Disgusting Intolerance to Cold

So I'm getting over an ED.

AND I'm anemic, but that's due to being a vegetarian.

I take a supplement and stuff, but I am always SO cold.  Right now, I have on socks, thick sweats, a tee, two hoodies and I'm under a thick down blanket with a heating pad on my lap.

And I'm STILL cold.  My family agrees that the house is a bit chilly, but they're all walking around in 3-quarter length shirts and they're fine.

So I'm unnaturally cold.

The ED isn't a problem anymore, so don't worry about that, but the symptoms are killing me.

Does anyone have ANY advice on how to stay warm?

I have to have my older sister sleep with me every night because I need her body heat to stay warm.

It's that freaking bad.

Make sure your head is covered... try wearing a warm hat even under your hoodies

Wear layers instead of very thick clothes. For example instead of a tee and 2 hoodies try a tank top (or 2), a thin long sleeve shirt, a tee, then a hoodie... or any combination you get the idea. Do you have any stockings/long underwear to go under the sweat shirts? See if you can buy some thermal long underwear (for top and bottom)

Also try taking a hot shower before bed (keep your hair dry). It will warm up your body and then you can hop into bed while still warm.

Wish you the best of luck and massive congrats on your recovery

Places like Walmart and Target sell cheap personal space heaters. I have one that I got at Walmart for $15 that works wonderfully well. You can keep it in your room. :-)

Get a big fluffy dog!  I'm always freezing at night (I'm just hyper sensitive to temperatures), but my German Shepherd under the covers usually takes care of things. :D

On a more serious note, try to get warm and stay warm.  Remember to put on extra layers (maybe even throw them in the dryer for a bit first?) BEFORE you get cold.  It's much easier to keep from getting cold than to warm back up again.

Have your bloods improved since your anemia diagnosis? Are you getting enough iron in your diet despite the supplements? Are you taking your supplements with a source of vitamin C to make sure they're being absorbed properly?

Dressing up more warmly doesn't sound like it's working, to be frank.  Better solutions are to get the circulation moving.  Hot foods, hot drinks, spicy/peppery foods, more frequent meals/snacks, plenty of fats, sugars and starches, energy-dense foods.....  Gets  the blood pumping round faster  & will warm you up better than cold foods & cold drinks.   

Sitting still will make you feel colder than moving around so try not to be too immobile....    Hot baths raise your total body temperature more effectively than adding on clothes (as I found after standing outside for an hour in the winter cold for the Remembance service yesterday!)   So have as hot a bath as you can stand before bedtime and then put on warm nightwear so that you retain the heat.   If your BMI is still on the low side (20-ish) after recovering from an illness then try to get it up so that you have a better layer of body-fat.  If your iron count is low that will affect your circulation.  There are lots of good vegetarian sources of iron and supplements, of course, but as lalabanana says, make sure you match them with plenty of Vitamin C-rich foods so that you get the benefit.

You don't say how much you weigh or where you are in recovery but being underweight and not having enough body fat can cause you to be cold all of the time. If you don't eat meat you need to make sure you are very educated on the substitutes. See a nutritionist and get a recommendation on how much and what you should be eating everyday.

I am trying to recover from an ED too and can tell you from experience that nothing will be very effective until you reach a healthy weight. Even then you will likely still be more sensitive to temperatures than the average person for some time. Best of luck!

coffee and tea? Hot soup perhaps...

if you're still cold it means you're not insulated enough.  gaining a little bit more muscle and fat (i'm not saying huge amount, buta little) will make a huge difference!  i also agree with eating and rinkign warm/hot things, like soups, tea, hot meals, etc...  so for now, stay away from salads (unless they're a starter) as the main meal.  i love stews.  mmm...

Hey, if you're recovering from an ED then I'm sure that as you put on weight you'll stop having this problem. But practical things that can help with extreme cold (from my experience of living on a tiny island in the north of Scotland, where we regularly had no heating in the depths of winter!)

1 - put a quilt over your mattress, under the sheet,and lie on this as well as having quilts over you at night. This helps trap the heat you put out underneath you much better than the mattress on its own.

2 - warm all clothes on a radiator or in the cupboard where the boiler is kept before you put them on - even you're underwear! I sometimes heated up clothes with the hairdryer.

3 - wear hats all of the time, and when your really cold warm your hat up. Even if the heating isn't on, its easy to warm a hat up by sitting it over a hot kettle for a few minutes (lol but not over the spout where the steam is coming out or the damp will make you cold!)

4 - make sure to dry yourself really thoroughly after showering etc. Plus hairdryers aren't just good for your hair - when my feet are really freezing I blast the hairdryer at them for a minute to help them warm up. In a really cold house the hairdryer is your best friend! (lol, if you don't have a hot radiator or something, anyway!)

5 - the most significant one! Prevention is better than the cure - it is easier to not allow yourself to get cold than to warm up when you are already cold, so even when you don't feel cold keep really layered up with clothes etc. If you actually get too hot its easy to cool down a little, but if you are freezing then it takes ages foryour body to produce enough heat for your clothes to trap and warm you up.

6 - if you have an ED you're probably trying to up your calories? An easy way to help do that and keep you warm is to sip at small cups of hot chocolate all day. Hold the cup with both hands to try and keep your hands warm (obvious, but it works). If you don't want/need the calories green tea or even just hot water will work too.

7 - you can never have too many hot water bottles. Plus, put them in the bed/on a chair a few minutes before you get in/sit down so that the cold surface of the bed/chair doesn't chill you before your body heat warms it up. Plus, if your going to sit on a sofa or something try and steal someone elses space, as they'll already have warmed it up!

Thats all pretty obvious stuff, but I hope it helps!