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torquillIt strikes me, in retrospect, that walking all over Berkeley after dark was probably not a good idea.
I've told many people that I get cold easily. What has struck me is that I don't think they understand what I mean by that. It's not "oh, yeah, it's a bit chilly out". I'm a thin-blooded Californian, we all feel it when the temperature drops below a temperate 60 or so. That's not it.
When I'm called a "lizard", it's not a joke. My temperature regulation sucks badly, particularly in the upward direction. The consequence of this is that when I get cold, I get cold all the way through -- and quite often, my core temperature doesn't rise to compensate. I can get badly chilled in a 55-degree house, and not warm up for hours afterward.
If the air is chilly, and I spend enough time in it, certain parts of my body (besides my fingers and toes) drop to ambient temperature, and then my body decides it doesn't want to keep losing precious heat and cuts blood flow to them. After that, even if the rest of me warms up (by getting into a warm place, or exercise, or whatever) they stay cold. I just drove home with my toes roasting under the heater, with an ambient temperature that must have been around 95 degrees... and yet the backs of my arms, the sides of my legs, and all across my back were still sixty degrees or so. It was like having ice packs wrapped in towels pressed up against me. Even after the rest of me had warmed up, as circulation started to resume to those parts, the valuable heat I had scrounged from the heater poured into those heavily insulated, very chilled areas and dropped my temperature again. It takes a long time of very warm air to thaw out.
If my core temperature drops enough, I get stupid. That happens after a degree or so -- I can still think at 97.6ish, but below that my judgement can get pretty impaired. By 97, I'm really fuzzy, and the one time I measured 96.8 I was cranky as hell and picking quibbles for no reason. It means that as I get colder (and that happens very easily if there's no warmth to make me realize how cold I've gotten), I get less aware and less conscious of the fact that I really do need to go warm up somewhere.
Please don't suggest I put on extra socks, or a sweater, or whatever... warm clothes can keep me from losing my initial heat so fast, but I will still lose it after an hour of temps below 60 or so, and then the clothing just traps the cold against me when I do get somewhere warm. The fact is that I'm not generating enough heat, period. By the time my skin gets cold, I'm not losing heat to the outside anymore -- I'm losing it to my own chilled flesh, and sweaters can't help that.
What does help: things which generate heat, with a high heat-transfer coefficient. Hot baths or tubs, electric blankets, a seat in a hot car, things like that. Warm drinks (though ones that are too hot will shock my system and cause my core temperature to drop further). Snuggling up to someone warm, though I do feel a bit like an ice cube, and it lasts for a while. Mostly, I just try not to get into situations where there's no source of warmth and I'm not so active that I'm sweating.
I know that someone is going to suggest thyroid problems -- I've been tested several times in the last ten years, and the levels are normal (story of my life). I'm just a lizard.
If you know that a house/walk/adventure is likely to be less than balmy, please let me know so that I can be alert and bail if I need to. I'll bundle up, but as said, even with warm clothes I shouldn't be exposed to cold for too long. And, ultimately, I can make sure the hot tub is fired up so that I can thaw when I get home.
I've told many people that I get cold easily. What has struck me is that I don't think they understand what I mean by that. It's not "oh, yeah, it's a bit chilly out". I'm a thin-blooded Californian, we all feel it when the temperature drops below a temperate 60 or so. That's not it.
When I'm called a "lizard", it's not a joke. My temperature regulation sucks badly, particularly in the upward direction. The consequence of this is that when I get cold, I get cold all the way through -- and quite often, my core temperature doesn't rise to compensate. I can get badly chilled in a 55-degree house, and not warm up for hours afterward.
If the air is chilly, and I spend enough time in it, certain parts of my body (besides my fingers and toes) drop to ambient temperature, and then my body decides it doesn't want to keep losing precious heat and cuts blood flow to them. After that, even if the rest of me warms up (by getting into a warm place, or exercise, or whatever) they stay cold. I just drove home with my toes roasting under the heater, with an ambient temperature that must have been around 95 degrees... and yet the backs of my arms, the sides of my legs, and all across my back were still sixty degrees or so. It was like having ice packs wrapped in towels pressed up against me. Even after the rest of me had warmed up, as circulation started to resume to those parts, the valuable heat I had scrounged from the heater poured into those heavily insulated, very chilled areas and dropped my temperature again. It takes a long time of very warm air to thaw out.
If my core temperature drops enough, I get stupid. That happens after a degree or so -- I can still think at 97.6ish, but below that my judgement can get pretty impaired. By 97, I'm really fuzzy, and the one time I measured 96.8 I was cranky as hell and picking quibbles for no reason. It means that as I get colder (and that happens very easily if there's no warmth to make me realize how cold I've gotten), I get less aware and less conscious of the fact that I really do need to go warm up somewhere.
Please don't suggest I put on extra socks, or a sweater, or whatever... warm clothes can keep me from losing my initial heat so fast, but I will still lose it after an hour of temps below 60 or so, and then the clothing just traps the cold against me when I do get somewhere warm. The fact is that I'm not generating enough heat, period. By the time my skin gets cold, I'm not losing heat to the outside anymore -- I'm losing it to my own chilled flesh, and sweaters can't help that.
What does help: things which generate heat, with a high heat-transfer coefficient. Hot baths or tubs, electric blankets, a seat in a hot car, things like that. Warm drinks (though ones that are too hot will shock my system and cause my core temperature to drop further). Snuggling up to someone warm, though I do feel a bit like an ice cube, and it lasts for a while. Mostly, I just try not to get into situations where there's no source of warmth and I'm not so active that I'm sweating.
I know that someone is going to suggest thyroid problems -- I've been tested several times in the last ten years, and the levels are normal (story of my life). I'm just a lizard.
If you know that a house/walk/adventure is likely to be less than balmy, please let me know so that I can be alert and bail if I need to. I'll bundle up, but as said, even with warm clothes I shouldn't be exposed to cold for too long. And, ultimately, I can make sure the hot tub is fired up so that I can thaw when I get home.
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-05 09:48 (UTC)Luckily, if I bundle up enough, I can hold my own heat.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-05 18:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-05 20:51 (UTC)