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Fever without a fever

Messages
59
I'm confused- my forehead's really hot, cheeks are red, my mum keeps telling me I'm burning up etc. yet my temperature is low (35.9). I seem to remember having this towards the end of my viral onset and I still have it on and off now.

I can bet if I tell my doctor she will just imply I'm being a hypochondriac with a body temperature obsession again.

What do you guys think is causing this? I was thinking it's either inflammation caused by a lingering infection or damage to the hypothalamus (also caused by a virus in my case).
 

Neunistiva

Senior Member
Messages
442
I have the exact same thing. I never tell my doctors.

I have no idea what it is. I am guessing it's just another weird symptom of ME/CFS, I don't think it's caused by a virus (I assume thermometer would pick that up if it was)
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
Not sure what causes it, but it seems to be super common.

There was that initial research from Jarred Younger showing that our ME brains are hotter than normal. From what I understand it takes a decent amount of metabolic energy to even raise the body temperature by one degree, perhaps being hypometabolic as the disease progresses we become unable to generate enough output for a full body fever, but maybe have just enough for the pyrogenic cytokines to cause our brains to warm up a bit and give all the other subjective symptoms that go along with fever.
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
Yeah, in my experience, you can feel considerably more feverish than a thermometer would indicate.

Perhaps it is an alteration in perception brought on by cytokines. Even in a normal infection, our perception of fever may have more to do with other aspects of the immune response rather than actual temperature.

I suppose the sensation might also be due to something akin to "flushing," where the blood vessel dilate and make the skin warmer without raising the internal temperature of the body.

Just guessing, of course.
 

MikeJackmin

Senior Member
Messages
132
I used to get this too. It felt, to me, exactly like a fever. Id ask somebody to touch my head and it felt to them exactly like I had a fever. And then the thermometer would read maybe 99F.
 

edawg81

Senior Member
Messages
142
Location
Upstate, NY
This is pretty constant for me and its up there with some of my most severe symptoms, it started abruptly a week after the triggering virus. Most of the time I have a cold pack on my head now. Its good to hear that the symptoms has improved for some people.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,679
Location
Alberta
I have this too. In the early stages, when I had a type IV food sensitivity, when my symptoms flared up, my temperature would reliably rise a few tenths of a degree C, up to a full degree at the most extreme. It's been a long time since I've measured it raised more than two tenths.

I've been wondering if the 'feel hot but the thermometer says I'm below normal' is an artifact of how we sense body temperature. I think I might be feeling feverish when my temperature is actually dropping, not when it's high or rising. Maybe our brain temperature is temporarily higher than the rest of the body.
 

knackers323

Senior Member
Messages
1,625
Does this hot sensation get worse with movement and the harder you have to exert yourself the worse it gets and the longer it will take to subside?
 

Invisible Woman

Senior Member
Messages
1,267
I get this too and it is really annoying.

I can feel really unbearably hot and sweaty but if someone else touches me I might feel cold to them. Occasionally I will feel very hot to them. When I take my temperature I am nearly always between 36 and 36.5 degrees C. Even on different thermometers.

Then I go through other phases where I am freezing cold and can't warm up. According to the thermometer my temperature is the same as usual.

I find if I have over done it through either physical or mental exertion I am more like to become very cold @knackers323. All I can do is rest and wait for it to pass.

The better I am and more stable my overall symptoms are the less likely I am to feel either extreme. The thermometer reading still stays fairly steady.

It's a puzzle :confused:
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,679
Location
Alberta
If knackers323's question was directed at me, the answer is no. I haven't noticed any factors, such as physical activity, that affects the 'false fever' feelings. I haven't made any effort to investigate it though.
 

Dechi

Senior Member
Messages
1,454
I get this too and it is really annoying.

I can feel really unbearably hot and sweaty but if someone else touches me I might feel cold to them. Occasionally I will feel very hot to them. When I take my temperature I am nearly always between 36 and 36.5 degrees C. Even on different thermometers.

Then I go through other phases where I am freezing cold and can't warm up. According to the thermometer my temperature is the same as usual.

I find if I have over done it through either physical or mental exertion I am more like to become very cold @knackers323. All I can do is rest and wait for it to pass.

The better I am and more stable my overall symptoms are the less likely I am to feel either extreme. The thermometer reading still stays fairly steady.

It's a puzzle :confused:

Same here ! I had this fever feeling all day today. My temperature is 36,5 but I feel hot amd my head feels heavy. I was also sneezing. Not allergy sneezing, but cold sneezing (yes, I can tell the difference :) )