I'm really struggling this winter, it seems I'm back to being severely affected by the cold. Last winter wasn't bad, but this year I am cold all the time again. I have a bad thyroid, which I'm on medication for, and it makes it very hard for me to stay warm. I feel very weak, and have no energy. I have to apologize to anyone who has been wondering what happened to the story that I posted a teaser for, but I've not been able to do much writing. I promise, I haven't abandoned the project. I live in Southern California, so I feel silly complaining about the cold, but there it is. Anything below 60 is miserable for me, and even the 70s is uncomfortable. To make it worse, my wife is just the opposite - she'll have the fan going when it is in the 30s outside. I'm all bundled up in flannels with an electric blanket, and she has shorts and a tank top on - but still needs the damn fan. Hopefully, I'll get some inspiration soon and push past the cold to be able to write. Sorry about crying on your shoulder like this.
I'm not a happy camper
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Comments
We are individuals
Each one of us is different from the rest. Your temperature woes are not unfamiliar. My parents, despite having a solid marriage relationship, in the last few years before my dad died slept in separated beds, because my mom needed a fan while my dad could not stand the draft. And apart from biological differences there are also cultural differences in temperature tolerance.
I start to shiver when the temperature dips below 19℃, and by the time it reaches about 12℃ I am wearing my long winter coat. Though I have literally seen people in the pedestrian zone of downtown in only shorts and t-shirt at 6℃! Or even a crop top and hot pants with an open shorty jacket.
So, take your time, take it easy, relax and just take care of yourself. And eventually you should be able to come out of the doldrums.
Fashion has its price
Those crop-top and hot pants girls are dying in the cold, but they’ll go out looking goooood!
— Emma
Not just girls
It is not just girls in skimpy clothes trying to look gooooood!, but also ugly guys trying to look cooool!
When I was young,
I could have a snowball fight in shorts and a t-shirt. Now, I'm just like you.
Could be a sign of clogged arteries
go get your heart and arteries checked. I have that condition and need the temperature at 73 deg F and I wear a jacket and socks.
Sephrena
My favorite Music: Arch Angel , HD Accel World ED 2 Unite Instrumental, and Dreaming of You .
I had a mild heart attack
a number of years ago, so I have my heart checked out regularly. I'll have to mention to my doctor about clogged arteries, but I think clogged arteries would show as high blood pressure, and mine is actually lower than normal.
"... cold, weak, no energy ..." - Phone call to doctor ...
... to discuss. Maybe time to send your blood to "the labs" again.
You & spouse may need to mostly hang out in separate rooms, sigh.
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To reduce expen$$e of gas whole-house heat, I have thermostat at 55 F, and then two space heaters in my computer room - and a folded bedsheet hanging in the doorway out into the rest of the house. And a third heater in my bedroom.
Of the three, I favor the 'oil-filled' heater for a bit more even heat.
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I'm a 'lizard' always wanting warm, my former Wife is a penguin, liking it cool/cold. A spring/fall jacket for anybody else was her winter coat.
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Check your diet. Get enough B12 and iron, maybe vitamin D.
Favor "good" (complex) carbs - whole grains, beans. [1] They are our bodies' long-burn fuel. "Bad carbs" just 'flash-burn' and then we are hungry, maybe cold, again.
Think about complex carb snacks, keep your 'body furnace' running evenly.
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[1] Fifty+ years of self-serving "carbs bad" advertising, books and other media has =wrongly= left us afraid of good/complex carbs.
By the way - biggest culprit in weight gain is fats and oils.
I talk with my doctor frequently
about this, and have my labs run at least twice a year. My diet is poor, but I do take my vitamins, especially my B-12, as I have low B-12 without supplements. Thankfully, my weight has never been a problem, I weigh only 10 pounds more than I did when I was in the military.
But wait! There's more....
What Sephrena said.
Also see my rather long reply on Sephrena's "saw the doc" blog.
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It's why we have two shoulders - for two friends to cry on. Friend number three has to be sent to get chocolate, tea, wine, snacks, tissues ...
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Yeah, you're tired ... but I've heard that exercise can reset out 'body thermostat' to warmer.
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Put on hat or "watch cap" (wearing mine as I type.)
Back-woods motto: "Feet cold, put on hat." I've read we lose 25% of our body heat through our heads. And unlike our fingers and toes, our bodies Can Not reduce blood flow to our heads to reduce heat loss.
Look into "fingerless" or half-finger gloves (Alan, are you listening to yourself?)
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Chicago guy here. Yesterday, we had sub-zero F wind chill. Dress in layers, even inside.
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Warm fluffy socks and slippers. I got such socks at my local $1.25 store (formerly 'Dollar' Store).
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Scarf.
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Big fluffy bathrobe.
I'm always bundled up,
but exercise is very difficult for me due to a seriously ruined lumbar spine. I don't have any lumbar discs left.
I've read we lose 25% of our body heat through our heads.
Back in the late fifties/early sixties, I heard that the air force issued parkas to personnel station in Alaska because the hood would midigate the 70% heat lose from the back of the head (core heat traveling up the spine to add to the heat lost from the top of the hear,
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
the whole
heat loss through your head is a load of @$&?ocks!
You actually lose heat across all of your body at the same rate. That said, it will feel like we lose more from our head because generally, if it's cold, that's the only bit of us exposed to the elements! All the heat your body needs to dump through even light exercise will go first to exposed skin then when that is insufficient, will be lost through sweat. Riding my bike this time of year i see the effects of that sweating in buckets, literally a two hour ride will leave most of my kit almost dripping wet as the moisture is unable to evaporate as it does in warmer weather, it's important to use clothing that wicks this damp from the skin, wool is quite good but bulky and soon gets smelly, 'breathable' fabrics can be very good and a degree of layering helps reduce the heat loss keeping us warmer.
For outside use i have lots of gloves/mitts to keep my digits warm, a hood will keep cold from your neck but a scarf will help too, cover the ears if you can.
And keep up the fluid intake, warm drinks don't just warm us, they replace liquids lost through sweating even if you do need to wee due to the cold! It's easier to get dehydrated than you'd imagine at this time of year.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
And when you say wool gets smelly . . .
. . . you mean, “starts smelling like the original owner.” :)
— Emma
'Original owner" {Snort!} Science to the rescue"
... And also Technology to the rescue. {I'm vegan, so wool, silk, leather and such are non-starters. Sigh, I do have some 'legacy' items, some with sentimental value.}
We have some very good insulating materials. One, I think is called hollow-fill - even the fibers are hollow for better insulation.
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Re: Madeline Anafrid Bell, and getting 'dripping wet'.
I've heard of Gore-Tex, which is supposed to pass water vapor (but not liquid water). "Outdoors" people love it for rain wear and ground cover.
So that might help rid our bodies of vapor-sweat ... before it soaks us.
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And yes, stay hydrated.
that is what shoulders are for!
huggles!
Arms! Arms! too.
Gotta have arms for the hugging, and to get and use the chocolate, wine, tissues, tea, biscuits/cookies, ...