Sensitivity to cold?

[Cat Dancer]

Can Prozac cause one to become really sensitive to cold, especially one's ears? Seriously, my ears ache almost all day if I go outside in this cold weather.

Or it could be old age I guess.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I've never heard that as a Prozac side effect.

On the other hand, it's winter. It's cold. And the older I get, the more I hate it.

Also, if you haven't been eating well, you may just need more insulation.

 

[Retired]

From my studies involving SSRI's I have not read about temperature (in) sensitivity, but I I believe some anti psychotic medications do have that effect.

I remember seeing hospitalized patients in psychiatric hospitals being monitored by hospital personnel because they would sometimes wander outdoors in winter and not feel the intensisity of the cold due to their medication.

Does anyone have more information on the type of medication that affects one's perception of temperature?

 

[foghlaim]

Cold intolerance

Definition: Cold intolerance is an abnormal sensitivity to a cold environment or cold temperatures.

Alternative Names: Sensitivity to the cold; Intolerance to cold

Considerations: Cold intolerance can be an indication of a metabolic problem.
Some people (often very slender women) do not tolerate cold environments simply because they have minimal body fat and are unable to keep warm.

Common Causes:

• General poor health
• Anorexia nervosa
• Hypothyroidism
• Chronic severe illness

Home Care: Follow recommended therapy for treating the underlying cause.


source:

http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cn...ontentzSzadamzSzencyzSzarticlezSz003095zPzhtm

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I remember seeing hospitalized patients in psychiatric hospitals being monitored by hospital personnel because they would sometimes wander outdoors in winter and not feel the intensisity of the cold due to their medication.

But then how does one know if it's the medication or the illness?

I do think that certain anxiety disorders may be associated with greater sensitivity to cold or heat. Is that a reflection of just a more sensitive physiology in general (along the lines of the Highly Sensitive person)? Or is it some sort of neurotransmitter thing?

 

[Cat Dancer]

I do think that certain anxiety disorders may be associated with greater sensitivity to cold or heat. Is that a reflection of just a more sensitive physiology in general (along the lines of the Highly Sensitive person)?

This is interesting. I have wondered this too. I think I might be highly sensitive. I wonder sometimes if the self-harm is a way to try to escape the world, the noise, the overwhelmingness of it all and the fear of the world.

I was just curious because I have never had this problem with my ears hurting from the cold before. I was even wearing a hat in the house. Maybe I'm just really weird. My weight has been way lower than this and I didn't have this problem then, but I am quite a bit older. Maybe it's just a combination of things, old age, too thin, too cold outside, being highly sensitive and being weird. I don't know. Then I worry maybe it's cancer or something like that.

 

[Into The Light]

you're not weird and cold ears do not mean cancer. your body's just sensitive. :hug:

 

[sister-ray]

Janet,

Im very sensitive to cold, i live in a flat in a old house, no central heating, Im not on any tablets, my feet suffer the most and I get childblains, and my hands too, some days I just feel so cold inside and out and cannot get comfortable, i wear my hat in the house too and my coat sometimes, so your not wierd, ive even slept with my hat on It use to be worst when I smoked, i gave it up in 2003, i could never get warm then even if I was in a nice warm room, i use to wear a jumper in the summer, I can say its improved since quitting but I only improved not gone, next time you have your hat on in the house think of me wearing mine and then you wont feel so alone

 

[Cat Dancer]

Thanks, tte. I will think of you as I'm wearing my hat.

I guess this is silly, but I worry about cancer because of the eating disorders I've suffered with for so long.

 

[bananasplit]

I find it interesting you mention about being sensitive to the cold. I feel cold about 95% of the time I am awake. I didn't use to feel the cold so much and the winter we are having in the UK is relatively mild compared to some of the frosty winters we have had. I wonder if there is a connection to adrenalin, i feel the adrenalin rushing through me very often, like a panic or anxiety attack. I remember breaking my jaw yet the adrenalin must have been running through my veins because the break didn't hurt. I do remember waiting in casualty on a trolley though, still feeling the adrenalin and feeling so cold that the two blankets which the nurses provided me with, still didn't make me feel warm. I was told this is due to shock, but could shock be linked to adrenalin and could having a lot of adrenalin make a person feel colder.

 

[braveheart]

My therapist often tells me that when I am anxious, all my energy withdraws into the 'core' of me, and away from the periphery, as protection. And as the energy withdraws, I feel cold. But with me its my hands, arms and feet that feel it, although when its cold and windy, the cold goes right into my head and sinuses. I have gone to sleep with a hot water bottle on my head before, its very soothing.

 

[ThatLady]

Part of the "fight or flight" mechanism our bodies utilize for self-protection involves the shunting of blood from the peripheral circulation to central circulation at times of extreme stress. This can make one's extremities feel cool because peripheral circulation is reduced to provide more oxygen to the vital organs and increase cardiac output.

There! Everything you never wanted to know about the blood running about in your bodies!

 

[Into The Light]

wow tl, i didn't know that! there you have it janet. it's perfectly fine