Always cold??

[Lisa74]

My gran who had vascular dementia is always cold.

She lives with us so we have the heating up at 21 celsius all day long but every evening she says she's absolutely freezing and puts the electric fire on at full. We are living in a sauna!! she is well-dressed and wears jumpers, warm slippers and thick trousers. She is now saying she will turn the fire on during the day... help!!

xx

 

[Butter]

Do you think she has low blood pressure? Or is she on warfarin - which thins the blood? Or is she simply unable to feel temperatures? In which case she might think warmth=comfort?

 

[Sue J]

Hi Lisa

I feel the cold a lot, it's as if my thermostat doesn't work. What helps me is to wear thermal leggings and vests as well as all my other layers. When sitting I also have a heated wheatbag which somehow helps as I don't like to have the heating up too high. I live alone so it doesn't affect anyone else but I don't think it's healthy to have it too high.
Maybe you've tried these things? but I sympathize.
Best wishes
Sue

 

[Nebiroth]

It seems to be quite a common problem in dementia. I think the part of the brain that controls body temperature goes wrong , either in the way it interprets signals from the nerves that indicate extermal temperature, or the internal regulation itself goes wrong. It's all controlled from within the brain and that's the part that dementia damages

Worth getting your gran checked out though - she could have a circulatory problem. Have you checked her hands and feet. If they are actually cold then your gran has a problem with her circulation, not enough blood is reaching her extemities.

Elderly people do feel the cold more - they have a thinner layer of protective fat to act as insulation, their muscles are smaller and they tend to be immobile so they don't generate heat that way - movement creates heat in muscles, improves heart action and pushes blood out to the extremities; that's why exercise makes you feel warm.

It is also absolutely true that women feel the cold more than men, despite a thicker lay of fat - they have more "cold sensor" nerves and are more sensitive to cold.

You need to be careful with the fire - if your gran's hands and feet are numb and cold due to circulation she could burn herself quite badly without realising it. Also keep an eye out for chillblains. My grandmother always felt the cold and would roast her feet as close as possible to the bars of an electric fire unless we stopped her. Several times she almost set fire to her slippers and boots but she could not feel it. She did get chillblains too.

People who suffer from extremes of lack of circulation to their hands and feet may have Reynauds - there are two forms, both have the same symptoms, which is a sudden shutting off of blood supply. This is a normal response to cold, but in Reynaud's it is very exaggerated and provoked by slight drops in temperature, or even stress. Reynaud's Disease is where the person has just the symptom but with no known cause; Reynaud's Syndrome happens where there is an underlying disease that causes it.

An electrically heated footwarmer may be better than the fire. They use a gentler, constant heat and it is almost impossible to burn oneself with it.

But I'd suggest a checkup by her GP - it;s easy to dismiss something as the dementia, and whilst it is the likely culprit there are other causes that need to be eliminated.

 

[Katrine]

I am the Hot Water Bottle Princess, daughter of the Hot Water Bottle Queen. My mum has a bottle by her side in her chair, under a rug. All the time, winter and summer. Hot water bottle in the car in the winter. Bottle in bed at night, new one first thing in the morning, new one for afternoon rest. I buy PVC bottles for her because they last longer than rubber ones. I replace them once a year, buying online from, where else, Love Hot Water Bottles! http://www.lovehotwaterbottles.com/

I have a hot water bottle in my bed all winter and on cooler summer nights, and one in the small of my back in my chair from October to April. I even take one on holiday to hotter countries in case we have a cool day or cold night. I am not yet of an age where I feel the cold more than other people, but once I do get chilled I seem to shut down, with aching muscles and a loss of energy.

I don't enjoy being in an overheated room, and cannot sleep in a hot bedroom, so I like a moderate ambient temperature and cool air to breathe, I just have to ensure that my body doesn't get cold. I think it is unhealthy to be in a sauna-like atmosphere - surely germs multiply in hot stuffy air? Or am I just showing that I was put outside in my pram from 2 weeks old (snowy January) because fresh air was good for me!

 

[jaymor]

My husband never owned a scarf or a pair of gloves and wore a sweatshirt and sleeveless jacket every day for work. As his alzheimers progressed he wore gloves and scarf and a thick jacket and would have a rug over his knees in the car whilst I drove in a tea shirt. We must have looked a really funny couple when parked next to someone at the traffic lights. He then had a cap to wear as well. He had a rug over his knees at night too and would always have his hands under the rug. He now walks around in short sleeve shirts in the nursing home and rarely has a jumper or sweatshirt on. So for us it looks like one more of the phases he went through on his journey with alzheimers.

Jay

 

[Witzend]

Would something like this help?

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...=2TN3UPb8PKbA0QWl3YCYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEoQ8wIwAA

Usually thought of in connection with aches and pains, but really like a mini-electric blanket with a cosy, fleecy cover.

 

[madala]

Hot water bottles are brilliant my wife loved them she would have a covered one on each knee she had always felt the cold. The other thing she loved was her fleece blankets which were wrapped around her shoulders and legs she was very happy ,warm and contented like that . Hope you are able to find an answer

Madala

 

[Lisa74]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone.

She refuses to wear her thermals and often doesn't want a blanket, although occasionally she agrees to use one.

She often comes up to me and puts her hand on mine to show me how cold she is BUT her hand doesn't feel cold so I think it's more to do with her thermo-regulatory system and perception of heat than anything else. She does have cold feet quite a lot.

I'd like to get her a foot warmer because she loves her heated blanket but my Mum thinks Gran might get up without realising she has both feet in the foot warmer and fall over- do you think this is likely??

Witzend- is the electric heater designed to go underneath the person or is it a cover?

xx

 

[small]

My husband is only 64 and since his AD started he can't keep warm. However he is also intensely rebellious and refuses to wear extra clothes in the house- quite often refusing to change out of tee shirt and shorts.
He insists the heating is on virtually 24 hours a day even in summer! He refuses to go to bed , so sleeps on the couch with no covers and needs the heating on all night, sometimes with gas fir also!
Its a total nightmare I wake up sweating , the house is like a sauna so I keep sneaking to turn off the heating, but as soon as he wakes up cold he turns it back. I wish I could put a lock on the boiler. Our bills are horrendous.

Jackie

 

[2TT charlie]

When I moved in with my father, I googled for an acceptible ambient temperature for older people (he's 92) and now the house thermostat is set at 24 with the heating permanently on, keeping it around there in most rooms. In contrast I spend most of the day in a T-shirt. But in addition to this, he wears a wool jumper every day, has a hot water bottle most of the time and usually 2 rugs over his lap when he's sitting in a chair. We recently saw a podiatrist and she found good strong pulses in his feet, so his circulation is fine, he just feels cold a lot of the time because he's sitting still and not generating his own heat.

Personally, in my own house, I spent a lot of time sitting at my computer and with the heating off or turned low, to reduce costs. In winter I resorted to sitting in a sleeping bag pulled up to my waist - very warm! I also have duvets for my feet - down-filled slippers! From the Tog 24 shop iirc. There are all sorts of microwaveable products, including teddy bears filled with wheat (google beddy bears) which might be more acceptable than a standard hot water bottle.

Basically I'd say have a look round alternative heating options. A halogen heater would give her directional heat and warm light without adding so much to the ambient temperature where an oil-filled radiator stood by her chair might give cheaper warmth.

 

[Witzend]

Witzend- is the electric heater designed to go underneath the person or is it a cover?

xx

It's really for applying to aches and pains, but you could have it on your lap, or tucked behind you, or sit on it, I should think! Or have it over your legs. It's be pretty flexible and a reasonable size (see the link)

We recently passed an old one that had belonged to OH's old aunt to a cat rescue, for the old/sick cats to curl up on!
Should have kept it for you, shouldn't I?

 

[iamjanx]

my mum is the same, she is 96 and is always cold, i think its because she sits in her chair and never moves, but i think the microwave hot water bottles are great

i have my heating on too, but mum also has a blanket over her all the time

think its age and lack of movement

 

[sotty]

Hi. It's not only an age issue as my husband is only 60 and still fairly mobile, walking around most of the day - albeit slowly. He is in the later stages of dementia and is always very cold. The house temperature is 21/22 degrees, he wears warms trousers, a thermal vest, long sleeved rugby shirt and warm fleece on top but his extremeties are still extremely cold. He doesn't seem to feel the cold, but his Carers and I do all we can to try and warm him, but with little effect.

His GP says this is due to the deterioration of his EOAD, and as temperature is controlled by the brain there is nothing he can do to help. I'm dreading the winter as even with the heating on now he is cold, so goodness knows what it will be like when the cold weather sets in.

He is extremely thin, so perhaps having no fat reserves is a contributing factor? If only we could do a fat transplant as I have plenty to spare.