Problems started when it grew extremely cold where I live (below zero) and my heating system broke! I had the fukien tea in a light place & it seemed to be doing fine, however with the broken heating I panicked that it would get too cold (I had heard that they can die from sudden temperature drops) so I moved it into a warmer room. It started to drop leaves - I looked up online and it seemed to indicate I needed to water more thoroughly, which I did. But the leaf dropping continued and after a couple of days I surmised that it was too dark in that room, so I moved it to my lodger's room which is light but also has heating. It was there for around 24 hours but she managed to knock it down from the windowsil & I was mortified and decided to not trust leaving it there! Its now not in good shape at all. Its dropped a lot of leaves and the ones that are left are fast discolouring.
Ive now put it back in the original room it was in but further from the window to hopefully avoid drafts. The heating firm has still not fixed the heating, a problem for me but also a problem for the tree!

Hmmmm....I guess Im wondering if theres any hope or anything else I can do except wait and hope? I havent watered it more as I came to the conclusion that it was over watered as the leaves had also turned yellow. They are not yellow any more, but they are still falling.
Is there any likelihood that it can recover from the sudden cold, being moved around and dropped on the floor?
Or should I prepare myself for the worst and try and get a hardier type next time?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions!

Sigh.

Generally, fukien tea trees pitch a fit every time they are moved around. I would say make sure you have it in fast draining soil, get it in a warm, well lit spot and stop messing with it. Scratch the surface of the trunk and see if there is any green under there. If so, you are probably ok as long as you get it back on track.

I have revived many plants using this method and also a lost a few. To me the #1 plant killer is over-watering.

Easiest was to dry out the soil -now - is to take something the size of a pencil and make a number of holes down to the bottom of the pot. Move it in a sloping circular motion so it's pretty big at the top. Air flowing over these will cause evaporation and you will get a little more air to the roots.
Or, just take something, chopstick, spoon, whatever and simply stir the soil top to bottom. Put the roots back under when your finished. This will also give you a good idea of just how wet the soil is.

What would have probably saved the tree, in the beginning, would have been to construct the tent the other person suggested. You could have put a 60 or 100 watt light in there, under the pot/tree, and probably really helped save it right off the bat.

I would suggest staying away from cleaning the tent/bag with bleach. Most cheap plastic will absorb some of it, the last thing you want is a chemical that toxic in an enclosed space with the plant.

At this point changing pots or re-potting would only be an excercise. See what happens in the future.
Good luck...Bob

I agree that cheap plastic will absorb some of bleach and other chemicals. But when diluted for household cleaning it is not that toxic and it will break down pretty quick. Regular bleach is toxic when it reacts with other household cleaners like ammonia. Anyhow, probably it is safer to avoid it anyway. Alternative is hydrogen peroxide.

For small plants I use an empty two liter coke bottle with the bottom cut off and the cap removed as a humidity tent.

Hang in there it will come back.