Cold feet, warm heart!

[Mrs C]

My PALS has very cold feet and ankles. Can anyone please tell me what can cause this? He is wearing wool socks in the house and holding a heating pad to his feet and ankles when it's 72 degrees, but then at the same time having hot flashes and sitting in nothing but athletic shorts and no shirt at times. He still walks with a little assistance, and just yesterday got a walker. Any thoughts would help. Also, does anyone know if the inability to have a BM/constipation (not sure what the problem is) is from the meds or the ALS? He is all about fiber, fruit, colace, metamucill, etc. There are times he is simply miserable from that. Thanks all.

 

[Al]

As you lose muscle in the extremities blood doesn't get pumped back as much to the heart. Not walking as much or as fast makes things worse too. Is he diabetic? That adds to the problem as well. He should be going with the fibre etc. Maybe a laxative once in a while will move things along.

AL.

 

[trfogey]

ALS, in some people, also causes some weird behaviors associated with the parasympathetic nervous system. This part of the nervous system controls things like saliva production, urination, digestion, and defecation. Bowel problems are not uncommon, sometimes alternating back and forth between diarrhea and constipation. Increasing immobility also can have a bad effect on bowel habits. All you can do, in most cases, is treat the symptoms once all other possible diagnoses have been accounted for.

Al has covered most of the basics about cold feet. One thing to remember is that temperatures near the floor may be several degrees cooler than the rest of the room (hot air rises and cold air falls) and 72 degrees (not particularly warm to start with, says the hothouse flower from the South) at thermostat height might be 65 degrees or less at floor level.

Hot flashes in men can be a sign of low testosterone.

Hope this helps.

 

[HelenL]

Can he move his feet at all? Even if all he can do is wiggle his toes, he should keep doing that, and keeping his feet elevated will help as well... my left foot is cold from the knee down, and usually very purple. The docs ran some tests and on it, told me what it was, and offered a med which I declined... I think it was a blood thinner, so now I try to remember to chew my baby aspirin.

You can also get those aromatherapy herbal bags and stick them in the microwave, they feel SO good when your feet are cold. I use them every night when it gets cold out. Just be sure that they're not too hot for his skin if he can't move his feet.

 

[Okie2]

My daughter started me taking Cayenne pills to help circulation. I was also told by a nurse at my clinic that if I could eat a hot pepper such as jalapeño it would also help. It has seemed to help some. The pills are much easier to get down the eating a hot pepper.