Temperature Reset à La Steve Richfield

[ecstatichamster]

My temps got into the 98s after all today, but not at 98.6. I am taking some T3 every day, just small amounts with small amount of T4 at night. It seems to raise temps a bit.

 

[shepherdgirl]

@ecstatichamster @tara
Second thoughts about attempting to generate brown fat in the body with cold showers, etc.:
Fat Loss Through Topical Thyroid Or Thyroid Injections?

 

[Lecarpetron]

I tried taking 32 mcg of T3 with breakfast, and 16 mcg with lunch (8 drops and 4 drops of BSP). I did this for 3 days, and on day 4 my temp popped right up to 98.6 before I had even started eating breakfast, and stayed there until after lunch. Then it started to dip, so I took 4 drops to bring it back up. I'm now on the 5th day of temp going to 98.6 on its own by 8am. For years, I could not get anywhere close to 98.6 before late afternoon. I don't know if this will stick, but so far it seems miraculous.

I wanted to post an update on this. I did eventually get "conditioned" to T3...my temp refused to rise after waking, and more T3 would just cause a stress rxn, no matter how much sugar accompanied. So, back to the drawing board. This time, I am using large doses of progest-e (~100 mg/day) with 6 drops/day of Tyromix. So far, I am able to get my temp to >98 by 9am, and up to 98.6 once each at breakfast and dinner, before it slowly slides back down to 98. Temp increase not as dramatic as the T3-only experiment, but hopefully more sustainable.

In summary: megadose of progest-e alone had no effect on me, megadose of T3 raised temps temporarily, but progest-e + T3 spread evenly throughout the day = some progress.

 

[JohnA]

I did a successful temperature reset back in November, but got lax and my temps have been back in the low 98s recently.

I started a new reset a few days ago. I've been wearing my full winter coat and winter hat and keeping my thermostat on 75 F whenever I'm at home.

I'm also sleeping in this full winter gear. I agree with earlier posts in this thread that sleeping warm is key. The downside is that it takes longer to fall asleep since your body isn't used to being so warm at bedtime. The upside is that I've been waking up before my alarm clock, feeling really refreshed, and sporting morning wood.

I think this is significant because all recent sleep research has been telling us to sleep colder. A google search for "benefits of sleeping warm" mainly returns articles on the benefits of sleeping naked and cold. I did find one study showing that people who slept in temperature-raising thermosuits spent more time in slow wave sleep and woke up less often.

Skin deep: enhanced sleep depth by cutaneous temperature manipulation. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[ecstatichamster]

I did a successful temperature reset back in November, but got lax and my temps have been back in the low 98s recently.

I started a new reset a few days ago. I've been wearing my full winter coat and winter hat and keeping my thermostat on 75 F whenever I'm at home.

I'm also sleeping in this full winter gear. I agree with earlier posts in this thread that sleeping warm is key. The downside is that it takes longer to fall asleep since your body isn't used to being so warm at bedtime. The upside is that I've been waking up before my alarm clock, feeling really refreshed, and sporting morning wood.

I think this is significant because all recent sleep research has been telling us to sleep colder. A google search for "benefits of sleeping warm" mainly returns articles on the benefits of sleeping naked and cold. I did find one study showing that people who slept in temperature-raising thermosuits spent more time in slow wave sleep and woke up less often.

Skin deep: enhanced sleep depth by cutaneous temperature manipulation. - PubMed - NCBI

this is interesting.

I'm finding that I can get into 98.6 by late morning or afternoon. Temps vary and fall into 97.6 or so if I nap. But often bounces back up again. So I'm far better off.

I sleep very warm but often wake up at 97.5 or so. I don't think this is bad as long as temps come up to 98.6.

 

[JohnA]

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I’m really starting to believe in the power of this optimal body temperature thing.

TLDR: Your body likely works better when it’s in an ambient temperature that encourages occasional light body sweating. If you live in a cold climate, you can simulate these warmer temperatures by wearing more clothing. It’s important to do a proper temperature reset first, however, so that your body only starts sweating when it’s above 98.6. Many people with low set-points start sweating at temps below 98.6, which is counter-productive.

One practical thing: I mentioned how I was struggling to fall asleep when overdressed. Turns out that while you want to sleep warm to avoid losing heat over night, you don’t want to go to bed still at 98.6. Steve says that your sleep set-point is around 97.4. My revised strategy is to stay warm until about 9, then strip off into normal clothes as I finish my work and prepare for bed. By bed-time at 1030-11, my temp has naturally dropped to around 97.4, which I can easily maintain overnight by sleeping in a coat and winter hat. Falling asleep at 97.4 has been much easier than falling asleep at 98.6.

Last week I went out drinking with friends until about 1am (I had about 5 drinks over 2.5 hours). I checked my temp before I went to bed at 145am and it was in the high 96s, which is the lowest temperature I’ve seen in a very long time. I dressed warmly to bed, and then woke up at 7am, feeling refreshed, not hungover, and with a respectable waking temp of 97.9.

Unfortunately, I’ve found that my body still sometimes needs help to stay at 98.6. After being out all day, I returned to my apartment mid-afternoon and recorded a temp in the low 98s. I put on my coat and hat before I started writing this post, and I’ve now quickly pushed it back up to 99.0 and am sweating. Regardless of whether the high temps are coming naturally or with mechanical help (clothing), I’ve noticed a ton of benefits:

-Increased energy: I now am usually up before my alarm clock and have been taking fewer afternoon naps. My circadian rhythm has also improved. I’m up early in the morning and exhausted by 10-11pm with little desire to stay up surfing the net or playing on my phone.

-Faster hair and nail growth: I’ve always had generally decent hair, but my hairline has improved with new hair growths further down my forehead. My eyebrows have also thickened out.

-Better tolerance for liquids: I can drink more liquids before I start peeing more or feel colder. This ends up being a virtuous cycle since I can consume more OJ and milk.

-Higher libido: I’ve been waking up with morning wood most mornings and generally just feel hornier around women. Despite this, my desire to masturbate has decreased. I’ve unintentionally been on about a 3 week nofap run.

- Softer skin and lips: This one is big and is helping me to develop a theory on the importance of sweating. I’ve spent most of my life in the American Northeast and have suffered from super dry skin and chapped lips every winter. Yet, these symptoms have gone away during this reset. Steve talks about using “peripheral circulation” for temperature control as the cause of winter dry skin:

“In winter, people adjust their peripheral circulation to fine-tune their temperature. However, in the summer they switch over to adjusting their rate of sweating to fine-tune their temperature…During the summer, your skin will probably be a bit damp most of the time, but then be completely dry during the winter.”

There is a theory that sweat glands have played a major role in human evolution. Per the theory, our ancestors were covered in hair just like other primates, but eventually lost this hair because being hairless allowed our sweat glands to work more effectively as we left the forests to hunt and travel under the hot African savanna sun. Hairier rivals either died from overheating or were forced to stay in the forests.

Assuming you buy that argument, our bodies have faced intense selection pressure to make our sweat glands as efficient as possible. Our ancestors have spent millions of years evolving solutions to cool us down in hot environments vs tens of thousands of years evolving solutions to warm us up in cold environments (potentially no time, if you are of tropical ancestry).

This selection pressure led our bodies to continue optimizing the sweat glands to provide other benefits beyond just heat dissipation. For example, sweat helps the body detox, and breast milk comes from modified sweat glands. Most people intuitively grasp this, hence why so many colder cultures have sauna or hot house traditions and modern people flock to workouts that induce sweating. These high-intensity sweat sessions are probably better than never breaking a sweat, but probably worse than the continual low level sweating that occurs as people in tropical Africa or India go about their days.

If I’m on the right track, the explosion of products aimed at eliminating sweating such as air conditioning and anti-perspirants may be harming our health.

The theory may be far-fetched, but I’ve definitely been seeing results from getting more comfortable with being a little sweaty. I’ve invested in some non-cotton moisture wicking base layers to keep me dry and prevent odors.

 

[tara]

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I’m really starting to believe in the power of this optimal body temperature thing.

Great report.

I’ve invested in some non-cotton moisture wicking base layers to keep me dry and prevent odors.

I've got non-cotton moisture-wicking clothing I use for hiking etc, but it's way way too stinky for every day use.
Wool does a decent job of both - absorbs away sweat without getting too stinky - if your skin does not react badly to it.

 

[ecstatichamster]

your note was great, @JohnA

Thank you so much. You've been inspiring me all along (and perspiring me, LOL)

Here's a quick update. I had travel and lots of things. I'm probably waking up at 97.1. I'm about .6 degrees F. too low.

I sit in front of lights and use some T3 and get around 98.6 or low 98s during the day. I guess I need to do another reset.

I sweat a lot more. I'm more used to higher temps. I still nap and I don't experience the benefits I had felt at the beginning. So I kind of lost it.

I haven't been nearly careful enough. But now it's warming up and I should be able to easily reset into the spring and summer here in the northern hemisphere.

 

[ecstatichamster]

One important fact. I am losing weight. Eating less and less fat. I think this makes me colder.

 

[xiaohua]

Fascinating discussion here. I haven't read every page, but I just wondered if anyone had achieved results with a modified version of Steve's protocol? Would just wearing warm clothes for an extended period (i.e. to the point of feeling uncomfortable) and following a broadly pro-metabolic protocol perhaps yield similar benefits? The possible side effects of the reset sound alarming and I'm not sure I could enlist the support of any close friends / family to go through this, my various health habits and experiments are already considered wacky and extreme as it is.

BTW, I track my temps as part of the fertility awareness method and they are chronically low (no surprise, as I have all the symptoms of a low metabolic rate). Curiously, my summer and winter wardrobes have always tended to be more or less the same, and people often remark on how cold I must be in the winter as I just haven't felt the need to wrap up warm. Looking back, I don't understand why I didn't bother to take better care of myself.

 

[Lecarpetron]

The reset "worked" for me for about 5 days, then I just stopped responding to it and my temps wouldn't budge. It wasn't all a loss though, as I kept up the warm clothes, hot showers, and espresso in a more normal way, and I think those things have been very helpful. I used to also always feel hot, even in winter, even though my body temp was very low. While the showers/clothes were really, really uncomfortable at first, as I stuck with it, gradually got used to it and my body was better able to "absorb" heat rather than convert it to stress. Oh, I kept up taking small amounts of T3, too.

While I still have low body temp, my temperatures have stabilized of late. But it did take months of doing these things every day, there was never any quick bump. Temps used to be all over the place, 95's during mid-morning, 99's at night, and would bounce up and down by 2 degrees for reasons I couldn't identify. But the last few weeks, I've noticed I'm staying very constantly between 97-97.9. I did add cypro a few weeks ago, but I've done cypro before and it sent my temps to rock bottom status...95's all around...that hasn't happened this time, I've had a much better response.

 

[xiaohua]

The reset "worked" for me for about 5 days, then I just stopped responding to it and my temps wouldn't budge. It wasn't all a loss though, as I kept up the warm clothes, hot showers, and espresso in a more normal way, and I think those things have been very helpful. I used to also always feel hot, even in winter, even though my body temp was very low. While the showers/clothes were really, really uncomfortable at first, as I stuck with it, gradually got used to it and my body was better able to "absorb" heat rather than convert it to stress. Oh, I kept up taking small amounts of T3, too.

While I still have low body temp, my temperatures have stabilized of late. But it did take months of doing these things every day, there was never any quick bump. Temps used to be all over the place, 95's during mid-morning, 99's at night, and would bounce up and down by 2 degrees for reasons I couldn't identify. But the last few weeks, I've noticed I'm staying very constantly between 97-97.9. I did add cypro a few weeks ago, but I've done cypro before and it sent my temps to rock bottom status...95's all around...that hasn't happened this time, I've had a much better response.

Thanks for the valuable feedback @Lecarpetron. Sounds like a mixed bag, but overall positive.

 

[NegativeFX]

Back in the summer of 2016 I had one magical day of normal temps where I woke up with a temp in the high 36's. It felt so awesome, brain fog was nonexistent, felt no depression and was generally happy. I hadn't felt that way in ages. Unfortunately I was never able to recreate that day and things returned to the same shitty norms the next day and all subsequent days thereafter. Supplements do nothing for me but after reading about the temperature reset I felt quite optimistic about it.

Tried the reset during winter: hot shower + warm clothes. Didn't work as planned though. The problem for me was that the sweat soaked into my clothes and simply cooled me down and made it impossible to keep a high temp. Gave up and decided to try again in the summer.

Tried again yesterday morning by staying in my balcony (wooden balcony + glass windows so it heats up quite nicely in the summer). Had no problem staying high temps. It was consistently around 37.5 C. I sweated absolute bucket loads, but my knees and feet (where I generally feel the most cold) were still relatively cool compared to my upper body which was worrying. I didn't feel like anything was happening to be honest, brain fog was still present and I didn't get any sort of mood lift while in the balcony. After 2 or so hours I got bored of the constant sweating, left, took a shower and stayed in my room. Temps immediately plummeted back to the norm - low 36 range, which was frustrating. *Sigh*

I have a feeling that maybe I have to do this at night by staying extremely warm ( that seems to be what happened in 2016 summer when I woke up with a high temp), otherwise, the reset won't work for me.

 

[Such_Saturation]

After 2 or so hours

That's like 20 hours too short

 

[tara]

The problem for me was that the sweat soaked into my clothes and simply cooled me down and made it impossible to keep a high temp.

Maybe use base layer clothing designed to handle moisture and cold - eg suitable polypropolene or wool? I'd expect cotton etc to be pretty clammy.

 

[Xisca]

There is also a sort of silk that is thick and confortable, natural and non allergenic! It looks more like cotton but it is silk... I like it very much.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

Back in the summer of 2016 I had one magical day of normal temps where I woke up with a temp in the high 36's. It felt so awesome, brain fog was nonexistent, felt no depression and was generally happy. I hadn't felt that way in ages. Unfortunately I was never able to recreate that day and things returned to the same shitty norms the next day and all subsequent days thereafter. Supplements do nothing for me but after reading about the temperature reset I felt quite optimistic about it.

Tried the reset during winter: hot shower + warm clothes. Didn't work as planned though. The problem for me was that the sweat soaked into my clothes and simply cooled me down and made it impossible to keep a high temp. Gave up and decided to try again in the summer.

Tried again yesterday morning by staying in my balcony (wooden balcony + glass windows so it heats up quite nicely in the summer). Had no problem staying high temps. It was consistently around 37.5 C. I sweated absolute bucket loads, but my knees and feet (where I generally feel the most cold) were still relatively cool compared to my upper body which was worrying. I didn't feel like anything was happening to be honest, brain fog was still present and I didn't get any sort of mood lift while in the balcony. After 2 or so hours I got bored of the constant sweating, left, took a shower and stayed in my room. Temps immediately plummeted back to the norm - low 36 range, which was frustrating. *Sigh*

I have a feeling that maybe I have to do this at night by staying extremely warm ( that seems to be what happened in 2016 summer when I woke up with a high temp), otherwise, the reset won't work for me.

It's REAAALLYYY important that you stay warm when you sleep as well. Otherwise the whole thing is almost pointless.

 

[Xisca]

I’m really starting to believe in the power of this optimal body temperature thing.

Me too.

So far a real breakthrough for me, as I knew it was there but did not know how to help it.
I have started to read the website fixlowbodytemp, and it all makes sense, especially through the view of the nervous system. He mentions the vagus nerve for example. He also mentions tonsilectomy and surgery in general, as been a cause, and surgery is an unknow or underestimated cause of trauma, as any general anesthesia is, for the body, a CHEMICALLY INDUCED FREEZE RESPONSE. Then, you recover más o menos... And not always well, especially children who felt had by the promise of an icecream after tonsilectomy. I have seen a video of a Somatic Experiencing session for a young woman, about her tonsilectomy, and I still have emotion and tears coming up when I remember the power of this session.

Then, if you have associated low pulse with your low temp as me, do you know that this is the parasympathetic system that regulates heart beats more than the sympathetic? The sympathetic is running, and the PS maintain a lower heart beat, so that it can quickly release it pressure and let the heart beat freely as soon as possible. Then the PS slow it again, so that we do not loose this energy when unnecessary. Too much PS, too slow heartbeats. This has to self-regulate, and Steve says very well that his system is a way to talk to the body and persuade it that the past necessary situation is over. The quote has been put early in this topic, about causes like surgery, famine, something in the womb... 5 different points.

 

[JohnA]

@NegativeFX , thanks for reviving this thread!

You need to be a little more intentional to make the temperature reset work. Here’s my latest thinking on how best to go about it:

1. Pick a slow weekend when you have limited responsibilities to attend to and places to go.

2. Get up early and immediately get your temperature as high as possible using some combination of the below strategies:

a. Turning up the heat (ideally you’d also have a humidifier to prevent the air from getting too dry)​

b. Taking a long, hot shower or bath

c. Putting on lots of layers (sweat wicking base layers, long johns, hoodies, jackets, hats, etc.)

d. Eating dense, high calorie foods (a la Matt Stone’s Eat for Heat paradigm)

e. Drinking warm liquids with high calorie to fluid ratios (coffee with lots of milk and sugar, warmed OJ or milk, even high-calorie milkshakes work well despite the colder temperatures)

f. Engaging in 5-10 mins of heat-building exercise (search youtube for “sun salutation” or “flow” yoga videos or just do some bodyweight pushups and squats)​

3. Spend as much of the day as possible above 98.6F (37C)

a. Just take it easy and work on your computer, watch movies, or read. It’s important to sit relatively upright as temps and pulse drop when you lie down.

b. Check your temperature every half hour or so. If you’ve gotten colder, do some more of the above heat building steps. If you’re too hot (say over 99.5F or 37.5C), take off your hat or another top layer

c. Remember that because your setpoint is low, your body will be sending vicious hyperthermia signals to force you to cool down. These will include nausea (so that you don’t produce more heat by eating solid foods), thirst (so that you drink cold water), fatigue (so that your temp and pulse can drop while you nap). These signals are lifesaving at dangerously high temps, but counterproductive if they get you to lower your temperature when you’re only in the 98s or low 99s. Keep checking your temperatures. If you’re approaching 100F, you can start taking steps to cool down some.

d. Switch out of sweat-soaked clothes frequently. Take a hot shower and then put on dry base layers. UnderArmour and Uniglo make clothes with technology that traps heat, dries quickly, and prevents body odor. Since the winter season is over, these brands also are having sales on some of their “heat” gear.​

4. Go to sleep early

a. You’ll probably be exhausted by 9pm or earlier.

b. Lower your body temperature and then dress warmly. This idea is getting trickier as summer approaches. Your body temperature needs to drop for you to fall asleep, but you also need to be dressed warmly so that your temperatures start rising as the morning approaches.

c. Take a warm shower and then keep most of your clothes off as you prepare for bed. These two steps together will help your skin temperature drop quickly. Once your temp has dropped some, re-bundle up and go to sleep.

d. I’ve recently started wearing an ice pack (around my neck) to bed. The theory is that it’ll help my body temperature continue to drop during the first hour or so of sleep, but then the ice pack will return to room temperature and not prevent my temps from rising in the morning.
​

5. Do it all again!

 

[NegativeFX]

@NegativeFX , thanks for reviving this thread!

You need to be a little more intentional to make the temperature reset work. Here’s my latest thinking on how best to go about it:

1. Pick a slow weekend when you have limited responsibilities to attend to and places to go.

2. Get up early and immediately get your temperature as high as possible using some combination of the below strategies:

a. Turning up the heat (ideally you’d also have a humidifier to prevent the air from getting too dry)​

b. Taking a long, hot shower or bath

c. Putting on lots of layers (sweat wicking base layers, long johns, hoodies, jackets, hats, etc.)

d. Eating dense, high calorie foods (a la Matt Stone’s Eat for Heat paradigm)

e. Drinking warm liquids with high calorie to fluid ratios (coffee with lots of milk and sugar, warmed OJ or milk, even high-calorie milkshakes work well despite the colder temperatures)

f. Engaging in 5-10 mins of heat-building exercise (search youtube for “sun salutation” or “flow” yoga videos or just do some bodyweight pushups and squats)​

3. Spend as much of the day as possible above 98.6F (37C)

a. Just take it easy and work on your computer, watch movies, or read. It’s important to sit relatively upright as temps and pulse drop when you lie down.

b. Check your temperature every half hour or so. If you’ve gotten colder, do some more of the above heat building steps. If you’re too hot (say over 99.5F or 37.5C), take off your hat or another top layer

c. Remember that because your setpoint is low, your body will be sending vicious hyperthermia signals to force you to cool down. These will include nausea (so that you don’t produce more heat by eating solid foods), thirst (so that you drink cold water), fatigue (so that your temp and pulse can drop while you nap). These signals are lifesaving at dangerously high temps, but counterproductive if they get you to lower your temperature when you’re only in the 98s or low 99s. Keep checking your temperatures. If you’re approaching 100F, you can start taking steps to cool down some.

d. Switch out of sweat-soaked clothes frequently. Take a hot shower and then put on dry base layers. UnderArmour and Uniglo make clothes with technology that traps heat, dries quickly, and prevents body odor. Since the winter season is over, these brands also are having sales on some of their “heat” gear.​

4. Go to sleep early

a. You’ll probably be exhausted by 9pm or earlier.

b. Lower your body temperature and then dress warmly. This idea is getting trickier as summer approaches. Your body temperature needs to drop for you to fall asleep, but you also need to be dressed warmly so that your temperatures start rising as the morning approaches.

c. Take a warm shower and then keep most of your clothes off as you prepare for bed. These two steps together will help your skin temperature drop quickly. Once your temp has dropped some, re-bundle up and go to sleep.

d. I’ve recently started wearing an ice pack (around my neck) to bed. The theory is that it’ll help my body temperature continue to drop during the first hour or so of sleep, but then the ice pack will return to room temperature and not prevent my temps from rising in the morning.
​

5. Do it all again!

Thanks for the tips @JohnA and everyone else. Will have to put these to use this weekend.