My 86-year-old mother has been experiencing extreme chills in the evenings. Does anyone know what might cause this? We can’t get her warm.

There can be an underlying health issue other than thyroid going on with mom to cause severe chills, such as anemia, especially if she looks pale and wakes up tired. Low blood sugar with diabetes, certain cancers, Lyme disease and some medications can also cause such chills. Bring mom to her PCP for a full medical workup to see what may be going on.

Best of luck.

While you’re getting more info from her medical team, my late father, who would get chills as part of his paralysis sometimes, loved a blanket warmed up in the dryer. It warmed him right up.

This is pretty basic, but my way to help would be an electric under- blanket on a timer, bed socks for the feet and a beanie for the head. The head loses a lot of heat, and the feet are a long way for the blood to go. Ordinary blankets only insulate, they don’t add heat. If M's body is not generating heat, you need to add heat, not just insulate. There are now electric over-blankets that might be worth a try too.

Also, a thin woolen cap. Lots of heat escapes from the top of the head.

Along with the suggetions given I have a question
When she gets the chills have you looked and felt the effected areas? If they feel cold or cool to you this might be a circulation problem and maybe a gentle massage might help. A massage will stimulate blood flow.

Other possible causes:

Medication side effect
Hypoglycemia
Poor diet/malnutrition

Shortly after my first son was born I began experiencing extreme chills down my back intermittently, but it also came with swollen glands. I felt like I had a frozen rod in my spine. I had to take steroids to get the gland swelling go away. I had scads of tests and the cause was never found. Eventually it stopped happening. Just saying they may never find a cause.

Thyroid was going to be my first guess. I would have to tell you that this is really a question for her MD. I am an old retired RN, and could not fathom a guess as to what this may be.

This is indeed a question for her doctor. Perhaps her iron stores are low as she is possibly anemic. When was the last time she had blood work done? Your mother needs to see her PCP ASAP.

Please have her evaluated by her doctor. Chills can be a sign of infection - even if her temperature does not register a fever - or a circulatory issue or a problem with electrolytes (causing muscle spasms) or a number of other issues. If everything checks out fine, you can get an electric blanket set onto a low setting to provide low, constant warmth. That will help her from feeling chilled or may keep her from having muscle spasms when she stops moving as much in the evenings.

I hope the doctor visit went well. I am a retired nurse-midwife. I hope that they checked for UTI as well as anemia and thyroid. She could have a subclinical UTI that makes her a little feverish/chilled for a short time, but her body may mostly recover from this by itself. Also check hydration, not only water, but electrolyte replacement. A little orange Gatorade, either straight or cut with water will help keep her hydrated.

My mother had similar symptoms. It turned out to be low blood sugar caused by Metformin. Ideally, people over 80 shouldn't be on that medication.

Chills "from the inside" aren't helped much by blankets or sweaters or hats. Lots of good suggestions here about possible causes you might not fisrt think of like hypoglycemia, poor nutrition or anxiety. Also low grade inflammation with or without a spcific infection can cause chills.

How about some warm herbal tea or apple cider? Both mom & aunt enjoyed this even they were freezing.
Make sure her iron is normal also.

My mom had the same for a couple years: Intermittant AND XTREME chills. Turns out she was on TWO different prescriptions to combat slightly elevated blood pressure. Took her off one and adjusted the other, and no chills since then.

I don't see heart issues mentioned. Dh, heart failure, gets extremely cold some nights. From what I read, it is because his heart is keeping the core of the body warm but not pumping as much blood to the extremities. I hope your mom's pcp checks her heart.

She might like a warmie, a weighted heated comfort toy. A win/win situation. A snuggly little friend and somebody to help you stay warm.

@Literacy4mom,

I understand how miserable it is to be so freezingly cold that one’s body shakes, and be unable to get warm, because it happens to me. My lips actually puff up, turn blue, and I can barely speak or function. I sympathize with your dear icy-cold mother.

The ONLY thing I’ve found to consistently help — and be safe and user friendly — is to have a couple of heating pads next to my lounge chair.

My (Sunbeam brand) heating pads are on a 2-hour maximum automatic timer, and have 4 different levels of heat, none of which get so hot that the temperature is dangerous (but if you buy your mom a couple of pads, double check the temps yourself since our elders’ skin is so delicate) so even if your mom should fall asleep while using the pads, the pads will automatically turn off.

I use one pad to cover my ice cold feet, and one pad near my waist so my hands can nestle under the warmth. Then covering over the pads and my body with a very lightweight throw, or long shawl, helps keep the heat in perfectly, and I don’t feel trapped by a big heavy blanket.

For my personal taste, the standard size heating pads are perfect. I also bought a king-size pad but it proved way too big so ended up heating mostly air and chair rather than me.

I am only speaking to my own experience, but please note that I also bought at after-Christmas sales, and tried, a number of different “heated throws” but every single one was made of crappy slippery synthetic fiber, and the throws were way too big for me (and therefore I would bet for your mom, too) and slipped right off onto the floor constantly. They were a tripping hazard, useless, and I do not recommend heated slippery throws.

If your mother can be warmed by the heating pads during the day, her body temperature should be sufficiently warm when she goes to bed at night so that just getting under regular covers should keep her warm enough so that she can go right to sleep without struggling with feeling cold.

I hope you can find a solution to help your mom. My suggestion may just be the ticket.

Let us know if you succeed in getting your mother to be comfortably warm! I hope so.

Literacy4mom: Your mother should have a cardiological checkup. When my late mother's blood pressure plummeted to 60 over 40, I had to move in with her as she previously was living alone very far from me. She became very cold (very atypical for her) and suffered from CHF, A-fib and Hypothyroidism among other ailments.

When my mom started needing help to get up for bathroom trips she started not drinking as much and experiencing cold spells. The doctor thought she's was probably mildly dehydrated at times so I started tracking how much she drank (including popsicles, cucumbers, watermelon, etc.) and the cold spells went away.

My mom, who lived to 97 had no physical problems that we (or her dr.) knew of and we used those material corduroy or flannel bags with popcorn or rice in them to keep her warm. She would keep one by her feet and one across her waist for herself and her hands. Once you know how long they should stay in the microwave for optimal heat, they only get colder, so no chance of burning her, if she falls asleep. You can find some that come in flannel (or sew your own) as large or as small as you like. Mom loved them!

Blood thinners (prescribed) can cause this.

Lit4mom, what did the doctor say?

Older people Have thin paper like skin . Try Wool Sox and Ugg Booties, a nice cashmere sweater and a down Blanket or throw Blanket .