Heat and the Elderly.

Another coldie oldie here, never hot enough for me 🌞🌞🌞🌞

flappergirl

BlueBelle

I m the opposite I feel the cold much more as I’ve got older and even when other people say it’s ‘hot’ it isn’t to me

Thank goodness I'm not alone. I hate the cold and the winter with a passion. I was never exactly fond of it when I was young.

On the other hand I love hot weather. It needs to be at least 25 degrees for me to get my proper summer gear on. Maybe years of living in Naples thinned my blood. I really can't understand anyone who flakes out in 18 degrees unless they have a health condition.

I'm late sixties so maybe I'll change in time, who knows.

I'm exactly the same, even whe it was quite pleasant last weekend when it was in the low 20s I still had the heating on in the evening and still have my Winter duvet on. I lived in Turkey for some years and loved it being so hot. I am 76 now and I show no signs of changing yet.

I'm "only" 72 but have found the heat over the last couple of summers quite unbearable.
I bought a portable air conditioner two years ago and have just bought another ex-display, a bargain! They do bring the temperature down to bearable levels though I know it is an expensive way to deal with the problem.
I do most of my shopping online and if it is really hot I only go outside to take my grandchildren to school.
I keep my blinds down when the sun is on those windows and keep the awning down over my living room doors.

Here in St Lucia we are noticing a rise in temperature this season. I am too old to walk any distance and AC is a godsend. We have it in all rooms but share the cost as I use it 24/7. I would not cope here without AC. If you do not have fans or AC you leave windows open and then you get attacked by mosquitoes and sand flies. Some of my friends envy. Me living on this beautiful island but it has downsides like everywhere else.

This must be hard. I am the complete opposite - the hotter the better, I have boundless energy this week as it is warm and dry and starving all the time. Eating like a horse, but then to mix similies, I am working like a trooper.

I feel like you do now, when the weather is wet.

When, or rather, if, summer comes, we can have a lovely moany post, so that other people can tell us off...
It's the only thing I enjoy about hot summers - the moaning.

Whilst everyone is complaining about it being cold and wet in May I keep quiet and reserve my moans for the heat. I really find the summer weather too much now and tend to spend my time indoors with the fan running.

I also dislike the collective term ' the elderly ' we are older individuals not a group of old sheep.

Thanks for the tips Madeline, really helpful. A friend is kind enough to give me lifts to meetings but she never feels the heat and I nearly passed out in her car last time.

Adaptation is more difficult as we age, we need time to allow our bodies to adjust to outside temperature changes of more than a few degrees. The temperature the other day had a quick drop by 5 degrees and that saw me fetching a cardigan, whereas that temperature would have been good if it happened gradually

That's really helpful advice.
I was absolutely desperate for those kinds of tips when my hot flushes were bad.

I am now 78 and do think that either extremes of temperature affect me more these days. I have travelled a fair bit and lived abroad so I try to use the ideas that helped me previously. Might be teaching my granny to suck eggs but I pass on the tips I have found helpful.
If the forecast is for hot weather , go shopping as early as possible before it gets too hot. Leave curtains shut at home so that it is nice and cool to get back to. I fill a hot water bottle with very cold water and some small icecubes. This is great if y ou are doing jobs like ironing, so I sit and put my feet on the cold bottle etc. Also I rinse a flannel out in very cold water and into a plastic bag and it can be put in a bag with you next to one of those small freezer things that you put in lunch boxes etc. I put the freezer oblong into a plastic bag and then wrap in either small towel or something cotton and you have your personal cooler . So if you have to go out in a car you have something to help you cool off with. Whilst I normally have a shopping list and am quite methodical if it is very hot I look at what is the most important and go for them first so that if it is too uncomfortable I can go home with the essentials and the rest can wait.

Exactly the same for me.
My heat regulation switch seems to be broken since my "change".
I have to rush out of shops in the winter because it's too hot, of I try to do diy I start sweating.

Its unbearable.

Menopause was the turning point for me. Pre-53, heat welcome. Post-53 nonono!

I have recently been diagnosed with Menieres disease and am certain that the air pressure affects my condition! Am warm whereas the other half feels cold today! It is muggy and humid! Plenty of water , warm showers and staying in a cooler kitchen ! I was I Italy last week but didn’t struggle at all with the heat !!

I love sitting outside watching my washing dry and the weeds grow when others hate the heat. Every evening I watch TV with a blanket over my lap- sometimes I have to add the small electric pad as I am so cold. I go to bed every night with a 15 tog and a hwb.

I hate hot weather, another who keeps the windows/curtains closed until the sun has gone off them. My OH was sat outside those few days last week, he loves it. Spends hours out in the garden. It just knocks the stuffing out of me.
Then when it is cooler he is here with 4/5 layers of clothes and I'm in 2. We have only used the living room fire a couple weeks through the winter as it's been so mild, though he and my son do have oil radiators in their bedrooms.

I am 76 and find it increasingly difficult to deal with the heat. I am fairly comfortable with temperatures in the 20's but as soon as it climbs into the 30's I use common sense and stay indoors, especially during the hottest part of the day. I am not looking forward to the summer months because I know how drained, uncomfortable and unwell I will feel.

Yes, the heat definitely affects me too. I now dread July and August.
At the moment it's not too bad, but mid summer is unbearable and makes me feel ill. Mostly, I have difficulty simply breathing.

PS

Mine isn’t recent, I’ve always been a cold one, until we went to the Caribbean and Florida I didn’t realise that I could be warm without layers of clothing!

BlueBelle

I m the opposite I feel the cold much more as I’ve got older and even when other people say it’s ‘hot’ it isn’t to me

This is me too,

MrOops is in the pool and laying in the sun and I’m sitting with my long trousers on and a fleece, shivering.

Bump

Thanks CanadianGran, that explanation makes it much easier for me to draw the curtains and lie down in the heat I’ve never coped with hot weather well and now I dread it.

I found this on line, under Lutheran Senior Services:

"One of the primary mechanisms the body uses to cool itself is sweating. However, as we grow older, sweat glands don’t produce as much as they once did. This impairs the body’s primary means of dissipating excess heat, leaving our loved ones more prone to overheating.

On top of that, the blood vessels in the skin—which dilate to allow more blood flow and facilitate cooling—become less reactive. This reduced vascular response makes it more challenging for the body to redistribute heat effectively.

Common medications, such as diuretics, beta-blockers, and antidepressants, further compromise the body’s temperature control mechanisms. They interfere with the regulation of blood pressure, heart rate, and fluid balance, increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses like heat exhaustion and heatstroke."

So please drink more, stay in the shade and use a fan. If you are feeling tired or dizzy, then rest when need.

I loathe the heat, so I've decided to do what needs to be done in hot weather.

That is, stay indoors,with the curtains shut, and go nowhere.

I’m in the cold camp too.
Last weeks weather was lovely , certainly nowhere near too hot. I hope we get plenty more.