What Causes Cold Intolerance?

Cold intolerance can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'minor' to 'very serious'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose cold intolerance, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "cold intolerance" as a symptom. Here are six possibilities:

High Histamine
Epstein-Barr Virus
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Hypothyroidism
Iron Deficiency Anemia
Adrenal Fatigue

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

strong sexual desire

increased emotional instability

acne worse during period

very low ferritin levels

frequent rashes

frequent unexplained fevers

much reduced sense of smell

having hard stools

possible swelling at front of neck

slender fingers and toes

poor reaction to cool damp weather

seasonal affective disorder

... and more than 130 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of cold intolerance:

Cause	Probability	Status
Epstein-Barr Virus	97%	Confirm
Iron Deficiency Anemia	59%	Possible
Hypothyroidism	14%	Unlikely
Adrenal Fatigue	2%	Ruled out
Seasonal Affective Disorder	2%	Ruled out
High Histamine	1%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

In the Environmental Risk Factors section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about your reaction to cold temperatures:

How does cold weather affect you in general?

Possible responses:

→ I can't take the cold well
→ It makes little difference / I'm fine / don't know
→ I enjoy cold weather, find it invigorating

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate either poor cold weather tolerance or good cold weather tolerance, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)

Histadelia (Histamine High)

Hypothyroidism

Iron Deficiency Anemia

Low Adrenal Function / Adrenal Insufficiency

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

... and also rule out issues such as:

Histadelia (Histamine High)

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)