I’ve been off work for three days with bad head cold/hacking dry cough. I’ve been going through cycles of chills and fever: so hot for a while that I throw off the blankets, then it switches and I’m bone cold.
Today, I felt warm all day, was wearing a shirt-sleeved shirt, no socks.
Then an hour ago it was like a switch was flipped and I had to put on a fleecy and thick wooden socks. Still not enough - I’m cold!
What causes those cycles?
When your body tries to raise your temperature to fight infection, the result is a fever, or elevated temperature. When your body wants to raise the temperature, you might start to shiver, which is the feeling of “chills.” Shivering is one way your body generates more heat. Your body reacts the same way whether you went outside without a jacket when it’s below freezing, or if it wants your temperature cranked up to 103F.
When your body decides the temperature can come back down, you feel hot, and sweat, in an effort to lose heat. Just like on a hot day.
An infection can mess with your homeostasis. The hypothalamus controls your temperature, and tries to maintain a constant temp. It makes you shiver when you are cold, and sweat when you are hot. It also plays a role in appetite and other things too. Infections mess with the hypothalamus. It can’t keep your body at a constant temperature very well. It thinks you are too hot, or too cold, and cranks up your internal heater, and makes you shiver, when you don’t really need to. It is also the reason (one of them) that you don’t want to eat when you are sick, or even occasionally get weird cravings when you are sick.
A fully-operational immune system. The latest battle of an ancient war is ablaze within you (keep hydrated, rest)
Thanks all.
That explains why I’ve not eaten anything today.
Fever, not so bad.
But, chills are horrible. Teeth chattering, goose bumps.
Sorry to hear of your discomfort.
Rest, drink liquids. You will pull through.
And my back is sore (he whined) from all the bed rest.
Chills and fevers? Malaria, pal. Get used to it as the US gets wetter and warmer. And Yellow Jack. And I’m hearing noises about Dengue. We who are genetically Northern European are screwed.
I get that on occasion even if I get a mild flu, well i’m guessing that is what it is, a strain that slipped by, because I get the shot. I once caught Hand Foot and Mouth disease from a kid, apparently I’ve never had it before, besides the blisters on my hands and feet (no mouth) it gave me fever and chills for 2 hours, Hot Cold Hot Cold Hot Cold, then subsided. No worries though, it should go away.
Where can I get a pair of wooden socks? 
And what is this about Dengue? I am of Central and Northern Europe genetically, I do not want that.
Are you in love?
Canada. Maple or birch are the best. Never wear out.
Bah, the maple are too stick and the birch are extremely flammable and don’t last. What you want is a good pair of oak. They’re a bit heavier but last forever if you treat them right. 
Agh. Now I’m sweating like a pig. Kicked off my wooden sox and pulled off the fleecy.
Sorry you’re having a rough time. It’s miserable to keep doing those cycles over and over.
The “chills and fever” name is kind of misleading. The part where you feel like you have chills is where the fever is starting and the “fever” part where you feel hot and sweaty is when the fever is subsiding. The middle part for me is awful, where you have hot, dry skin and the brain doesn’t work so well and it’s hard to get good sleep.
Thanks. I think I’m gradually getting over it.
I’ve heard that my secretary at work has just today come back after having the same hacking cough and related symptoms, and that a co-worker who was in a meeting with me the day i came down with it is now off. I feel like Typhoid Mary.
Are pigs particularly sweaty animals, by the way?
I’ve always heard that don’t even have sweat glands. I’ve also heard that reasoning for them rolling in mud (to cool off).
A nurse friend told me that feeling chills means your temperature is rising.
This fits in with my personal experiences.
A lot of stuff seems to be going around.
I had a hellish episode last week, it came on in the morning. Spiked a high fever, violent vomiting and diarrhea- I was so weak I just collapsed on the bathroom floor because the 15 foot trek from sofa to bathroom was just too much. Even a sip of liquid set off an awful bout of dry heaving.
But at around 5PM I managed to keep down a glass of Gatorade and a a couple of Advil. And I was better the next morning although I needed another day to stay home. I rehydrated that day and ate very small meals very couple of hours .
Then I was back to my full schedule the next day.
That’s my pattern. I hardly ever get sick, but when I do I fall HARD but recover fast. A couple of times in the past I got way sicker than this and ended up dragging myself into the ER, where they always freaked out and admitted me. It’s always the fever that scares them. I hardly ever spike a fever but when I do it’s in the 103-104 range. Then within a day I would be completely recovered but stuck in the hospital trying to get them to release me, which usually took another day.
Tzigone is correct. Pigs don’t sweat at all. If you keep them, you must provide them with a wallow so they can control their body temperature in hot weather.
It’s also what makes them so destructive in the wild. They will sully a water source very quickly in by rooting in their efforts to make a wallow.
I hope you feel better soon!