cold hands and feet

[aef]

I have been on atripila for 3 years and am now taking clonzapam for sleep. I am cold all the time especially hands and feet. I have dropped from 205# to 163# in 8 months. I don't like to eat anymore cause I always feel sick afterwards,and always have severe diareahha even when I take imodiun. My labs are good dr has not been too concerned. Wondering if anyone else has had this going on? also under a lot of stress and trying to quit smoking,and trying to get enough exercise. Got the flu in november went through 2 rounds of antibiotics, still feel crappy. I would appreciate any feed back .

[Hellraiser]

Losing Weight, extreme sensitivity to cold weather especially cold hands and feet, and difficulty sleeping were all things  I was going through about 3 months ago, but my counts were very poor.

Just a question if you take a hot bath do your hands and feet tingle for a few minutes?

(This has stopped happening for me but it used to when my hands and feet were cold all the time)

[WillyWump]

Hi there Aef,

How long have you smoked? I have probs with cold hands and feet and my doc says its due to my smoking moreso than the meds. the nicotine constricts the tiny vessels in our hands and feet and can contribute to cold hands feet.

So this may be adding to any problems your getting from the meds in regards to cold hands/feet.

Here's to quitting!


-Will

[skeebo1969]

  I have been taking Atripla for about 4 years now.  Certain foods will cause me to have severe nausea.  Pork seems to trigger something and forget about BBQ because it really puts me down for the night.  I also experienced sleeping issues and started taking temazapan to help get me to sleep.  That lasted for about 3 weeks because the stuff quit working and the doctor wanted to increase the dosage, so now I take nothing.  If I get 5 hours of continuous sleep it's a good night.   I've tried antidepressants for depression and anxiety which I feel is being directly caused by the Atripla.  With my history of dysthymia I probably should have never started it, but I am one of those guys who thinks things won't affect him like it does others.

   The depression, of course has affected my appetite as well.  All this adds up to just making me a mess both physicall and mentally.  Because of all this and a few other things, I am giving up on Atripla.  While my numbers are great, my quality of life is not.  

   Just wanted to share my experience to perhaps give you some things to consider.

[BT65]

I tend to agree with Will about the cold hands and feet being a circulation issue.  When I don't have good blood flow, my hands and feet turn purple. 

Stress can cause a variety of problems, which you mentioned (diarrhea, appetite loss, weight loss).  Of course, I'm no doctor-if it's too bad, I'd have a serious talk with the doc, and see what (s)he says. 

[Inchlingblue]

Being more sensitive to cold is a symptom of hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels). I guess this is not exactly what you're saying if it's only limited to the hands and feet (which sounds like it could be more to do with circulation).

It still would not hurt to check your thyroid and make sure. Do you know if your thyroid levels are within the normal range? If you have a copy of your labs it would be the "TSH" level, which would be higher than normal if it's low thyroid. If you have not had this checked you can maybe ask your doctor to check it next time.

If it is due to poor circulation, which is also a possibility, then more exercise would help, something to get the blood flowing.

[tednlou2]

Are you on a blood pressure med?  They often cause cold hands and feet.