Rain or shine, I am always feeling cold
I HAVE recently started feeling the cold very easily. It’s almost like I have the opposite of menopause, when everyone is roasting — I’m just freezing! I’m a bit tired too, but then again, I am also really busy. This has been going on for the past three months — should I be having some tests?
FEELING cold may be a symptom of an underlying medical problem. The usual suspect is a thyroid condition — usually an underactive thyroid.
Your thyroid gland sits in your neck and governs your metabolism. If it is underperforming you can feel the cold more easily and you also feel tired. You may notice you have gained weight, your bowels are sluggish, your skin and hair are dry and you are feeling a bit flat as additional symptoms. Thyroid problems are diagnosed easily by means of a blood test.
Another issue is a lack of iron. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Women tend to suffer more than men because of heavy periods or, sometimes in later life, because of poor iron absorption.
If you are vegetarian or vegan you are also slightly more predisposed if you diet is low in iron. Other symptoms may include fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness.
Again this can be screened for by means of a blood test. Make sure you get both measures of iron checked. One marker is called your haemoglobin — that’s like your cash flow where iron is concerned.
The other marker is your ferritin, which reflects your iron stores, so it’s the equivalent of your savings account. More often than not, a diagnosis of low iron can be rectified by taking supplements.
One cause that may not immediately spring to mind is weight loss. If you are 15% or more below the minimum weight for your height, this can result in you feeling cold.
This type of weight loss is bad for your health and needs attention. Feeling cold all the time is an incredibly common symptom in patients with anorexia.
Raynaud’s disease is another possible cause. This condition impacts as many as one in 20 women and results in them feeling cold and experiencing skin changes when exposed to the cold. It would be unusual for this condition to come on suddenly, whereas thyroid issues and anaemia can become manifest over a few months.
You need to see your GP and arrange for blood tests to find out the cause of your coldness.
I HAVE noticed that my sevenyear-old has swollen glands in her neck. She has boundless energy and is generally in good health, although she does pick up a lot of colds. Should I be worried?
LYMPHADENOPATHY is the term we use for enlarged glands. Lymph glands feel a bit like beans underneath the skin and the main sites where you can feel them are in the neck, the armpits and the groin. The neck is by far the most common area.
These glands have an immune function, so they become more active when your child is ill. As a result, they can become swollen if your little one has a cough, a cold or a mild infection.
Bear in mind most kids will get things like tonsillitis, ear infections and coughs and colds at this time of year with the return to school, and the lymph nodes closest to these areas are the ones most likely to be affected. Some children will have lymph nodes which are always enlarged and are completely harmless.
So what do you do? First, be reassured by your child’s good health. To me, a child who is happy and thriving is highly unlikely to be seriously ill.
Equally, if the glands are something new, it’s important to get them looked at. Your GP can very simply examine your daughter and work out if anything further needs to be done. If the GP is happy to adopt a ‘watchful waiting’ approach, I would go for this — they often ask for you to come back in two weeks to review things.
Overall, from what you are saying, your daughter is fine. I can’t find fault with her picking up lots of infections either. She’s likely to have as many as eight to 12 colds a year — it’s normal for kids as their immune system matures.