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Do you struggle with hot or cold flashes?
I’ve heard of people with Parkinson’s struggling to regulate body temperature. But it doesn’t seem to happen with everyone. Do you struggle with hot or cold flashes? Does it happen often, if so?
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21 Replies
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Hi, no, no problems with that thus far.
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Yes, it’s like menopause all over again. Sometimes at night while sleeping I get severe shivering that’s so bad it’s painful. Doctors just look at me like I’m nuts.
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Yes! I thought I was going crazy. I’ve never been overly sensitive to hot weather. In fact it has been a problem in the past because I wouldn’t realize I was overheating and I’ve gotten sick a couple of times in the far past. Now I can’t tolerate temperatures that a few years ago would have been just fine. Plus I am really having trouble with cold. I get cold so easily and suffer from air conditioning freeze when I am in public spaces. At night I seem to vacillate between too hot and too cold. There is never a “just right”.
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Karla’s reply pretty much mirrors my own experience. Sometimes I get so hot I want to scream. Then I put on the air conditioning and freeze. I get so cold that I find it painful to undress to take a shower. I shiver in the shower for at least ten minutes as I stand under the flowing hot water. I continually vacillate from too hot to too cold and back again. There’s rarely a “just right” temperature for me.
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Yes I struggle with hot flashes as well as feeling so uneasy in the heat. It also makes me feel weak. I just have to sit down. I am also sensitive to cold and also don’t like waiting for the shower to get hot. It’s like that Goldilocks syndrome where it needs to be just right. I also noticed when I feel weak my blood pressure drops a lot. So frustrating!
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Yes, but not very often. I’ve always been very hot natured but the hot flashes are very intense. They feel like when you open the oven door when it’s set on 500.
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Even though I live in a warm climate in Australia, I’ve had trouble keeping warm at times especially at night. I’ve been piling on the blankets whilst my menopausal wife has been burning up.
I recently read some articles describing how PD patients with REM sleep behavior disorder had a greater drop in night time core body temperature than controls, likely related to decay in the brain stem structures that control these things. I showed these to my wife and she bought me an electric blanket for my side of the bed; which has helped a lot !
David Blacker
Neurologist with PD
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Yes I struggle with hot flushes I’m 70 and never had menapausal symptoms earlier in life I have raynauds also so one min I’m freezing next I’m burning up
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Rona, I’m right there with you. I, too, have Raynaud’s and can totally relate to what you’re experiencing — freezing one minute and burning up the next. I wonder how many people with PD have Raynaud’s. When the MDS asks if I have numbing or tingling, I don’t know what to say because it’s really because of the Raynaud’s, not PD. Do your hands/fingers and toes/feet turn weird colors? If so, do they turn white when you press them and then red/purple again when you let go?
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Yes. It just started a week or so ago. No cold flashes thought…as of yet.
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I never had hot flashes with menopause, but at age 71 I’m having terrible hot flashes! The least little exertion and I’m sweating like crazy! I did not attribute them to Parkinson’s symptoms until I saw this question!
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Yes I moved from Santa Cruz pre-Parky to Sacramento to be near my grandchildren. The triple digit summers are ? sweltering. However I have re-discovered popsicles. And. I thank the Lord for A/C!
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My husband who is stage 1-2 struggles with profuse sweating of his trunk, shoulders and inner arms. This usually happens when the temperature is in the 50’s or when he is in a cold air conditioned room. While he is sweating he is chilled and can’t get warm. He often has to change shirts two or three times a day. Does anyone else have this? Has anyone found a way to stop/treat it?
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Yes I do struggle with hot and cold flashes. And yes, this difficulty with temperature regulation is part of PD. My hands get so cold that the track pad on my computer does not recognize my touch. Every where I go I carry a tank top to change into if I get too hot and a pashmina to wrap myself in if I get too cold.
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My wife does. She is sweating when the room temp is 65 degrees. Her docs do not think she is crazy since it is well known that the sympathetic nervous system that governs relaxation or constriction of small blood vessels in response to ambient temperatures are also affected by PD. We just adjust our clothing.
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my wife has been struggling with hot and cold spells for the last year she’s only 50. we thought it was her meds
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Yup same here. One minute I have my hoody on and another minute I’m peeling it off. During the summer I sweat so much that my head becomes slimy and gross feeling, and my glasses steam up. This never occurred before I had PD.
I went for an autonomic nerve test for my low BP, and it was discovered that my response to temperature changes is very slow which explains why we freeze or fry.
I too have Renaud’s. My grandfather who had Parkinson Disease also had it and so did my mom. Living in a cold climate means my hands turn yellow and my feet freeze. The response is the same in the supermarket where I also freeze to death even in the summertime. When I go to the store now, I put on a sweatshirt or sweater even during the summer months. People look at me like I have three heads when I walk in the store when it’s 98 F (37 C), but I don’t care.
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So glad I saw this post! I have trouble with temperature regulation daily. Going to bed I have to wear multiple layers (flannel shirt, fleece vest, fleece jacket) as if not I start cooling down rapidly. Sometimes later I overheat and have to get rid of all the excess clothing but often I wear it all night. Some days mild exertion has me sweating profusely & other days I am fine. When walking for exercise I often I don’t feel hot until my body starts sweating profusely and then I am really overheated. Other times I don’t realize I need to put on a fleece vest or jacket until I am suddenly very chilled. Generally after every meal I sweat a lot. I am very used to always wearing layers of clothing.
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“I often I don’t feel hot until my body starts sweating profusely and then I am really overheated.” Yes, well said and sums it all up perfectly.
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People think I’m crazy because I get so cold it’s painful. No one has ever connected with me on this. Why can’t warm treatments be covered by insurance like saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, hot yoga, heated accessories like seat cushions, chairs, shoes, what can help improve circulation so the pain doesn’t stop you from exercising? When I can’t warm up I can’t function. My dystonia managed to take over and I’m usually begging for something to give me relief. I walk around with an electric blanket, have heating pads I put. In the microwave and have a heated chair for outdoor activities. Does anyone have this experience? What do you do for your hands and feet?
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Yes, I get the hot flushes from the slightest exertion and sweat profusely. Before PD I used to always be a cold frog and the heat never worried me but now with the hot flushes that’s all changed. I never had hot flushes during menopause. They seem to burn from inside my body and do not pass quickly. If the weather is cold, I can be on fire inside but cold with goosebumps on the outside. Couldn’t live without my a/c.
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