Huge drop in body temperature?

Jane Michel · 03-25-2008, 06:14 AM

I've been doing 18-21 hour fasts for four months now and am experiencing huge drops in body temperature while fasting. People say our library is cold but they are able to study there in tshirt and shorts and perhaps a light sweater, but I am freezing in jeans, tshirt, sweater, shoes and socks even and my lips turn purple and my hands go numb. Has anyone had this kind of experience?

Further, we're at the end of summer now and I dread to think what winter will be like for me...

Garrett Smith · 03-25-2008, 06:24 AM

Alicia,
I'd suggest you start shortening your fasts ASAP.

You may have undiagnosed thyroid issues that the fasting is exacerbating. Iodine deficiency could play a big role here, as well as other thyroid-necessary nutrients.

Mike ODonnell · 03-25-2008, 06:25 AM

Sounds like low thyroid output. How often are your fasts? How much are you eating on the eat days? Might want to throw in a couple higher calorie days and fast less often. More is not always better remember.

Edit: Man...Dr G beat me to it by 1 minute...oh well...I just did something on the thyroid on the blog so there are factors like vitamins and mineral deficiency like Dr G mentioned. Also do you drink coffee or other caffeine products? Ditch them. What is your exercise volume? If it is too high that could be an issue as well. Coconut Oil has also been said to help with thyroid output. But like said above....the fasts are making an underlying issue worse...so less fasting and more positive things for the thyroid like plenty of protein, EFAs, vitamins A,D,B and minerals like zinc, mg, and iodine.

You can google "hypothyroidism" for plenty of info on it.

Jane Michel · 03-25-2008, 07:15 AM

Whoa Dr G's post is scaring me.

My fasts are everyday with 1-2 days a week being eat days. On eat days I eat as much as I want... protein, some fat, lots of fruit and veg throughout the day. Supplements are 6 x fish oil caps, ZMA at night and sometimes a multivitamin. Do iodine pills exist or is it better to get it from eating a lot of certain foods like seaweed?

Yep I drink a cup of coffee every morning. How does it affect the thyroid?

My exercise routine is about 3 days on 1 day off doing either CF or Coach Rut's WOD.

Could it be that carbs are just better at helping produce heat? I had a day of carbs last week after a month of Paleo-IF and felt quite warm throughout the day.

Mike ODonnell · 03-25-2008, 08:26 AM

Don't get too scared...many people see the cold factor with too much fasting. Right now....try skipping the fasting and eating normally...whatever that may be. See if that helps. The thyroid is what regulates body temp....so something is telling it to lower production....too much fasting can do that. Chances are you are not getting enough calories in your feeding window too during your fasting days...as it takes work to eat what you really may need....especially protein which my guess is you may be low on that. Yes caffeine has a direct affect on thyroid by wearing out your adrenal glands which work with your thyroid. Low adrenals can signal low thyroid or poor T4 to T3 conversion. So just attack the big things with eating more (esp protein), drop the fasts, and try to ditch the coffee for a while....see what happens. Iodine you can get through foods or sea salt.

Garrett Smith · 03-25-2008, 12:03 PM

Alicia,
Didn't mean to scare you.

In my practice, I don't put anyone on iodine without doing an "iodine loading" test, as conventional medicine has beat iodine into submission with propaganda. For more info on iodine deficiency, see www.optimox.com under "Iodine Research".

One good indicator of potential iodine deficiency is cystic issues--breast, ovarian, uterine. If you have/had any of those, that would be a good indicator to investigate iodine further.

In the meantime, you might want to try getting more sleep and eating sea vegetables as much as you can.

Iodine deficiency is easily corrected, but not through amounts found in the typical diet.

Jordan Glasser · 03-25-2008, 02:16 PM

I've struggled with body temperature as well. I work out of a gym that is geared towards "cardio kids". The temperature is colder then a weight room should be, and I get cold really easily standing around.

Without getting technical (that's for the Dr.'s and MOD's), I'll tell you what was worked for me.

I was cold 99% of the time during fasts. So, I fasted less often, and for shorter periods. Well fed ensured I wasn't freezing, but, didn't ensure I was warm.

Hydration also helped immensely. Lot's of tea (mostly herbal) and water helps me stay warmer. Especially during fasted times.

Lastly, I went back on the zone so that my pro/fats/cho to ensure I was getting adequate amounts of each.

The combination of all these changes has made an impact. I'm not sure which one elicited the greatest response. All in all I feel in control of this situation, if I feel cold, I do all 3 of the above, and won't have the problem the next day.

As far as your observation that eating carbs helps you produce heat, I can attest to that. However, I look at it like, not enough carbs seems to make me "slow down" and get cold.

Jordan

Jane Michel · 03-25-2008, 03:12 PM

That's alright Dr G

Thank you and thanks Mike and Jordan for your detailed advice.

I'll drop the fasts and coffee and get some sea salt and vegetables and coconut oil and probably measure protein.

sarena kopciel · 03-25-2008, 05:55 PM

Hey I posted something earlier but it didnt go thru!!
I too was suffering from cold something terribly when my fasts went over 16+hrs. And I am taking an iodine supplement from Dr G as well. I thought it may just be me since I had lost all that weight and the NYC weather was cold in Nov/Dec when i was trying the IFing out. But I ended up with crazy shivers too, worse than ever!!

I had been fasting 5-7x week. I cut the fasts back to 2-3x week but remained paleo and that seemed to help a lot. Also reduced fasting time to rarely over 15hrs.

Five days ago, I went back to IFing and am gonna try to do it 5-6x week with fasts up to 16hrs max. Havent had the shivers or extreme cold yet!

Jane Michel · 03-25-2008, 06:31 PM

Hey Sarena, "crazy shivers" is what it is! Let me know how the increase in fasting days/hours goes.

Jordan was it warm water and tea that you had? I sip on 1000ml/32oz ACV-water throughout the fast and it makes me feel colder.