I have had this problem for as long as I can remember (I'm 26) where my feet (ankle area especially) and legs will become red, hot and puffy when they've been exposed to heat or purple and very cold when exposed to cold. They don't have the ability to regulate body temperature.

I have had a ultrasound on my legs and it's not a circulatory problem. I tested postive for a auto-immune disease, but it was the lowest you could test and still register positive. I went to a cardiologist for an EKG and echo-cardiogram (my heart was squished and displaced a bit due to pectus excavatum) and they all said that there was nothing that could be causing this to happen. I had the Nuss procedure done last summer to cause my sternum to stop squishing my heart, but it still didn't fix the problem!

I went to a rheumatologist who said I basically have what's called a "vascular phenomenon" in that my heating and cooling system doesn't work as fast as it should. I also have delayed emptying of my blood.

It affects me, but what concerns me is that it has seemed to get worse over the years. My feet, when they get cold, cannot warm up for a long, long time and it's hard to walk when they get overheated, which doesn't take much.

Yeesh, sorry this is so long, but no one has ever been able to offer me much of an explanation. Has anyone ever heard of this before or have any thoughts on this matter?