Insensitivity to cold?

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I'm not sure he actually does "feel" the heat though. He only seems to know that in hotter summer weather he feels sick, but only mostly out in the sun. He can spend long hours in his room, with the shade drawn, and insist that it isn't hot, when I feel it is unbearably hot. Yet after long periods in his room under those conditions too, he appears very lethargic.

With heat, he seems to notice it only after it's already started to affect him in other more serious ways, such as dehydration, feeling sick to his stomach when outside in the sun, or after being in his room at around 90 degrees or more for hours, lethargic, but insists that it isn't the heat, and that it doesn't feel hot to him.

It's like he can sense the radiant heat from the sun, and so recognizes that is affecting him, but doesn't feel it inside. When it's really cold, he just insists it isn't cold at all. Cold, for me, doesn't affect me that much either, in the sense that it doesn't make me feel sick. It's numbing and that's a lot easier to "handle" than the affects of heat, because I don't actually feel it.

I'm already getting him and his brothers set up for full blown physical and psychological evaluations for other reasons, so I will bring this up during that process. I do think it could be a serious enough issue to be aware of. If he does have a real neurological problem with sensing temperatures, it probably isn't a problem so long as he's never far from environments with regulated temps, but if he's ever caught in a blizzard (not out of the realm of possibility where we live), and because he isn't sensing the danger his body is in, that could very well kill him or at the very least cause permanent damage. If he is tested for this, and learns about it, he's more likely to accept it himself and take steps to prevent it.

@aspie-rant:

It is possible, I know, that maybe he can regulate in the cold better than others. My grandfather was well known for going out in -20 (f) degree weather shirtless for hours working in his yard. He was a Finn, but also quite large (tall and in girth too), so he had a lot of natural insulation to help. My son is pretty thin, and only 1/8 Finn. I don't think I've ever even seen him shiver, but although that can be a sign that he really isn't cold, it can also be a sign of a very serious problem. Shivering is the body's normal way of generating heat in the cold.

But we are all different, I know. I would just like to know if my son's body really is dealing well with cold, or if he's just not feeling and recognizing the danger. Testing is the only way I'll ever really know for sure I think.

I'm pretty insensitive to cold, but very sensitive to heat. In my case it is related to my being hypothyroid -- as I've begun to get my hormone levels up and heal, I notice cold more normally

Duh.

Thyroid problems run in his mother's family. She just recently brought that up with me about some other problems he's been having related to trouble getting started in the mornings. Possibly blood sugar problems too. He never seems to eat enough protein. Symtoms very similar to his grandmother, who does have a thyroid condition.

Never occurred to me this could be related to that.

I can confirm aspi-rants statement from the opposite, for me heat is not really existing, while cold begins at 22° C.

But i must contradict that it seems not to be a misunderstatement about how i "feel" temperature, but the body metabolism seems to be different, and my feelings regarding to it are correct.

Like aspi-rant seems to have a "hotter" metabolism, allowing his body to really physically whithstand cold much better then normal people for me its the opposit.

I was also concerned about, that i am just feeling the temperature wrong and in reality my body was overheating or else. But my physical body reactions are abolutely conform with my feelings. I am not only feeling cold at 20°C, but also is my body starting survival reactions like Muscles Trembling, reduction of blood circulation in my arms and legs to to save heat in my core body and so on. This are not body reactions you could do by will or are connected with your skin sensing cold, your body itself is doing it when the core temeperature of your body gets too low. You might think this is impossible at 20°, but the core temperature of your body is around 37°. So I do not know why my body fails to produce that little heat difference on its own, when it seems to be no problem to other people, but i swear at the wool sweaters i need to wear the most time of the year, its as I say.

The same goes with overheat. At about 30° i can wear normal T-Shirts without freezing and once every year i have to search for the air conditioning remote of my office, because the yearly maintenance technician needs it to check if its still working. In seven years i havn´t used it on my own a single time, with temperatures up to 38,5° in summer. My office colleagues, who did not believe in the first placet that i am not feeling hot, had to admit that i am not even sweating. No red face, no sweat, nothing during a complete working day, in the opposite i feel powered up by not freezing all day. I also was afraid, that i am just feeling wrong and my body would be overheating in reality, but fever gauge confirmed that everything is ok, even when doing outdoor sports at 35°. My metabolism seems to be so low, that friends of mine are regarding that I am a cold blooded species. ^^

According to my low metabolism the only problem i have are fast cold/warm changes. As a child i fell unconscious three times when i was doing shopping with my parents/friends of mine. (I dont know how the word is englisch, so its not a mall, but a normal street, but in every house there is a shop in it. So when shopping in this street, you are frequently changing from outside to inside, when you are walking from shop to shop.) There were no bigger problems about the unconscious, just about 1 minute until i woke up back again and later a doctor told me, that my body preotected my brain because my low metabolism wasnt able any more to pump enough blood vertically against gravity in my brain as long as i was standing, so my body decided i should lie down a little bit, so my metabolsim can pump my blood vertically with less effort. ^^ Now i actually know how it feels if that problem is upcoming (some sort of dizzyness) so it didnt happen anymore, because if i feel that my metabolism is getting in troubles again i give him time out to rest a bit.

From that point, i think you should be lucky if your son has the opposite metabolism problem. As a parent i would see, that your son is taking some outer garments with him (in a bag or rucksack) if he goes outside, but i would leave it to him, if he wants to wear it. You could ask him from time to time if he maybe feels cold or hot, but i would relie on his statements. Or check his body reactions, so if his lips or fingers are getting blue, or his muscles are trembling its a sign that his body is feeling cold.

I could literally go outside below freezing with shorts and a t-shirt on a be completely normal. I guess I generate too much body heat, because my preferences lie with colder weather. I rarely ever wear a jacket.

I dont feel cold till its bellow freezing. I wear short sleeved shirts all year round. I also hate heat anything over 70f and I feel like im melting

Insensitivity to the cold? I'm quite the opposite - I'm hypersensitive to the cold. And I don't know why because I eat well. My hands and feet get cold the most, even if the rest of my body is warm. I began wearing a scarf as soon as the daytime temperature teached somewhat around 16 celcius.

Some people have higher natural body temperatures than others. For example, men generally have a higher body temperature to women, and so women feel the cold more than men do. Of course, it varies within individuals as well.

When I was a child relatives would observe that I never got cold even in cold weather (I don't mean whether I was feeling cold or or not - I mean that my body was always warm to the touch). My grandmother in particular noted this often because she was someone whose body extremities often got cold - hands, feet, nose - and she would want me to sit with her to warm her up! As an adult, I also don't feel cold easily. However, I am extremely sensitive to heat. Thankfully, I live in a relatively cool country (UK) but I still cannot stand hot summer days to the extent that I will display symptoms of illness due to the heat.

I would suggest that, when you are in an environment you consider to be cold and your son doesn't, that you actually try feeling his body temperature, if he will allow you to do so. If he has icy cold hands and arms and doesn't seem to feel it, that suggests there is a problem that might be worth medical attention. If his body is warm or neutral, then he's perfectly correct to say that he's not cold, because he isn't - his body is perfectly happy with the current temperature and just has a higher tolerance to cold than others.

If I pose any sort of example in this case... I'd like to note: when it comes to temperature tolerance, I have both a narrower range and a lower baseline than most people, from what I can tell.

To put it simply: I'm more comfortable in cold environments than most folk I know... but if it gets cold enough then it rapidly bypasses my resistance and actually becomes worse for me.
Needless to say I'm intolerant of heat... especially in humid environments like I presently am stuck living in. Heat and humidity leads to sweat... which is the bane of my existence, as I hate the sensation of moisture on my skin. Cold generally means being dry, which suits me just fine.

When I was little I was rolling up my sleeves being outside in the winter and I was frozen blue my mother told me, but I did not feel the cold but I had strong sensivity to clothes and that is why I was rolling up my sleeves.
This lasted up until my teenage-years, but as I was severly underweighted it changed that I started to feel cold and now I do not like cold anymore, but I stll have textile sensory issuses, so I scratch my arms and shoulders and legs the whole time.
I have now hyposensivity to warmth and I often burn my mouth from hot tea, because I do not feel it so well that it is hot.
I also burnt a couple times my back sitting in front of a hot gas-radiator and not sensing the heat.
The heating I have now is regulated and I can sit in front of it without getting burnt.
I do not remember if I had this hyposensitivity when I was a child.

I don't really "feel" cold, either...it annoys me so much when I'm about to go outside, and everyone's all like, "Oh nooo go put a jacket on it's soooo cold you're gonna get sick meh meh meh" and so I go all the way back up to my room (which is on the 3rd floor), throw a sweater on, and then I go outside and I'm roasting after 5 minutes. The way my body interprets "warm and cold" and the way everyone else interprets "warm and cold" must be two different things.

I actually relish cool temperatures...I tend to get lethargic and even get headaches when it's really hot or humid.

My mom actually used to call me a "little polar bear" or a "walrus" when I was a little kid.

My mother called me "son of dracula". I'm not sure whether she was referencing my father or just didn't think her comment through. Possibly both.

It's very simple:

1. He's probably not wearing much since he's only comfortable in certain materials. Work with the materials with textures he like and he'll be ok.
2. We are on either extreme for sensations - too much or too little. For example, I like have too little when it comes to audio things, so and excessive amount of it is preferred. But, with cold, I'm extra sensitive. He's probably undersensitive with heat, but might be extra sensitive, say for light. It's just how the condition works. Anyway, the texture thing should solve your problems. This is more of an explanation than anything.

I'm never cold. Where I attended University, in the winters, it could easily be -26 degrees Fahrenheit and I'd still be outside in my shorts/pants and T-shirt. I also have a higher than usual body temperature and an inability to adequately regulate it, so that is also a factor.

I think that's my deal, too - that I have a higher body temp.

I certainly am not insensitive to cold, but I notice that I definitely have unusual reactions to the cold. First off, I HATE being cold. I love hot weather. The only time I get sensory issues in hot weather is when I'm sweating a lot (because that's wet, and I hate being wet) or when I'm extremely thirsty. But I can cool down easily when I'm hot. Not so for warming up when cold.

Anyway, I've noticed in the last couple of years that, when I'M complaining about the cold and shivering, nobody else around me seems to mind. But when I run outside without a coat on and just think the air is brisk/chilly but not cold, everyone else is all bundled up and shivering. I guess different types of cold affect me differently, and I do think that when I AM cold, it's in a hypersensitive way where I'm definitely feeling colder and more affected than others.

And speaking of body temperatures, that very well may have something to do with it for me, too. All my life, I rarely get fevers (if I get a fever, I'm REALLY sick), and my everyday body temperature usually is 97 degrees, not 98. And a "fever" for me is 99.9+ degrees. Even when I do get a fever, it's usually only 99 or 100 degrees. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've had a fever higher than 101.