Dealing with excess parasympathetic activity after cold trigger

[Ranga]

In general, I prefer heat to cold. However, I became both heat and cold intolerant 4 years ago. Acupuncture has really helped with heat tolerance, but I find that I still react strongly to cold triggers. The biggest impact is on the GI tract - I get reflux, a lot of gas and bowel movements, almost always at night when falling asleep. It takes me a day or two to adapt as long as the temp/pressure is consistent.  Other symptoms that can act up are cold feet and leg paresthesia, as well as sinus pressure changes. 

I have read that cold exposure stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic activity, but in my case, it appears to trigger it in excess, which then triggers the sympathetic activity with fight/flight response. 

I am perfectly comfortable in 100 deg weather, but as soon as I get into AC, or there is a cold wind, my thermoregulation is off. 

Anyone have a similar experience and what has helped reduce the excess parasympathetic response, especially at night?

 

[MomtoGiuliana]

I am completely the opposite and heat intolerant.  POTS patients are typically heat intolerant.

However there has been past discussion about this that may be helpful:

https://www.dinet.org/forums/topic/19622-hot-versus-cold-potsies-any-difference/#comment-181029

 

[MikeO]

Well i am heat intolerant as well as cold intolerant. 80 degree weather i can handle much more not so good. saying this i can also feel the cold extremes (have to take a hot shower to warm up) I am not on board that this is a POTS symptom (sitting hr normal stand up and you go tachycardia) but more a ans or other issue. Keep in mind this can be manifested by other issues. Diabetes is one. 

[Ranga]

34 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Well i am heat intolerant as well as cold intolerant. 80 degree weather i can handle much more not so good. saying this i can also feel the cold extremes (have to take a hot shower to warm up) I am not on board that this is a POTS symptom (sitting hr normal stand up and you go tachycardia) but more a ans or other issue. Keep in mind this can be manifested by other issues. Diabetes is one. 

I agree that it doesnt map to POTS, and could be more of an ANS (vagus) issue. Interestingly, caffiene and warm showers seem to help reset my symptoms pretty quickly, which seems to indicate some sort of  systemic vasodilation/vasoconstriction issue. I have to go back to my journal, and I find that most often, a cold trigger like cool/cold ambient air at rest throws this off balance, and it takes a while to warm up and get back to homeostasis.  The mystery is how the gut, legs and head are conected in getting the body back to normal.  I do not have as much trouble when I am outdoors or when active/upright. When the gut is stuck, my upper body is warm, with less blood flow to the extremities (with cooler ambient air) , when the gut is moving, upper body is cool, and extremities are warm (typically when ambient air is warm). There is also a circadian component that throws this off - body warms up around 4-6AM/6PM, cools down 12-2AM/PM.