Cold Weather and the Cryo Patient’s Attempt to Control Temperature

I find it remarkable when doctors think that colder weather/climate is not a problem for people with cryoglobulinemia. Particularly when so .  . . so many people with cryo have a rather immediate response to cold. It is also known that individual responses to cold appear to be highly variable among people with cryoglobulinemia. There are also accounts of people moving to colder climates from warmer climates who suddenly display symptoms of cryoglobulinemia.

The debate over controls of precipitation temperature for cyoglobulins in the blood has neen a longstanding issue. In fact there is a lot more to it than just concentration and temperature, but the basic property of solubility is controlled by concentration and temperature as the saturation point will change with temperature. This is a fundamental physical property. The question does remain that the behavior of cryoglobulins in a petri dish is not guaranteed to be the same as in a living person, and the blood contains a lot more than just water and cryoglobulins, and the chemistry of it is rather dynamic… so technically it may well be correct to state that one can not clearly show that concentration and temperature are the big controls the precipitation of cryoglobulins.

At the same time common sense clearly suggests that given no other metric, one should seriously consider it from the standpoint of safety, especially since cryoglobulins DO precipitate/gel at temperatures below normal body temperature, and persons with cryogloblinemia DO experience adverse physical reactions to cold. Maybe some really bright grad student needs to get some funding and go after this rather fundamental question ?

Eating well and getting exercise is important and improving physical strength is helpful, always. It is particularly important when recovering from a long battle with a flare. It can take awhile to regain strength and wellness, so taking care of oneself is important.

As a normal emotional response  I do realize that it is easy to become fearful of cold when one has cryoglobulinemia, but realistically after a couple of bad experiences with cryo we have ample reasons to feel that way. It should not be surprising that some of us might be a little “over the top” with our cautions regarding cold. The reasons for that are quite sound. We don’t know for sure what the “safe” operational limits are.