Raising body temperature (?) Anyone tried this?

[Wolfcub]

Something got me thinking today. I was remembering that throughout this (virus?) illness that didn't seem to want to go away, I was always cold.
I took my temperature regularly but it was always well below "normal". The lowest it was, was 35.7C (96.26 Fahrenheit) It was only 37C (98.6) once.
I always had a slightly below normal temperature. But it was weird to feel fluey and so basically cold with no fever at all -ever.

I hate heat. But the warmer weather helped my symptoms.

Then I wondered if I should have got a fever. That if I'd had one my immune system might have fought off what invaded me more efficiently.

Feeling rotten of course makes physical exertion inadvisable; the sort of exertion that might raise temperature. So resting, though it's the best idea also doesn't get that inner warmth going.

Has anyone tried raising body temperature, by whatever means....saunas or something? Or maybe another method.

I can imagine it would be hard to cope with that kind of heat onslaught. Getting that hot would probably make me feel worse, and for some people might make them feel very weak or faint.

But if anyone has tried something like that and found it helped afterwards, I would be very interested to hear about it.

 

[alex3619]

A little heat might help, but a little more could cause heat stroke or brain damage. Its a dangerous thing and most likely should be done with medical supervision.

I live in substandard housing. In high summer it can reach 51C or 124F for a part of the day. It does NOT help. It means that maintaining hydration becomes a priority, and keeping up salt intake is important. I use use two fans and an ice vest.

The other thing is that heat is only effective against acute viral infections. For most patients they will not be in this phase most of the time.

 

[caledonia]

If your temperature is running low, that is a symptom of thyroid and/or adrenal issues.

People with adrenal fatigue don't tolerate heat well. I've had issues with sauna, summer heat, etc. even though I replace my electrolytes four times a day.

I think it would be fine to take a warm shower to warm yourself up, but beyond that, not so much.

Check out the Stop the Thyroid Madness website for good info on thyroid and adrenals.

 

[Shoshana]

I wipe out with heat. I tried a few different types.
But I do get too cold or too hot, very easily.

Oh, heating ourselves could also stress any heart issue.

 

[Bansaw]

I have a personal sauna and I credit it with keeping me sickness free over the winter. When eveyone else has colds, I seem to be fine. I don't know how much it did for my CFS but I think it was a good buy for me.
I am careful not to do more than 30 mins otherwise the heat wipes me out somewhat, not PEM but a tiredness for short time afterwards. I sleep better tho.

 

[Wolfcub]

Yes I can imagine raising temperature might be mighty dangerous. I suppose it depends who you are and what issues are going on.
I was kind of curious I suppose.
I see your point @alex3619. Raised temperature would only help during the initial vial infection....yes of course.

My thyroid is okay @caledonia. I got that checked.

But like you @Shoshona, it is unpleasant for me to feel too hot. But I have been like that all my life even when healthy. I used to prefer cold, loved the snow for instance. The last time I enjoyed the snow was March 17 this year, walking in an ice storm and feeling strong.
Then 10 days after that I turned cold and sick.

It's great that your sauna helps you @Bansaw. You seem to have found the perfect balance with using it.

 

[Shoshana]

Just a posting tip for you, @Wolfcub

If you want to "tag" someone, so they are alerted to your post, then type the @ and just begin/ start the first few letters of their username, and then select (click on) their name where it comes up, so that if you misspell it, or get a space by mistake, you do get the person tagged.

Shoshana

 

[Wolfcub]

Oh thank you Shoshana. That will be helpful.

 

[Mel9]

My Lyme specialist doctor suggested I take saunas to help kill my infection. I think it might be working. I notice that regular saunas have helped with my POTS and peripheral neuropathy symptoms, although the sublingual VitB12 I started around the same time would also have that effect.

The most exciting change is increased body temperature from 34.5C to 36C. Whenever my legs feel ‘frozen’, a 60 minute sauna (started at 60C but now up to 85C!) helps enormously, although it does make me feel ‘tired’ in a not too distressing way.

My doctor says that local raised temperature will be aiding the antibiotics in killing the Borrelia. As a side effect, my PEMs seem to be getting less and less severe(for now - nothing is guaranteed with this mad Lyme/ME combination disease).

Added: to add to the confusion, I have also been taking cumin tea twice daily to limit my PEM (thanks @Wishful) - it had no effect on body temperature but did lessen my PEM

 

[caledonia]

My thyroid is okay @caledonia. I got that checked.

Just mentioning this, just in case.

Thyroid issues can be tricky to diagnose. Generally, the doc will order a TSH test which will look normal, and they'll pronounce that your thyroid is fine. However, if you get the full thyroid panel, there may be abnormalities.

I had a normal TSH and several doctors pronounced my thyroid was fine, even though I had symptoms like low temperature, dry hair and so forth. My good doc did the whole panel and found sky high antibodies. He diagnosed me with autoimmune thyroiditis, and put me on Armour thyroid.

 

[Wolfcub]

Okay @caledonia ...I am now getting a better picture of the trickiness of diagnosing this. I am sorry, I answered to your other post on the thread about anxiety, and said the doc had told me thyroid was fine re: blood results. But now I hear you about it needing further testing.
Thank you very much indeed for all your input and ideas.
How are you doing by the way? I hope you are not too bad.

 

[caledonia]

Okay @caledonia ...I am now getting a better picture of the trickiness of diagnosing this. I am sorry, I answered to your other post on the thread about anxiety, and said the doc had told me thyroid was fine re: blood results. But now I hear you about it needing further testing.
Thank you very much indeed for all your input and ideas.
How are you doing by the way? I hope you are not too bad.

Ok, I just replied to your other post. The Dr. Rind temperature graph is a cheap way to figure out if you have thyroid or adrenal issues or both.

I'm actually doing pretty well in the scheme of things - I finally got officially diagnosed with sleep apnea, and cpap treatment has been very helpful for getting decent sleep. Other than that, as long as I pace myself, I feel ok, even though I'm mostly housebound.