing me tons of bleeding and cramps. After reading about what causes fibroids I realized I had probably actually grown them by consuming too much soy. I was consuming an over abundance of it thinking it was good for me, NOT. The fibroids let me know I was estrogen dominant. I had other symptoms, like breast being very swollen and painful all month long...not supposed to be that way. Anyway when I cut out the high estrogen foods from my diet and started using health care products that were paraben free as much as possible, the fibroids LITERALLY went away, disintegrated I guess you could say... definitely resulting in less cramping and slightly lighter periods. Thank God.
3 ultrasounds since cannot find any fibroids, breast do not hurt anymore. Just thought that was note worthy.
But, yes, the hormones seem to play a role in all my health issues lately, just not sure that they are to blame. I suppose they could be. I see many on here in the women's health threads who think ALL there health issues are due to perimenopause and menopause...which YOU do not have to worry about for quite some time :) Thankfully.
And you do know that the ovarian cysts are something that all women have every month as we ovulate, right? Many times the docs don't take the time to explain that and let us go on thinking that we have something wrong. Of course there are cysts that are problematic, which the doc should then also explain and discuss remedies/treatment.
Our anxiety certainly contributes to our physical health issues and vise versa. I just don't like it when there is something physically wrong and the docs want to focus on our anxiety and not just TRY to look at the physical.
OK now I am rambling :)
I will close this time by saying it is very interesting to see someone else has thought to make a connection of the vertigo/surfing to something environmental, I totally didn't think of Irene. I am now going to look at the date of that too...
I hope you get some answers, too!
If you do I hope you'll remember to post an update on here AND HOPEFULLY I will be able to figure out how to get back to this thread, LOL.
BLESSINGS! (oh wait I think I need to check this box for "watch list", gee whiz)
I just read some more of your journal entry and sometime before the fall of 2011 was when my symptoms started. I can pinpoint right down to a few days before Hurricane Irene hit the NJ coast was when I really started to notice them. But I had similar symptoms- vertigo, a surfing feeling while standing and walking (omg perfect description of that; I've never been able to put into words how it felt), the feeling like something physical was causing my heart to race. All of my blood work came back normal then as well and all I was diagnosed with with benign positional vertigo.
Hi Rhonda:
Thank you for replying. My vitamin D levels were another thing I had considered getting tested. My mom recently had low D levels, but I am not sure if she had any symptoms or not. I don't know if it's my age (I'm 30) or what why insurance would be reluctant to pay for it, but I don't see why it would be unheard of for a younger person to have poor vitamin levels, especially for someone who was never officially diagnosed with an eating disorder but has a history of disordered eating.
I read through some of your journal entries (haven't gotten a chance to finish them yet, but I definitely want to) and yes, there are some similarities. The ones that stuck out the most to me were the female related ones. In 2012 I started to have light bleeding between periods and finally went to a nurse practitioner and was put on birth control. I lasted one month on them because I couldn't deal with the emotional side effects. And after that, I no longer had bleeding between periods, but I started having cramping off and on through out the entire cycle. And still do. I had 2 pelvic ultrasounds in the fall and each time I had functional cyst, the first time was on the right ovary, second time on the left. I still have a lot of cramping off and on and have had a couple experiences with light bleeding again. I have nasty cramps when I have my period. Other than all those complaints, my period is pretty regular, though, normally coming around every 30 days.
And the weird thing is, the symptoms I mentioned above exacerbate during ovulation and right before my period- I'm much more tired, light headed, dizzy, much colder, etc.
I have anxiety and OCD so I definitely have felt the effects of both on my body :( It's awful. And not knowing why I feel crappy makes my anxiety worse, which in turn starts affecting me physically and making me feel worse, and then makes my anxiety even worse.....and it's a never ending cycle. And like you said, we should not have to accept it's only anxiety. Yes, I tend to get overly concerned when things aren't right, but I also know my own body better than others. It would be nice if we could all get answers one day
Thanks,
Nikki
Thank you for replying. My vitamin D levels were another thing I had considered getting tested. My mom recently had low D levels, but I am not sure if she had any symptoms or not. I don't know if it's my age (I'm 30) or what why insurance would be reluctant to pay for it, but I don't see why it would be unheard of for a younger person to have poor vitamin levels, especially for someone who was never officially diagnosed with an eating disorder but has a history of disordered eating.
I read through some of your journal entries (haven't gotten a chance to finish them yet, but I definitely want to) and yes, there are some similarities. The ones that stuck out the most to me were the female related ones. In 2012 I started to have light bleeding between periods and finally went to a nurse practitioner and was put on birth control. I lasted one month on them because I couldn't deal with the emotional side effects. And after that, I no longer had bleeding between periods, but I started having cramping off and on through out the entire cycle. And still do. I had 2 pelvic ultrasounds in the fall and each time I had functional cyst, the first time was on the right ovary, second time on the left. I still have a lot of cramping off and on and have had a couple experiences with light bleeding again. I have nasty cramps when I have my period. Other than all those complaints, my period is pretty regular, though, normally coming around every 30 days.
And the weird thing is, the symptoms I mentioned above exacerbate during ovulation and right before my period- I'm much more tired, light headed, dizzy, much colder, etc.
I have anxiety and OCD so I definitely have felt the effects of both on my body :( It's awful. And not knowing why I feel crappy makes my anxiety worse, which in turn starts affecting me physically and making me feel worse, and then makes my anxiety even worse.....and it's a never ending cycle. And like you said, we should not have to accept it's only anxiety. Yes, I tend to get overly concerned when things aren't right, but I also know my own body better than others. It would be nice if we could all get answers one day
Thanks,
Nikki
Hi Nikki,
I am not a professional either, just another person who is struggling with some unexplained stuff.
I have experienced many of the complaints you mention here and have had to seek help from many many practitioners, some help a little, and some have no idea. What I did find in me WAS a vitamin D deficiency that seemed to very much contribute to my circulation problems as well as my heart issue which has improved since getting my vitamin D back into normal range. The deficiency also contributed to some other health issues ranging from neurological to immunity issues....although not scientifically certain about everything...it did just seem to be related to my vitamin D deficiency. I still suffer with some unexplained issues and am trying to pursue answers still. I am not saying you have a vitamin D deficiency, but I am saying it is realistic for you to want your vitamin levels checked. Perhaps a young, newer female doc or physicians asst might be a good route to try. I certainly empathize with your concerns. Feel free to take a look at my 2 health journals I've posted so far to see if you relate to anything on there. I know we are all different but something others' experience can sometimes help guide or suggest at least partial solutions to our challenges. Also anxiety does cause certain disturbances with our circulatory system. Maybe read up on the physical responses involved in the "fight or flight" response since anxiety and panic are just our "fight or flight response" triggered prematurely, usually by our thoughts or something that reminds us of another fear . Our bodies are amazing in that each system really does know how to work best in certain circumstances and sometimes our brains (or thinking) can set things off when not really needed. But certainly, we should not accept the old "it's only anxiety" answer for the only answer if we really feel something isn't right. Keep searching. Hope you get some answers soon. Like you, I don't like not feeling well and not understanding why and how to get better.
God bless,
Rhonda
I am not a professional either, just another person who is struggling with some unexplained stuff.
I have experienced many of the complaints you mention here and have had to seek help from many many practitioners, some help a little, and some have no idea. What I did find in me WAS a vitamin D deficiency that seemed to very much contribute to my circulation problems as well as my heart issue which has improved since getting my vitamin D back into normal range. The deficiency also contributed to some other health issues ranging from neurological to immunity issues....although not scientifically certain about everything...it did just seem to be related to my vitamin D deficiency. I still suffer with some unexplained issues and am trying to pursue answers still. I am not saying you have a vitamin D deficiency, but I am saying it is realistic for you to want your vitamin levels checked. Perhaps a young, newer female doc or physicians asst might be a good route to try. I certainly empathize with your concerns. Feel free to take a look at my 2 health journals I've posted so far to see if you relate to anything on there. I know we are all different but something others' experience can sometimes help guide or suggest at least partial solutions to our challenges. Also anxiety does cause certain disturbances with our circulatory system. Maybe read up on the physical responses involved in the "fight or flight" response since anxiety and panic are just our "fight or flight response" triggered prematurely, usually by our thoughts or something that reminds us of another fear . Our bodies are amazing in that each system really does know how to work best in certain circumstances and sometimes our brains (or thinking) can set things off when not really needed. But certainly, we should not accept the old "it's only anxiety" answer for the only answer if we really feel something isn't right. Keep searching. Hope you get some answers soon. Like you, I don't like not feeling well and not understanding why and how to get better.
God bless,
Rhonda
Hi LindaSim:
Thank you for replying. My blood pressure generally averages around 110/69, sometimes running on the low end of normal. My heart rate varies; depending on how anxious I am feeling, it can go as high as 85, but generally runs in the 60s. I've never had my oxygenation levels checked. I really wanted my vitamin B12 and magnesium levels checked; all I ended up having checked in my most recent lab work was the general CBC/metabolic panel, lipid panel, and multiple thyroid panels- all came back normal.
I won't deny that probably some of my symptoms do come from anxiety, but there are some things I don't think anxiety can cause, like the cold hands. I also forgot to mention that there are times my fingernails turn kind of purple and I don't think even anxiety can cause that ;). That to me signals something circulatory. I've been on medications for anxiety in the past, but had more bad experiences than good with them, so I have been kind of afraid to go on them again.
My GP did give me a referral to a cardiologist because of the heart rhythm issues, but I am wondering if maybe they would be able to give me an answer to why I feel so cold. It's miserable feeling cold all of the time, especially with this winter! I think if I can't get anywhere soon, I am going to have to go the persistent route.
Thanks again,
Nikki
Thank you for replying. My blood pressure generally averages around 110/69, sometimes running on the low end of normal. My heart rate varies; depending on how anxious I am feeling, it can go as high as 85, but generally runs in the 60s. I've never had my oxygenation levels checked. I really wanted my vitamin B12 and magnesium levels checked; all I ended up having checked in my most recent lab work was the general CBC/metabolic panel, lipid panel, and multiple thyroid panels- all came back normal.
I won't deny that probably some of my symptoms do come from anxiety, but there are some things I don't think anxiety can cause, like the cold hands. I also forgot to mention that there are times my fingernails turn kind of purple and I don't think even anxiety can cause that ;). That to me signals something circulatory. I've been on medications for anxiety in the past, but had more bad experiences than good with them, so I have been kind of afraid to go on them again.
My GP did give me a referral to a cardiologist because of the heart rhythm issues, but I am wondering if maybe they would be able to give me an answer to why I feel so cold. It's miserable feeling cold all of the time, especially with this winter! I think if I can't get anywhere soon, I am going to have to go the persistent route.
Thanks again,
Nikki
Hello Pickums1283
I am sorry to hear of your trouble. I am no expert, but it sounds like you have a circulation problem. You do not mention what your blood pressure, heart rate, or oxygenation level is. Also, what tests were not run?
You may want to see a cardiologist or at the very least, another GP - If your doctor believes it is an anxiety issue, has he/she prescribed anything for your anxiety?
If it were me, I would probably take the persistent route and go to doctor after doctor until I found one that would address all of my symptoms.
I hope you feel better and warm up soon.
I am sorry to hear of your trouble. I am no expert, but it sounds like you have a circulation problem. You do not mention what your blood pressure, heart rate, or oxygenation level is. Also, what tests were not run?
You may want to see a cardiologist or at the very least, another GP - If your doctor believes it is an anxiety issue, has he/she prescribed anything for your anxiety?
If it were me, I would probably take the persistent route and go to doctor after doctor until I found one that would address all of my symptoms.
I hope you feel better and warm up soon.
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