# Every last fever symptom, but no fever. WTF, body?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 5, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168 "2008-05-05T18:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/1 "2008-05-05T18:42:14Z")
Yeah, yeah, I know the human body is supposedly a marvel of engineering and flexibility, blah blah blah. Right now, I don’t want to hear it. I’m a grown man, and I understand what symptoms typically accompany a fever. I think I have them all: - Chills and goosebumps, even though it’s not cold and I’m wearing a sweater. - Watery eyes - That floaty feeling when I walk - Body aches - I _feel_ warm, to myself - Physical weakness and general lethargy Yet our thermometer tells me I have only the tiniest fever: barely over 100. And it’s not just the thermometer; my wife, feeling my forehead in time-honored tradition, says I don’t feel warm. WTF? Now I feel like a third-grader trying to play the “I don’t feel well” card even though he feels perfectly fine. Except I don’t feel fine – I feel sick as shit. I feel sick as a dog who’s really fucking sick. On top of the fevery crap, I also have a massive head cold. The crap cemented in my nostrils could shatter a diamond drill-bit. And my cold has also violated our long-standing agreement whereby I always get one nostril to breathe through. No, this time, half my nose is sealed tighter than a Pharaoh’s tomb, and the other one requires forced evacuation every 3 minutes. Add a sore throat and wheezy chest cough, and I’m a regular museum of flu symptoms. But, hey, at least I don’t have a fever! :rolleyes: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/2 "2008-05-05T19:07:42Z")
Sympathies… ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/3 "2008-05-05T19:09:51Z")
The fact that you are a man says it all…you have ManFlu…basically a cold in a woman’s eyes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/4 "2008-05-05T19:26:04Z")
What’s your usual body temperature, though? Mine usually runs cool, around 97.5, so a 100 degree temperature, while not life-threatening, means a little more to me. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/5 "2008-05-05T19:28:49Z")
Normal body temperature is 96-98.4 so 97.5 is perfect…you should be proud! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/6 "2008-05-05T19:52:02Z")
A nitpick, but a fever is a high body temperature. You can’t have a fever without having a fever. I think you mean you have every flu symptom except a fever. ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/7 "2008-05-05T20:35:10Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] A nitpick, but a fever is a high body temperature. You can’t have a fever without having a fever. I think you mean you have every flu symptom except a fever. [/QUOTE] I’m going to nitpick your nitpick: yes, I know what a fever is. That list of symptoms includes all the things _other than a high body temperature_ that I typically suffer when I have a high body temperature. Thus the word “accompany” in the OP. Not that I’m usually snippy toward nitpickers, but I’m sick, dammit, and cannot be expected to be nice. :mad: Also, my healthy body temperature is about 99.2. And an aside: with two young kids now ages 3 years and 8 months, I sure do get more colds than I did in my childless years. For the love of Og, do you cute little rats have to bring home every last bug from pre-school and daycare? Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/8 "2008-05-05T22:44:23Z")
I sympathize with you! I too feel like complete crap, but without the fever. (In my case, I live with my teenage daughter and her baby, who attends daycare at my daughter’s high school - a new germ every week it seems!) At least I’m keeping food down, which is an improvement over my weekend. Get well, soon and fuck being nice while sick! ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/9 "2008-05-06T00:52:11Z")
Have you been working (or whatever) too much? When I get really exhausted, I have the same problems. A GOOD night’s sleep will usually right the ship, IME. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/10 "2008-05-06T00:56:11Z")
If I may ask, do you have what we call “hangage” at our house. You know, are your balls hanging way low? As the mother of a pre-pubescent son, I rely on that over a thermometer. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/11 "2008-05-06T01:03:31Z")
I thought that over 100 degrees was considered a low-grade fever. I know I feel like crap when my temperature is 100, and I’ve even noticed at 99. My normal temp is about 97.6. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/12 "2008-05-06T01:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Tamex] I thought that over 100 degrees was considered a low-grade fever. I know I feel like crap when my temperature is 100, and I’ve even noticed at 99. My normal temp is about 97.6. [/QUOTE] A fever is a Celsius temperature \>38 degrees, or a Fahrenheit temperature \>100.4 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/13 "2008-05-06T01:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=ANeverEndingRose] Normal body temperature is 96-98.4 so 97.5 is perfect…you should be proud! [/QUOTE] Well then where do we get 98.6? (::learns something new every day:🙂 (off to wikipedia) ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/14 "2008-05-06T05:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] Have you been working (or whatever) too much? When I get really exhausted, I have the same problems. A GOOD night’s sleep will usually right the ship, IME. Joe [/QUOTE] This is pretty much the problem, right here. There’s anothing good pitting I should make sometime, targeted at myself for not getting enough sleep. Full-time job + 2 small children + house chores and bills + crazy number of hobbies I’m not willing to give up = 5-6 hours of sleep per night on average. It’s been that way for about 3 years. Every day I tell myself I have to cut back on the hobbies and get more sleep. It’s been that way for about 3 years. Damn, I suck… …but not as much as this nose-fucking headcold! I swear, if I detonated a stick of dynamite in my left nostril right now, the only remains would be a bloody smear and an unblemished chunk of hardened snot the size of my sinus cavity. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/15 "2008-05-06T05:46:27Z")
FDA Warning: Dynamite is not a drug and is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose any disease. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/16 "2008-05-06T06:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=ANeverEndingRose] Normal body temperature is 96-98.4 so 97.5 is perfect…you should be proud! [/QUOTE] I thought it was 98.6? Have I been lied to all these years? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/17 "2008-05-06T07:03:07Z")
[QUOTE=chaoticbear] FDA Warning: Dynamite is not a drug and is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose any disease. [/QUOTE] …more than once. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-last-fever-symptom-but-no-fever-wtf-body/448168/18 "2008-05-06T16:23:28Z")
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve had the same thing. Did you by any chance recently stop using heroin?