Freezing Cold Hands

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neillc57
neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I dropped my weight down from 257 to 164 over about 11 months. I developed a couple of issues (ignoring the issues my BP meds caused me as I needed lower doses).
I have freezing cold hands. I make the wife jump if I touch her.
I had dry skin on my back that itched.

It's pretty clear from my reading that being on a deficit as long as I was causes you to develop Euthyroid sick syndrome.
Probably conversion of T4 to rT3 that is an adaptation to a calorie deficit. I plan to test this at some point but not yet.
I tried 4 weeks at maintenance calories (2 of those weeks with > 100g carbs/day) and the dry skin resolved itself. Not the hands.
I see some papers that suggest that having excess rT3 can become a bit of a trap and difficult to get out of.
I really don't have any other symptoms associated with thyroid down regulation. I feel great and exercise etc.
In fact the thermogenesis of exercise reverses the cold hands temporarily as does eating a large meal (close to say 800kcals) which do most nights.

I am entering the last phase of my weight loss to drop another 10-20lbs and then I am done. In fact I will eat in a surplus to rebuild my lost lean tissue.

So if you have suffered from the cold hands thing and went on maintenance how long did it take to reverse this?

Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,659 Member
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    Read the refeeds and diet breaks thread especially the first few pages....
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Read the refeeds and diet breaks thread especially the first few pages....

    Maybe you missed that bit where I said 'I tried 4 weeks at maintenance calories (2 of those weeks with > 100g carbs/day) and the dry skin resolved itself. Not the hands.'.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,971 Member
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    So see a doctor.

    That is a very long time to have been at such restricted calories in order to lose that much weight so quickly. I had cold hands, lowered body temp, the whole nine until I got my thyroid issues treated. Now all is well.

    I hope you'll change your tack. Seems crazy to keep losing then eat more to gain mass. Why don't you do recomp now?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,910 Member
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    See a doctor.

    https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/cold-hands/basics/causes/sym-20050648

    Although the cause of cold hands can be as simple as being in a cold environment or your body's natural response to maintain its normal temperature, if you have ongoing problems with cold hands, there could be a number of causes. Having cold hands could signal a problem with your blood circulation or the blood vessels in your hands.

    Causes of cold hands include:
    • Anemia
    • Buerger's disease
    • Diabetes
    • Frostbite
    • Lupus
    • Raynaud's disease
    • Scleroderma
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
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    neillc57 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I hope you'll change your tack. Seems crazy to keep losing then eat more to gain mass. Why don't you do recomp now?

    Recomp is know to be rather slow in comparison to bulking. In the 4 weeks at maintenance I got some improvement in the gym so it's likely I got some by accident.

    Building muscle is slow regardless. Trying to regain lost muscle and then develop more would probably take longer than recomping on top of what you have already...
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    There is a difference between > 100g and a more typical carb 50-60% of calories split, or at least I hope your maintenance calories are sufficient for that.

    For my weight loss I never went below 1800kcalc / day. My maintenance is 2500kcalcs. My first two weeks were at 90% of that. I eat close to 200g of net carbs some days.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    There are no guarantee that everything will resolve in a month, or ever. The month time frame is given as the time frame to resolve MUCH (often stated as MOST) of the damage. Doesn't mean that a month later all is A1 and back to where it was before you applied the stress.

    Hence the reason I am asking if others had this problem how long it took to resolve.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    You have to stop and think it through and balance your current position against you short term and long term goals.

    I think I have been thinking it through all along.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    To me preserving my existing loss is much more important than moving to a leaner state and this shapes my actions in deciding not to risk high deficits and potential side effects to achieve a leaner state.

    That's your trade off not mine. Based on my calculated maintenance and the 90% typical metabolic slowdown Lyle uses I would have been in a 500kcal / day deficit before exercise beyond the gym. Since I hit my macros almost every single day over those 11 months and kept to my calorie limits as well I think that gave me a fair bit of the speed. I also weighed everything thing I eat etc.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Now, knowing that you've eaten at a deficit it is easy to ascribe every issue to that deficit.

    But ruling out other issues is definitely a good idea.

    I am not ascribing every issue to the deficit. Just the ones that are clear symptoms of thyroid down regulation typical of a calorie deficit.
    As I mentioned above I have seen my doctor to get BP meds adjusted. He said I am in great shape now. I didn't ask about the cold hands because they were not the most pressing issues (I would almost faint on standing and had terrible cramps. Both due to BP meds).
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    psychod787 wrote: »
    Ok, let me be straight up with you. PAV888 knows his *kitten*. I was once standing on side of the cliff that you are. Cold hands, feet, constipation, getting light headed standing, ect.

    I only have the cold hands problem. I don't even have cold feet or a cold body. Orthostatic hypo-tension and cramps were caused by BP meds (HCTZ). As soon as my doc took me off them I am 100% free of this.
    psychod787 wrote: »
    I could have stopped losing weight, but I just had to be leaner so I could bulk. Fast forward, I lost the weight! YEAH! Right? Wrong for me. Guess what I pushed too hard! I should have stopped and recomped, or at least spent some time at true maintenance. I lost over 220 lbs.

    I haven't lost 220lbs. I have lost 90+. I exercised before I lost weight as well as while I did.
    psychod787 wrote: »
    Stupid move the way I did it. Kinda like you did.

    I don't think I did it in a stupid way.
    psychod787 wrote: »
    I now have a host of issues. Blood sugar drop outs, cold hands and feet, still have them, constipation off and on. Know what the worst part is? The constant food fixation, not physical hunger, just thinking about food constantly! Never off the brain long. Basically developed an ED along the way. I know I have to regain some weight, well that might help, we shall see. Now, I am completely afraid to gain weight at all! Good news, I am no longer "Afraid" of foods. The RD/ ED, psych PHD that I see says gaining back to around 210 to 220 will help. Admittedly, she has stated she is not used to working with the obese in recovery. So, in conclusion, choose your path, just choose it carefully. That's my story, I just basically put myself out there to you.

    I don't have these issues. I don't have any food cravings, Fixations or anything like that. I had these kinds of problems before I did what I did now.
    When I lost weight 30 years ago I got these problems but not the way I did it this time.
    I am not afraid of food. I can take my kids for pizza, ice cream etc and just drink a diet soda or have a cup of coffee. I takes me close to zero effort to do this because I actually prefer to eat peanuts and I have them every night.
    If I wanted pizza I would just fit it into my budget. I actually haven't had pizza in a year but I have had ice cream etc.
    Problem is ice cream just isn't as good as peanuts.
    I have done very little in the way of binging. I figure some level of this is unavoidable but I have been amazed at how little of it I have had.
    I used to never be able to buy peanuts because no matter how big the container was I would always finish it off in some short amount of time. Now I buy giant containers of them and eat 4-6oz every single day. It's great.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
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    I wish I knew the answer. I'm always freezing, including my hands and feet, despite being 20 lbs overweight. Doctors haven't been able to figure it out. They just tell me everyone is different.
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    psychod787 wrote: »
    Hey man, good luck! It started small for me, yes, I know about hctz, I used to take it. You lost nearly 40% of BM. in a year. My weight loss was not completely linear. First phase was much slower. I was just putting it out there that, do not lose the big picture on trying to get lean. Why come on here if you don't want to hear what others have to say? You asked about the cold hands. For me, thats how it all started.

    So I came here to ask a very specific question. I wanted to know how long it took people to reverse the cold hands problem. I know others have it as I can see posts about it. I have scheduled a comprehensive thyroid test to get some data.
    I have listened to what you said. I have even looked at your food diary. You eat very differently from me. I had no idea Halo top had so much fiber! Never tried that stuff but I am more inclined to now.
    3200kcals is way above my maintenance level. You are very much younger than me though.

  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    nooshi713 wrote: »
    I wish I knew the answer. I'm always freezing, including my hands and feet, despite being 20 lbs overweight. Doctors haven't been able to figure it out. They just tell me everyone is different.

    It's possible it's just the new normal for me now. I hope not as I don't think I will get used to it.
  • 2aycocks
    2aycocks Posts: 415 Member
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    I've had it and had it on my feet too. My fingers would run purple looking them white. Mine is from Raynaunds syndrome which is autoimmune. That and circulation issues are the only things I know about causing the cold fingers and hands like that.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,659 Member
    edited May 2018
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    The first time I had dieting induced cold hand syndrome (self-diagnosed, about 18 years ago) it resolved splendidly by the time I had regained all 30lbs I had lost and that took a year at best.

    No issues with cold hands while I added another 30 or 40 on top of that.

    In to see what others have found, but the best answer *I* know is eat relatively high carb and at maintenance or slight surplus for as long as you can till most of it resolves. Building muscle mass to where it was pre weight loss MAY also help.
  • z3dreamer
    z3dreamer Posts: 26 Member
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    Not exactly what you have but maybe something useful. I began losing weight 7 years ago. Once I lost about 50 pounds I began having to wear thick socks all the time because my feet were cold. Also had to wear cotton gloves at night, year round, as my hands were cold. No discoloration. Hands are not cold during the day. Have lost another 45 pounds without any change in the situation. At my annual physical, I mention it to my doctor. He says it is some form of Raynaud's. I have had this for maybe 4 years.

    BTW, I do intense cardio and my resting heart rate is mid-40's. My uneducated take on this is that when my heart slows down, it just doesn't pump enough to the extremities.
  • neillc57
    neillc57 Posts: 86 Member
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    z3dreamer wrote: »
    BTW, I do intense cardio and my resting heart rate is mid-40's. My uneducated take on this is that when my heart slows down, it just doesn't pump enough to the extremities.

    Thyroid down regulation causes a slower heart rate.

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