Feeling cold but normal temperature

[Whip_pet]

My husband has recently been diagnosed with liver disease and had sepsis twice whilst in hospital, resulting in multi organ failure and an ICU admission. He has been home 4 days now but is feeling constantly cold even when its boiling hot in the house and he is warm to touch. Because of the sepsis I am worried about his temperature. He also has very swollen feet and I think reducing his temperature would help with getting rid of this fluid. Should I be worried? I want to take him to the GP tomorrow but he doesn't want to. He just wants the heating turned up more! Advice welcome

[Hidden]

Hi whip pet. When my husband had cirrhosis, he too felt the cold badly. Would your hubby wear thermal underwear, an extra pair of socks and a blanket round his shoulders? A lot of the reason for feeling the cold is the lack of mobility. Can he walk around a bit or at least circle his ankles and do some arm raises etc to keep his blood circulating and so warm his body up a little? Lots of cuddles too 😉

Oh they are stubborn when is comes to seeing the doctor aren't they? Maybe an online consultation or a phone conversation with yourself may help?

Best wishes.

Laura x

[Hidden]

Hi

Before my transplant I was constantly cold. I understand the liver plays a big part in controlling the body temperature I was told. ( I am still paying off the heating bill I ran up now)

Some days I could not get my shoes on and took to wearing sandals

Always best to check with the doctor, but he sounds just like I was

David

[jazzjam]

I am always cold when everyone else is warm. It’s like if you have been in the sun all day and you’ve forgotten suntan lotion and have burnt. In the evening at home you get the cold shivers, your body is warm but inside you are cold . I don’t know the explanation to be honest but yes I am the same, I also have cirrhosis. Have you got a thermometer at home? That way you could check it just to ease both your minds.

[chrisw740]

Hi

I think it's going to be difficult to unravel what symptoms are related to your husbands liver disease and what symptoms are sepsis related. In fact Post Sepsis Syndrome has many identical characteristics.

That said your husband is a survivor and as others have pointed out feeling inexplicably cold is a familiar feeling for a lot of people with cirrhosis. A normally functioning liver does help keep us warm. Inactivity, changes in muscle mass, iorn levels, energy production, hormonal changes, etc can all contribute to systemic chills in liver disease. Taking his temperature properly will help you to determine whether he has a fever which can also make you feel cold even when you're not.

In terms of peripheral oedema, elevation of his legs may help a little but can also feel uncomfortable. Also getting the balance right in terms of reduced salt intake and fluids in and out may help (as may diuretics if his Dr feels they are needed) Being dehydrated can aggrevate oedema as the body holds onto water. Fine tuning these things for each individual (with his Dr's supervision) can go a long way to stabilising most people.

As Laura suggests, even small amounts of regular activity and gentle exercise can help improve circulation and warming. Keeping his body fueled with the right foods (as recommended for his particular stage of liver disease) can also help.

The UK Sepsis Trust maybe useful if you've not seen their resources and you're already in a great place for support with liver disease. When in doubt don't hesitate to chase his Dr's, indeed, I hope he's having some follow up anyway. Look after yourself too... whenever you can!

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In plain English terms - the liver is normally busy with so many jobs that the energy created warms the blood passing through it and this helps the body maintain it's temperature. It is a bit like a central heating radiator, if the radiator isnt working properly then the heat produced goes down.

regards