Have started to monitor my waking temperature with a digital thermometer under my arm for the last couple or mornings. Could not get above 34.7 degrees C. That seems low.
Took one last night, again under the arm about 9.00 pm and would only get 35.7 degrees C.
I always have cold hands and feet and have been diagnosed hypothyroid - just wandered if this was normal or if it was indicating something else wrong.
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Poshbird
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It is normal if hypothyroid and not on enough medication. Sometimes, too, we cannot get our temp back to what it used to be. Mine is now between 36 and 36.5 but I feel warm because of my meds. Don't need a hot water bottle anymore. Low temp is one of the symtoms of hypo but I doubt if GP's know.
Thanks for replying - i am only on 50mcg of levo at the moment - the problem is when i try and get any higher, i start to feel worse with funny heart twinges, dizziness and really achy muscles. Feel like im stuck in a trap - 50mcg sometimes feels too low but i feel slightly better than when i raise my levo and at the moment i feel its the better of 2 evils. Next thing i think is to test my adrenals but im just waiting until i can afford the £75 fee!!!
Hi poshbird,have you allowed enough time to elapse before reading temp, at least 10 mins for underarm and it always reads lower than oral temp. Think at 34 you'd be a cadaver! Lol
Unfortunately as im using a digital thermometer it beeps when it reaches temperature and stays there despite leaving it for a short while. May have to try a conventional thermometer instead.
Mine regularly was 35.2 despite leaving the thermometer under my arm for over 10 mins. Sometimes lower and occasionally higher. My stupid endo didn't even acknowledge it to be a problem. But as the link points out hypothermia is under 35 which I was at times.
I also found I constantly had colds, illness and general bugs that previously I would have fought off. I guess the body couldn't as I couldn't raise my body temperature to fight it effectively. Even with the Swine Flu I only got up to low grade fever whilst everyone else was burning up. And guess what, I took a lot longer to recover from it.
Underarm is 36.5 as normal and under the tongue is 37.
As a student nurse i had a training day with the company that makes the hospital thermometers. I was told that the Tympanic thermometers are the most accurate in recording body temperature. This is because when the reading is being done it is milimeters away from the hypothalamus. the further away from the hypothalamus you go for readings the the longer the time for detection by thermometers. So readings from under the tongue are the next accurate within 10 minutes from leaving the hypothalamus, under the arm is 25 minutes, and anywhere on the skin 4 hours.
I bought a tympantic mainly cos i'm a nursey geek (I like to have all the right equipment for basic vital signs stuff). I've even bought a resus mask I know how sad am I?
If you can get hold of a tympanic thermometer see if that records the same temperature, even as a student nurse i would be very concerned at a temperature below 35 as the 'normal range' (I know there is no such things as normal with thyroid conditions) is 36.5 to 37 degrees.
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