Body adjusting to colder temperatures

[arcticlobo]

So, I have been thinking about this a couple of days, and was hoping perhaps Dr. nase could provide some input, as well as everyone else.

I remember a few weeks ago I used a fan on my face for about 5 days straight. My body became dependent on the fan, so if it was off of me for more than 5 minutes I would get a bad flush. Dr. nase mentioned that your body adjust to the fan, sort of like you become addicted toa drug.

Anyway, I wonder if the same thing happens to just being in a cool environment. We all spend so much time in a cool, controlled environment that perhaps our bodies adjust to this environment. So when we venture outside our climate controlled world (perhaps trying to get a small portion of our life back) we experience flushing in any environment which is slightly warm. So what if instead of hanging out in 64 degree rooms, we spend a majority of out time in 76 degree rooms? many of us would flush the first day for sure. But if we stayed at this temperature long enough, would the body adjust to the 76 degree temps?

I mean, the flushing occurs becasue the body is trying to cool itself off. Since we spend so much time in cool rooms, it is used to keeping our body at a temperature in that range. But if we spend so much time in the warmer environment, wouldn't the body adjust to this temperature and as such flush less in warmer environments?

I actually have no idea if this is accurate, but I am just curious. Any opinions?

[irishgenes]

Interesting, but I'll let you be the first to try it! I don't sweat much, so the summer is miserable for me and makes me very fatigued as well as red-faced. I love autumn, and even winter is better than summer. I wonder if rosacea was just as common in the days before air conditioning. I tend to think so, as rhinophyma has been depicted in paintings throughout history. W.C. Fields didn't enjoy air conditioning, either.

[irishgenes]

I posted something recently in the "Similar & Co-existing Conditions" section under the "Raynaud's People" thread. Well, that section is rarely looked at by anyone, so I am going to repost it here. By increasing basal metabolism with 7-Keto, Raynaud's has been helped. Now I am thinking that by increasing the body's setpoint temperature, those of us with rosacea may get used to a higher internal temperature and flush less. If it works for Raynaud's, which is a blanching & numbing of the fingertips under conditions of cold, there is a possibility that it would help normalize blood vessel reactions to both heat and cold. I haven't got around to buying the 7-keto yet, but I definitely am going to try it. Maybe some of you would want to be guinea pigs, too? The post below:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____
OK, Raynaud's people, I have found something for us which might help! This is supposed to help with Raynaud's AND weight loss, so of course, I will rush to buy some and try it. However, no OTC supplement I have taken has ever worked for weight loss, so I don't know how much hope this offers. I found this in the May 2005 issue of Life Extension Magazine. Here is the URL for the article, and the part about Raynaud's is on page 2. I'm not sure if you can read the whole article if you don't have a membership like I do. Somebody please tell me if this link works for you.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/may2005_cover_keto_01.htm

In case you can't read that, here is the paragraph about Raynaud's: "7-Keto may also provide benefits for people with Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition marked by cold, painful fingers and toes. Medical researchers believe that Raynaud’s represents an abnormal response to cold by blood vessels. A paper published in Medical Hypotheses suggests that 7-Keto may be helpful in preventing primary Raynaud’s attacks by increasing the basal metabolic rate. Given what is known know about 7-Keto’s ability to boost levels of thyroid hormone T3, this hypothesis seems reasonable. Further study is warranted." The dose for weight loss was 100 mg. twice a day, so I guess that is what I will use for Raynaud's, too.

[arcticlobo]

oh yeah, I forgot about Reynauds. You know what is really weird, my ears are either burning red hot, or the coldest part of my body. there is no in between. Eiter my vessels are all the way on, or all the way off.

[Nancy T]

I have found that my face does adjust to warmer environments, but I have to do it gradually each spring and summer.

I am a 52 female, and was diagnosed with rosacea 33 years ago. My 49 year old sister, and my 45 year old brother, have also had rosacea since their 20s. In the 1970s, the only thing doctors told us about rosacea was to figure out your triggers and learn now to avoid them. Avoid the sun, stress, heat, red wine...the usual suspects. There was no on-line Rosacea groups, so we learned to live with this disease by trial and error. My brother figures that between the three of us, we have 79 years of trial and error. We've made lots of mistakes, but have had a great many successes, too. We all love sports and outdoor activities, so none of us felt that avoiding heat would be possible.

The first spring after my diagnosis, I kept my face cool with a fan. I was avoiding heat, one of my main triggers, I figured. I was delighted with my newly pale, flush-free face, so the fan became my constant companion. Like you, when I had to leave the fan to venture out, I had rebound flushes (often nasty, painful flushes). After a few weeks, I decided that a slight flush late in the day, when I was overheated, was less unpleasant than the rebound flush when I was away from the fan. Plus, I had no intention of living the rest of my life as a hermit, chained to a fan.

I didn't put the fan away, though. I was a poor college student, with no air conditioning. I used the fan to move hot air around in my apartment, but was no longer directing it towards my face. As the spring temperatures progressed from the 70s, 80s, to the 90s, I kept waiting for my face to flush worse and worse from the heat. It never happened. I think my face learned to live with the warmer temperatures, because the build-up to the warmer temperatures were gradual. Over time, my face wouldn't flush if the temperatures were in the 70s or 80s, and had just a slight flush when it made it up into 90s.

I found that I didn't have a problem going from air-conditioned buildings to the hot, outside world, if I didn't spend too much time in the cool environment. Luckily, I've always had a job where I can leave for a 5-10 minute walk outside, every two or three hours. This has worked for my brother and sister, too. We go out into the heat, no matter how hot, every few hours. Also, every office seems to have uneven cooling. Some spots always seem to be warmer than others. I search for the desks where people complain that the air conditioning doesn't work as well as the rest of the office. I actually look for the warmest part of the office, and use a fan to move air around me, not at me.

For me, the less temperature difference, between my inside and outside environment, the better my face does. I never set my home air-conditioning below 76 degrees. Weird... everything I've read has said to avoid heat. For me, it's more a matter of avoiding big temperature differences. Now, if someone can figure out how to avoid a flush when going from 10 below zero to an over-heated office!!

[irishgenes]

Hi, Nancy T! Welcome to the Rosacea Forum.
oh yeah, I forgot about Reynauds. You know what is really weird, my ears are either burning red hot, or the coldest part of my body. there is no in between. Eiter my vessels are all the way on, or all the way off.
I've noticed the same thing with the tip of my nose. When I flush, it gets red and warm, but there is a certain time at night when I am about to go to sleep when I touch my nose and it feels like an icicle! At the same time, my feet and hands are cold. Those are parts of the body which get red and cold when exposed to winter temperatures even in normal people. I'm hoping this 7-keto might do something to normalize the hyper-responsiveness of the blood vessels. I guess it is a feeble hope, but I have nothing to lose by trying.

[arcticlobo]

Hi Nancy,

It sounds like you have lots of experience with rosacea. I think I am going to try raising the temperature of my office and house up to a 70+ degree level for a few months and see how I react. I do expect to flush for the first few days, but I would think I would adjust to it. I guess we'll find out.

[Nancy T]

Hi Nancy,

It sounds like you have lots of experience with rosacea. I think I am going to try raising the temperature of my office and house up to a 70+ degree level for a few months and see how I react. I do expect to flush for the first few days, but I would think I would adjust to it. I guess we'll find out.


Hi Articlobo,

In Minnesota, we normally get a prolonged spring, so my face has several weeks to get use to progressively warmer temperatures. Try taking the temperature up slowly, maybe only one or two degrees at a time. See if your face can tolerate the warmer temperature for several days, without producing a flush, before you turn it up to the next level. The one thing that I've learned the hard way, is to always take plenty of time when I make a change in my environment (or my skin care regimen). Intolerance to something new sometimes takes days, or even weeks, before it affects my face.

Anyway, it's worth a try. Good luck to you. It's so nice when we Rosaceans can actually participate in some normal outside activities, without producing a nasty flush.

Nancy