Why am I always cold?

[Zen]

No anemia. I think it has to do with being thin.
I remember a lab we did in Bio 101 that involved a mouse. The point of the experiment being how smaller things tended to have colder body temps.
I felt terrible about what we had to do to the mouse even though it wasn't harmed.

[mimitabby]

no anema here either.
i think thin is what it is/was. I'm less thin now that i have more muscle mass.

[OakLeaf]

Another one here. Mostly I have trouble if I'm less active, although once I get cold, I will not warm up no matter what I do, short of a total immersion hot bath. I have a terrible time at seminars where they tend to set the AC at 70F or below - my thumbs and fingers get numb and painful. Before we started flying south for the winters, my toes would be blue (literally) from December through April.

Same thing with the heat (95F and above) - difficult and dangerous for me on the motorcycle (moderate exertion), have to wear a cooling vest; no real problem on the bicycle. Hydration has a lot to do with that, I know - I get dehydrated very, very easily to the point where I can't absorb plain water and have to drink hydration solutions - but I really don't think that's all that's going on, considering I have trouble with the cold, too.

Faulty thermostat, is all. Someone told me once that the kidneys are the thermostat of the body; I have no idea whether that's true or not.

[gnat23]

Ain't nothing wrong with calling a space heater your best friend, IMHO.

-- gnat! (they don't take hugs well, however)

[singletrackmind]

Thin is definitely what it is for me, especially when I was cutting back on calories to lose weight on a getting thin frame. Last I was at that point not so long ago I had low cholesterol, normal to low blood pressure and a resting heart rate of 35-40.

Right now I am not thin, not cutting calories and not cold.

Heat, on the other hand, only bothers me when I'm not thin. Like now. Too many candy corns.

[Torrilin]

I'm often cold when other people aren't. In the 80s and 90s, I'll be happy and comfy, and everyone else will want to kill me because I'm bouncing. Doesn't matter how thin or fat I am. Hydration does matter, because I lose a lot of heat tolerance when dehydrated. If I feel cold, I put on a sweater or a hat. If I feel hot, I drink more water or put on a hat. Hats are lovely things for temperature control.

So I tend to figure I'm just an oddball who likes to be a bit warmer than average. It doesn't take much forethought for me to be comfortable and stay comfortable.

It's not unusual for people to be sensitive to cold *and* sensitive to heat. If it's not causing serious trouble (and no, packing a light jacket in the summer doesn't count as serious trouble), I wouldn't worry about it. If it's to the point where things like layering, wearing a hat, and drinking plenty of fluids don't solve things, you may have a problem. If you've got a history of hypothermia or hyperthermia, then you've got an easy explanation. Once you've had some form of trouble with your internal thermostat, it's much easier to have trouble again. Lots of other possible medical explanations, but very often it is just your body doesn't take extremes well.