Looking for explanations…

Thought. I have always run warm. I do feel the cold, but not as much as most people. I hate (detest?) overheated department stores. This got worse with the onset of perimenopause, & I was unable to wear jumpers for years, because I couldn’t get them off quickly enough during hot flushes, which threatened spontaneous combustion. This settled somewhat after finally going on HRT.

I’ve noticed a change since going on ADHD meds. I now wear winter pjs on a “cool” summers night, & a nightie on warmer ones & am more likely to don a jacket of an evening.

I’m wondering whether this is a consequence of the meds, & overheating is related to ADHD. #ADHD #ActuallyAutistic @actuallyautistic #Menopause #HotFlushes #WomensHealth

Dec 19, 2023 at 10:07pmWeb
Show threadJude🇵🇸Dec 19, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic Interesting observation. Since those bloody flushes (long since finished) my body has never been the same. Cannot stand hot weather, overheated indoor spaces etc.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 21, 2023

@sister_ratched @actuallyautistic

A bung thermostat is a very annoying thing.

Show threadJude🇵🇸Dec 21, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic Absolutely! 🤣
Show threadolenaDec 19, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic both me and my kid have AuDHD and are overheating especially easy when moving. I usually wear one layer less than people around. I always take off a layer or two in a mall. At +5C, I leave a house wearing a thick cardigan over silky office shirt. After walking for about a kilometer, I undo the buttons. In a km more, I take it off. But not the thin gloves. My hands and feet are almost always cold. My normal body temperature is below 36C.
Show threadolenaDec 19, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic I know that for most people it’s about the hormones, but I don’t think it’s limited to them: I’ve been taking the pill for most of my life, but I’ve been overheating since childhood, as well as my kid (oh those terrified glances and comments from grandparents and strangers!). We’re joking that we’re just Pratchett’s trolls
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 21, 2023
@olena @actuallyautistic
No, I don’t think it’s just about the hormones either. Or if vyvanse interacts with hormones. (Which it might do. I wonder if it was tested on people of all ages & genders?)
Show threadLord Caramac the Clueless, KSCDec 19, 2023

@olena @Susan60 @actuallyautistic I'm probably AuDHD (never officially diagnosed), but I am quite heat resistant, and I hate the cold. I usually wear more and thicker clothes than the people around me, and I spend most of my time in the cold half of the year indoors in rooms heated to at least 20°C. When temperatures rise a tiny bit above 30°C during a heatwave and people around me start to complain, I just relax and enjoy.

Edit: As I've never been diagnosed, I have also never been on any kind of ADHD medication.

Show threadolenaDec 19, 2023
@LordCaramac @Susan60 @actuallyautistic btw, as for ‘natural’ heat: I used to live in a cold humid climate, and for me tolerate temperatures above +25 was already hard. Now I live in a dry hot sunny place, and for some reason I not just tolerate local 35+ three months a year, but actually enjoy it. Just not indoors. Indoors should be cool.
Show threadLord Caramac the Clueless, KSCDec 19, 2023
@olena @Susan60 @actuallyautistic I live right in the middle of what used to be West Germany before reunification. Temperate weather, rarely very cold or very hot. Most of the time between October and April I find the weather outside too cold for my taste though.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 20, 2023

@LordCaramac @olena @actuallyautistic

Our winter temps very rarely drop to 0Celsius, & I don’t mind the cold, & can tolerate dry heat. It’s the contrast between indoor & outdoor temps that I can’t handle. Over heated in winter with people dressed lightly, & so cool in summer that they need a jacket.

Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 20, 2023
@olena @LordCaramac @actuallyautistic
Same here. Humidity is hard even if it’s not particularly warm.
Show threadolenaDec 19, 2023
@LordCaramac @Susan60 @actuallyautistic I actually have a hypothesis that probably ADHD temperature regulation troubles may be the direct result of issues with hypothalamus: some studies have shown the link between that brain part and ADHD, and this is precisely the zone responsible for temperature regulation among other things
Show threadLord Caramac the Clueless, KSCDec 19, 2023
@olena @Susan60 @actuallyautistic We definitely need more research on that. I have always had cold hands and feet, my body doesn't know how to keep itself warm, despite burning through a lot of food. I've gained a little weight after I hit 40, before that I was so skinny that people often thought I was anorexic, but in fact I have always been eating and snacking more than even most fat people I know.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 20, 2023

@LordCaramac @olena @actuallyautistic
I was a "bottomless pit" as a kid, but thought nothing of it because I was so tall, and while I definitely wasn't sporty, I was fairly active.

And after childbirth, I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight very quickly (which made me the cause of envy), and struggled (and failed) to maintain a good weight while breastfeeding. I made drinks with soy milk, an egg, banana, some oats, honey, and protein powder in an effort to not fade away. The same thing happened the second time around, but it was less pronounced.

I no longer experience hunger, just feel irritable or a bit sick if I haven’t eaten enough, & am less likely to snack for pleasure or eat too large a meal when on ADHD meds (which has actually been a good thing, but I need to watch that I do eat lunch.)

In short, I think the interplay between ADHD, temperature regulation & metabolism definitely needs a look!

Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 21, 2023
@LordCaramac @olena @actuallyautistic Hmmm. Interesting. A tiny bit over 30 isn’t a heatwave here. It’s not unusual to get to 35 or 36, with the worst heatwaves including a day or 2 over 40. Not usually too humid in Melbourne fortunately.
Show threadKit MuseDec 19, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic Interesting. I always blamed my bad temperature regulation on my fibromyalgia, but my hands and feet are cold and within the past few years, if my hands get cold doing farm chores, then they HURT SO BADLY like stabby hurt. I keep the heat down and especially in my office cabin, on days like today (45ish) if I get cool and stay cool then I get stomach aches. I can't do heat at all anymore, but too cold is not good either. I'm like an M class planet, I guess.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 20, 2023
@KitMuse @actuallyautistic
How long have you had fibro? And I’m starting to wonder what the rate of comorbidities of fibro & ND is. A faulty thermostat is a pain. Literally.
Show threadKit MuseDec 20, 2023
@Susan60 @actuallyautistic I was diagnosed with fibro around 2003 when a work incident left me with 2 weeks of stress-induced hives and horrible pain. What I know now twenty years later, is I suspect my fibro is caused by the sensory hell of living as an un-dx'd/un-supported AuDHDer all my life. None of the "big 3" fibro drugs ever worked for me, and the more I talk with ND ppl w/ fibro the more I think it comes from sensory overwhelm/overload in some cases.
Show threadthe Amygdalai LamaDec 20, 2023
@KitMuse @Susan60 @actuallyautistic
there is a person on Twitter, Tania . . . darn, I'll get it next time I check in there - from South Africa, who talks a lot about how sensory overload is a medical condition and treatable, to a degree, that there's a lot about mineral depletion and supplementation - I mean, they're Autistic AF, this isn't anti-Autism stuff, it's very pro, the point being that many of these issues, once the doctors decide they are Autism, they stop worrying about treatments and quality of life. Tania M, ends in "chuk," or "chiuk," maybe?
Find her, she wants to help you.
❤️
Show thread Pixy's Journey Dec 20, 2023
@Susan60
Before I got fibro, I was always warm. Except for hands, feet and lips in winter as I have Raynauds.
But since the fibro I do feel the cold sooner and find it harder to warm up. Still, 18 degrees in winter (in the home) I wear a sweater, 18 degrees in summer, I wear a t-shirt.
Haven't been on adhd meds very long so don't know yet if they will make a difference in winter and summer. 😊
@actuallyautistic
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 20, 2023

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic

Mmmm. Thanks for the reply. I know someone who might have fibro, so that’s something to watch out for. I hope the ADHD meds help & don’t aggravate anything else.

Show thread Pixy's Journey Dec 21, 2023
@Susan60
You're very welcome 🌸
Yeah fibro can make some changes in one's life for sure...
I've been on the meds since September, so far no weird side effects.
Good luck 🍀
@actuallyautistic
Show threadLooking for explanations…Dec 21, 2023

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic

Glad no unwanted side effects.