Cold intoleranceDefinition: Cold intolerance is an abnormal sensitivity to a cold environment or cold temperatures.
Alternative Names: Sensitivity to the cold; Intolerance to cold
Considerations: Cold intolerance can be a symptom of a metabolic problem.
Some people (often very thin women) do not tolerate cold environments because they have very little body fat and are unable to keep warm.
Home Care: Follow the recommended therapy for treating the cause of the problem.
Call your health care provider if: Call your health care provider if you have long-term or extreme intolerance to cold.
What to expect at your health care provider's office: Your health care provider will take a medical history and perform a physical examination .
Medical history questions may include:
- Time pattern
- Have you always been intolerant of cold?
- Has this developed recently?
- Has it been getting worse?
- Do you often feel cold when other people do not complain of the cold?
- Medical history
- What is your diet like?
- How is your general health?
- What are your height and weight?
- What other symptoms do you have?
Tests that may be performed include:
- Complete blood count (CBC )
-
Serum TSH
- Thyroid hormone levels
If your health care provider diagnosed cold intolerance, you may want to note that diagnosis in your personal medical record.
References: Ladenson P, Kim M. Thyroid. In: Goldman L and Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders; 2007:chap 244.
| 
