Uncomfortably hot all the time

Hot all the time

I am strangely hot all the time. I am a healthy 31 yo female who was on birth control pills for a couple of years for heavy periods and bad cramps. I did not like the risks and so I stopped taking them (I have been off them for more than 5 years now).
I am relatively fit (exercise 3-4 times each week) eat pretty healthy except for my sweet tooth, and do not consider myself overweight. I am 5′4″ at 128 pounds. Yet, I sweat all the time and feel overheated even in the winter. I work with a lot of good sized guys and I can freeze them out! I wear a short sleeved tee work shirt outside when its snowing! I asked my doctor to run some tests to check for any imbalances and she says everything is normal- Must admit I’m not sure I believe her. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

Answer:
Hi Julie -

You are right to question something that appears fine in lab tests,but not in reality.

As my professors said over and over:
- A lab test is only designed to confirm a diagnosis, not provide one.
- History is 90% of the diagnosis, Lab tests are the other 10%

Since you were on birth control pills for some time, they may have altered your hormones enough to cause excessive sweating.

There is a product called OptiGyn which I used all the time in clinic. If a woman had irregular cycles or any abnormal menstrual concerns, I reached for OptiGyn while narrowing down the actual cause.

Consider taking 2 tablets of OptiGyn two to three times a day.

There are other possible causes of excessive sweating:
- hyperthyroidism or Grave’s Disease
- not eating frequently enough
- low blood sugar
- stress or anxiety
- chronic infection somewhere
- food allergies or food intolerances

Consider having your physician order:
- Estrogen Fractionation test
- Female Hormone Panel
- TSH
- anti-TPO
- anti-TG
- Free T4
- T3

Ensure that you eat 3 balanced meals each day and snack after workouts. An energy bar works great 30 minutes before workout or after. Not eating properly or enough can cause excessive sweating, typically with some cold chills.

If your heart rate is fast even in a resting state or speeds up quickly on its on, there may be a thyroid imbalance going on.

Food allergies or food intolerances also may cause excessive heat and sweating. The common food allergens are wheat, egg and dairy. Try avoiding those for 2 weeks and see if your sweating and excessive heat has reduced. Also keep a journal about how you feel before you start eliminating these foods. You likely will feel fantastic once you avoid these foods.

I am a huge fan of organic free range eggs but some people cannot eat them. If avoiding egg is tough, try avoiding dairy and wheat for the two weeks. This is all dairy: cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream, etc.

That is not possible you say It is. I and my entire family do not eat dairy or wheat. It takes some learning and preparation. But once you do it for some time, it becomes easy.

Your sweet tooth may be causing excessive sweating as well. Try to cut back on sweets and see how that effects you. Or if you eat something sweet, follow it with some protein such as nuts.

If your temperature did not run hot until after you stopped the birth control, then there may be a pretty strong connection between the hormone levels and your sweating.

Ask your doctor to run some of those tests I mentioned.

Do consider trying some of the suggestions above. If you take the OptiGyn and notice improvement, then that is a pretty good sign that something is off hormonally. The benefit of OptiGyn is that it is a women’s multivitamin as well!

Do let me know what you discover and how you are feeling in a couple months time.

One other thing: stop drinking out of plastic water bottles if you are. Plastic water bottles contain bisphenol-a which is an estrogen mimic. This causes all sorts of hormone imbalanes in women, men and children. Use glass or stainless steel bottles instead.

In health,
Dr Ben

Benjamin Lynch, ND