What the heck!  I am freezing ALL THE TIME this winter. I am sitting here at my laptop wearing a long down puffy coat zipped all the way up to my chin, wool pants, socks & Ugg slippers. But my hands and head are still freezing and my teeth are chattering. Everyone else is warm and toasty in the house - even though it's 20 degrees outside. I remember at a support group meeting last winter someone complaining that she just couldn't get warm since her surgery.  What causes this and is there anything I can do about it, short of moving to the Equator???

Welcome to the NFL of the 1st year after WLS! lol  Also, how are your iron and ferritin levels? If you get those is good shape, sometimes that helps with the cold feeling.

--gina

So Gina, does this happen to most people then? And does it get better after the first year? I will have to get my iron and ferritin levels checked.  What a contrast to last winter when I had a big layer of blubber to keep me warm AND I was always getting hot flashes! I think I prefer being too hot to this! It literally feels like the blood under my skin can't even warm up. Does that make you think it's my iron?
Thank you!

It happens to just about everyone. I read about the iron levels somewhere in the past 3 years...can't remember where now. Bundle up!

 Kathy - I am freezing too - but have not had surgery YET!  Lol.  I have always been cold during our MN winters - I mean teeth chattering  cold and everyone else in the house stares at me like I am crazy.   This was a question I have asked about as well - what will it be like after my surgery and I thin you are answering it!

I already sleep with an electric blanket that I turn on an hour before bed - mine is set at setting 4 of 10 - just enough to warm me up.  Will I crank it up to 6 or 7 post surgery.  My loving hubby does not turn his side of the blanket on (dual controls****il its -20 out then his might be set on 1!  As I type this I am sitting at my computer in a hooded sweatshirt, yoga pants, Ugg slippers (with sock on of course) and I have my electric throw "cuddler" that I am wrapped in.  Its set to medium and I am cold!
Do you have a hot-tub?  I sit in ours sometime till I am a prune.  But it's painfully cold to get out of!

I have always had low blood iron and take daily iron tablets - by Dr said I will need to increase after surgery.  I have a low thyroid which also can cause you to feel cold - do you have any thyroid issues?  Stay warm - have some protein laced hot chocolate!  I completely relate to you.....maybe we should head to the caribbean together for a few months!

Kim

Kim- How do you function in the MN winters like this year after year? All I want to do is make a fire and curl up in a ball under some blankets! I don't have a hot tub, but I don't think I would have the courage to get in and out of it - especially if it was outside like most people's here! I think I will have my iron and thyroid checked. Is there a reason why your Doc can't "fix" your thyroid and raise your iron so you don't feel so cold? What other side effects do you get from the thyroid issue and will it be ok after your surgery?
Do you have a date for your surgery yet?

You have lost 76.5 # of insulation. fat is an insulator. I am wearing jeans,socks a long sleeve undershirt and a big wooly sweater and I am ok...right  now,lol.

I have started sleeping in heavy flannel pj's at night. Now,mind you,this is the girl who has slept in nothing for her entire married life of 38 years. DH and I love our skin to skin time,but I can't do it anymore! I sleep so good in those flannel pjs and I make sure we get plenty of skin to skin time before we go to sleep.

Good luck and stay warm! When it gets really cold in TN for that one week out of the year,lol,I wear long underwear under my pants too.
Holly

Haha...while I was reading your reply I was looking at your profile picture and your expression completely matches what you were saying! 
Well, if you are that cold in Tennessee, then I'm in for a l-o-n-g winter of cold, here in the northern Tundra. I better get out my REI catalog and order myself some thermal long underwear!  With my hair so thinned out, I guess it's no wonder my head is even freezing!  I'll wear a hat in the house if I have to. This is ridiculous!

I have always been pretty sensitive to the cold, and it is definitely getting worse. I saw adult sized feetie pj's the night before my surgery and passed on buying them. Now I really kind of wish I would have bought them. Yes I would totally be sitting here in feetie pajamas right now.

Hahaha.  I bet they would look cute!