Freezing my ass off in So. Cal.

Greetings all, I'm 9 months out and down 153 lbs.  I work inside and am freezing.  I remember loosing weight before and being cold, but the is bad.  I'm wearing insulated hunting boots and had to buy flanel lined jeans.  My  hands are cold and I have to sleep with down conforters. I guess the question is will this ever get better?  Should I not invest into any summer clothes?  Do I need to move closer to the equator?

Thanks,

Will

It's so funny that you should say that. I have always been a 'polar bear' kinda guy - I think I could even sleep in a refrigerator that's how much I can tolerate the cold as a pre op'er. I've been told by many post op'ers that when the weight comes off you'll get cold very easily. I hope that that's something that passes for you, but gauging from others post op it's part of the new you package.

I think it passes once your weight stabilizes, but is definitely a function of active weight loss.  I went to weigh****chers a couple of times and lost a lot of weight fast, over 100 lbs in about 3-4 months each time, and was ALWAYS cold. Had to laugh at "Freezing . . . in So. Cal."  I'd be happy to send you some of my snow, freezing rain, artic windchills right now.  If you have to freeze, you might as well do it somewhere with nice weather!  

Hi Will,

 

It will get better.  It is a function of ketosis.  Here's a definition: 

If the diet is changed from a highly glycemic diet to a diet that does not substantially contribute to blood glucose, the body goes through a set of stages to enter ketosis. During the initial stages of this process the adult brain does not burn ketones, however the brain makes immediate use of this important substrate for lipid synthesis in the brain. After about 48 hours of this process, the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly utilize the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs, thus avoiding the depletion of the body's protein store in the muscles. If you're freezing cold it's a good bet you're right where you need to be after WLS.  I also think a lot of us (certainly me) had so much fat pre-op that being cold rarely happened.  So losing the fat results in a new experience, namely, freezing our asses off!  That part of it is not ketosis-based, it's perception based, and the cure will probably be long johns and warm clothes. One last word, I would make sure I was getting plenty of protein.  That might stoke the ol' furnace a bit.  Someone else will likely know more about that than I. I don't think you could go wrong with moving closer to the equator!

CB

AAAA I dont know about all that . Im over two years out and Im still FREEEEEZEN  my ass off .  But I live in Utah , and everbody here is freezing . I have about six feet of snow at my home , and Im running out of places to put it .  My place of employment  is at a higher elevation then my home and the snow is piling up there even faster . The parking lots are a mess . They have to hall off the snow in dump trucks . Yes everthing that has allready been said is true. You will get to a point to were you wont be cold ALL time . It will get better.    Nick 

I'm still freezing my buns off after a year and a half!!  Was thinking of going to AZ (for a few days), for spring training and just to warm up.  Brian

I thought I was the crazy person wearing the insulated hoodie indoors with the house temp set at 70.  I'd like it higer but my wife gets heat flashes--she feels more comfortable with me wearing more clothes rather than her walking around half naked. It really doesn't make much sense.  I'm usually in a room with a space heater, my hoodie, an afghan, a bed sheet and sometimes a quilt and I still get chills.  It's been over 2 years since my WLS.  When it gets really bad, I'll put on a winter coat, hat, and gloves. My PCP did lab work and said I had a vitamin D deficiency and he doubled my prescribed dosage--yeah, not OTC.  It seems to be working.  But, that may partly be because of the warm days we've had this week.  I know the problem does go away when it gets warmer outside and I don't have to rely on the heat cycling on and off in the house.  I'm thankful for that because I fear eventually being one of these men who wears a jacket when its 80 degrees outside.