What is the cause of low body temp?

[Damaged]

I remember seeing something about low body temperature but cannot remember details. I even went out and purchased a new thermometer and results are the same. My resting is 35.6 usually. What causes this ?

[Nettac]

Don't know but mine is always low, especially in the mornings. My docs are less than interested! I think some say it's a thyroid issue.

I've certainly had graves disease, but according to docs all is fine at the moment.

[Damaged]

I was able to find a link which I will try to send.

[Damaged]

Dr David Jernigan, it is an article on low temp and chronic fatigue. He also covers an excellent diacritics of adrenal gland and conditions causing and leading to low temperatures.

[Simba1992]

Thyroids reglate body temperature. If you have hypothyroidism you have low body temperature. When you have hyperthyroidism you are often hot. Very low iron also makes you cold. People with AI often have hypothyroidism without being aware of it. This means actually that your metabolism is not working as well as it could since not enough energy is produced. Right thyroid supporting diet can often be enough to get your temp up to optimal readings but small supplement of thyroid hormone often normalizes the situation. This is why checking thyroids is so important.This is however not properly done by NHS. You need to know your whole thyroid panel. NRAS has a thyroid forum where you really get important info on the subject.

[Simba1992 in reply to Simba1992]

Hypothyroidism in RA.

ard.bmj.com/content/75/Supp...

[Damaged in reply to Simba1992]

Thank you, this maybe why I have responded so poorly to drugs?

[Simba1992 in reply to Damaged]

This is actually how I am thinking about my RA. Instead of concentrating on the symptoms I have now worked on getting my metabolism to work at an optimal basal rate. I have found out what has been taking it down and have managed to increase my energy with diet and certain supplements. Many scientists are of the opinion that RA is a metabolic disease where energy production is dysfunctional. I could imagine that if your body is as strong as it can be, meds would work better(?) It has actually been shown in research that cancer patients that are supported with antioxdants and other alternative treatments get better benefit from chemo and less side effects.

[Simba1992 in reply to Damaged]

Here more info that you may find interesting.

functionalps.com/blog/2012/...

[ITYFIALMCTT in reply to Simba1992]

That's an interesting poster presentation and it would be useful if they had published their findings. As it stands, it's difficult to generalise from the poster because different countries have different levels and diagnostic criteria for hypothyroidism.

The same authors contribute to a more recent poster presentation that extends that work: ard.bmj.com/content/76/Supp...

However, until there's a journal article with a full description of their methods and diagnostic criteria, it's not clear as to their criteria. E.g., looking around, it seems like a TSH > 5.0 mU/l (plus some FT4 criteria) is sufficient for a hypothyroidism diagnosis in Denmark whereas it would need to be TSH >10 (for the same measurement units) in the UK (FT4 wouldn't be measured in the UK unless TSH was out of range). However, it's not implausible that they concentrated on auto-immune hypothyroidism and used different cut-offs that they haven't described in the poster.

[Simba1992 in reply to ITYFIALMCTT]

Hypothyroidism seems to be hard to diagnose. It seems however that very useful ways were used in the " olden days". Here a thorough and interesting link about hypothyroidism.

raypeat.com/articles/articl...

[Hidden]

RA flares are often associated with low grade fevers. That said, I've seen some people talk about low body temp. In general, its more concerning in terms of inflammation to have a fever.

[Simba1992 in reply to Hidden]

Actually fever is usually a sign of the body trying to get rid of the flare likewise when you have a virus infection fever helps the body to get rid of the infection. In low body temperature your cells are not producing energy and " breathing" on an optimal level. This makes you weaker in many respects.

[Hidden in reply to Simba1992]

I merely said that low grade fevers are associated with RA flares and it's often listed - by reputable sites - as a symptom.

[Damaged in reply to Hidden]

I get fevers when inflammation is high but the normal is below normal. I also had a positive nuclear AB . The thyroid antibody was off as well. This DR David Jerginsen had interesting theory regarding adrenal gland function as well. He also indicates that people with this issue do not respond well to treatment. Just another possibility. Just learning about it now. I was curious about others with RD.

[Radiogirl]

My temperature is always low. It has been for a long time. Have you had high calcium levels (above 10.0?). My blood work showed my calcium at 10.6 so my doctor had me come back in to check to see if I had a problem with my parathyroid...which, apparently is different than just thyroid issues - hyper or hypo. Low temps can be one symptom of parathyroid tumors (which are almost always benign). l read up on it and found this site interesting.

parathyroid.com/parathyroid...

The additional blood work my rheumy checked came back ok, so for now I'm not gonna worry about it. Hope this info is helpful. Blessings and hugs to you! 😊