Why am I cold all the time?

Symptoms:

At the first sign of cold your fingers go numb and tingle – they change colour going white then blue and bright red when they warm up.

You've been feeling the cold in the past couple of years. You're gaining weight. Your hair is thinning and you're always tired.

You feel the cold all the time. You’re very concerned about your weight and eat as little as you can. No matter how much you diet, your body looks fat. You obsessively count calories and weigh yourself several times a day.

It could be: Raynaud’s phenomenon, a condition where the blood vessels in your hands (or feet) constrict due to cold intolerance. Smoking can make this worse.

Hypothyroidism, when your body doesn't produce enough thyroid hormone to control how your cells use energy. Often there's a family history.

Anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that results in severe weight loss. People with anorexia exercise excessively to burn up the few calories they do eat in order to stay in control. Stop it:

See your doctor to exclude an underlying condition like scleroderma, then wear layers of clothes to keep your core temperature up, thick socks to keep your feet warm, a hat to prevent heat loss from your head, and warm gloves.

Go to your doctor for thyroid tests to see whether you have hypothyroidism. If so, you'll have to take a thyroid hormone for the rest of your life.

Anorexics don’t believe they have a problem, making treatment difficult. The whole family needs to be involved in treatment participating in group therapy. Cognitive behavioural therapy can be successful. Severe weight loss may make hospitalisation necessary.