Hypothyroidism and cold temperatures

[RufusRuffcut123]

What should the average temperature of the house be during the winter for those of us suffering from Hypothyroidism? Our heating is dodgy at best, and I feel miserabl6 cold all the time. I’m on 125mcg Thyroxine for several years now.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

It should be at a temperature where you are comfortable and that is very individual. That will probably be very different from anyone else in your house.

I like mine around 21C but I only keep the living room around that temperature, hallway and landing kept low as of course I only pass through, bedroom I like around 18-19 when I go to bed but I have an electric blanket. My heating is off overnight.

When my husband was alive he would be walking around in a short sleeved shirt in the winter and I would be wearing thermal vest, top, plus jumper, trousers and socks. Whenever visiting other people's houses they were always cold as far as I was concerned.

Are you optimally medicated? What are your latest thyroid test results (with reference ranges)?

[lnjdevereux]

Minimum room temp for even a well person is 17C, but like Susie we usually like ours around 21c.

[Hillwoman]

On a typical day I cycle between 5C and 15C, roughly every five minutes.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hillwoman]

On a typical day I cycle between 5C and 15C, roughly every five minutes

Blimey! Are you menopausal and suffering hot flushes

When I get up in the morning, currently the temperature in my bedroom is around 15C in the winter (heating hasn't had time to warm the room up much) and I really find that cold

[Hillwoman in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes, still having hot flushes several years into postmeno. Will they ever end, I wonder? 15-18C outdoors is plenty warm enough for me, but I live in a cold part of the country, and anything above that feels subtropical!

At least I'm not still languishing on thyroxine, when for years on end my feet and hands ached with the cold, and I needed a long hot bath every morning, because it was my only way of warming up.

[shaws Administrator]

Coldness is a clinical symptom. You should get a thermometer and take your temperature. It is usually below 'normal' and it can rise as hormones are increased. You may find you have other symptoms:-

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[shaws Administrator]

You should request a new blood test which should be at the very earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose of levo and the test and take afterwards. Ask GP if he would do a Full Thyroid Function test. The ones he or lab wont do, you can get them privately if you wish. (just for info I give you a link:-

thyroiduk.org.uk/index.html

Ask for: TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T4 and thyroid antibodies.

If you haven't had the following request :- B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate.

Everything has to be optimal.

[RufusRuffcut123 in reply to shaws]

Thank you! I see my doctor in e days and will write all that down.

[shaws Administrator in reply to RufusRuffcut123]

You may find he isn''t too interested in blood tests other than TSH and T4 but I do hope he is open to listening to you. I think that's what they are taught and have lost the skill of diagnosing a patient taking into account their clinical symptoms (this is what they did before blood tests were introduced). Tick off your clinical symptoms you have and say you know that when you finally reach an optimum dose all should resolve and TSH around 1 or lower. If he/she says that a TSH below 1 is dangerous that will confirm poor training..

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[RufusRuffcut123 in reply to shaws]

I find as far as testing goes, people are treated more or less like clones-a one size fits all standard of testing. Totally outrageous. I would happily pay privately for those tests

[MariLiz]

Our thermostat is set to 20c but I always seem to feel the cold more than my husband.

[EleanorM-G]

Wear lots of jumpers-you'll never get it warm enough!

Get an electric blanket on your bed.

Install extra radiators in your living room.