What Causes Warm or Cold Extremities?

What Causes Warm Or Cold Extremities?

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

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose warm or cold extremities, 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 "warm or cold extremities" as a symptom. Here are eight possibilities:

Hypothyroidism
Mercury Toxicity
Stress
Poor Circulation
Raynaud's Phenomenon
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia
Low Progesterone
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:

multiple swollen cervical nodes

normal work hours

an average-stress lifestyle

major swelling at front of neck

hyperthyroidism in family members

gums that bleed easily

moving white lines across nails

yellow/yellowish fingernails

cysts in breasts

severe mercury toxicity

slow reaction time

very great unexplained weight gain

... and more than 210 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of warm or cold extremities:

Cause	Probability	Status
Hypothyroidism	97%	Confirm
Low Progesterone	16%	Unlikely
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia	14%	Unlikely
Adrenal Fatigue	1%	Ruled out
Raynaud's Phenomenon	1%	Ruled out
Stress	0%	Ruled out
Mercury Toxicity	0%	Ruled out
Poor Circulation	0%	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 Metabolic Symptoms section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about warm/cold hands and feet:

How warm or cold do your hands and feet tend to be? Consider when you shake hands with other people: do their hands usually feel warm (meaning your hands are colder) or cold (your hands are warmer)?

Possible responses:

→ Usually or always cold
→ Colder than average
→ Average / don't know
→ Warmer than average
→ Usually or always warm

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate either cold hands and/or feet or warm hands and/or feet, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

Chronic Fatigue / Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Raynaud's phenomenon (severe cold hands and feet) affects about 16% of fibromyalgia sufferers.

Hypothyroidism

Low Adrenal Function / Adrenal Insufficiency

Mercury Toxicity (Amalgam Illness)

Poor Circulation

In cases of peripheral vascular disease, the arteries narrow and there is a marked reduction of blood flow especially to the fingers and toes.

Progesterone Low or Estrogen Dominance

Cold hands and feet, often caused by low thyroid function, may be a symptom of estrogen excess or low progesterone influencing thyroid function.

Raynaud's Phenomenon

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