Okay, I’ve been ill for 4-5 days. Weirdly no respiratory stuff. No real symptoms. But when I take my temperature it’s been low, like 96F.something each time.
I’m shivering - seriously cold. My home office is right now 73F, and I’m wearing a fleece and I can’t stop shivering. It’s awful!
Why would I feel very cold when my temperature is below normal? Why would my temperature be so low in the first place??
Yes, you are not my doctor. I don’t feel this is serious enough to seek one yet. I do have that option if needed. I’m just quite puzzled!
You should see a doctor. No respiratory illness with low body temp could be things like thyroid disorders, anemia, circulatory issues, etc. Doctor stuff.
Because your temperature is below normal. See a doctor.
When to See a Healthcare Provider
If you don’t have hypothermia but consistently have a body temperature below 97 degrees F, or you constantly feel cold, talk to your healthcare provider.
I assume you are measuring oral temperature; in which case a consistent measurement of 96 °F is at the very low end of ‘normal’. If this isn’t usual for you, you should definitely seek medical assessment. This could be indicative of a number of conditions including subcritical hypothyroidism or an initial stage of septicemia which need medical attention before they progress to serious health threats.
I should add that I’ve been through this multiple times: low temps and chills, lasts for days then A-OK. Usually comes with respiratory stuff though. This time just terrible chills and trouble sleeping as I freeze.
To be more explicit, your core body temperature is below normal, that is why you feel very cold. That you don’t see that relationship is worrisome. See a doctor.
Hey, Stranger! Thanks for popping in! Always neat to see you about.
I’ve always been low temp - 98.point-nothing to 97’s. High 96 is unusual, but doesn’t panic me. More that I’m sick of freezing my butt and want to know why.
I don’t agree that it’s worrisome at all. He’s right: chills are usually associated with high body temperatures. And, when you have a fever, and your temperature starts going down, you often wind up with hot flashes.
So it’s entirely understandable to think that you would feel warm when your body temperature is below normal. What is missed is the reason why you get chills when you have a fever.
The reason you get chills is (1) to engage the shivering reflex that will heat up your body more and (2) to encourage behaviors that will increase body temperature. You get hot flashes for the opposite reason, to encourage you to do things that will decrease your body temperature.
So, you get chills when you have a fever, but you can also get chills when your body temperature is low. The key part is that your body temperature is lower than it should be.
@squeegee: Chills mean your body is trying to make you warmer. So, yes, they can happen with low body temperatures. And they are generally a sign that something is wrong, especially if they last longer than a couple days.
I’ll just contribute (and say this should probably be in IMHO for medical, right?) and agree with the majority - if this was a one-off thing, I’d say try to get warm enough once and see if you were able to keep at a comfortable temp. Sometimes when my wife gets chilled, she can’t just get warm on her own - an electric blanket for an hour, or a soak in a hot bath and she’s up to temp and can keep it up with blankets, heavier clothing.
But this is an ongoing issue for several days based on your posts. It isn’t a one time thing or anything you should shrug off. So yeah, get warm with an electric blanket, or a few Hoteez or something in the meantime, but make that appointment. Or heck, if you have health insurance, blow the ($50?$75$100) co-pay and go to a doc-in-the-box for a more detailed temp check and advice.
Thanks, T! I’m going to give it a couple more days before seeking a doc. It’s weird to go to the doctor when I have no symptoms aside from feeling shitty and freezing my ass off. I mean a doc going to do what with that complaint? Exactly nothing. OK, prescription strength acetaminophen, big whoop. So tuffing it out seems pretty reasonable.
Your explanation of my chills addresses most of my OP, and thanks. It does still seem super weird to be freezing at low body temp. I should feel burning up like a lady in menopause. (not trying to equate my experience with any lady!!!)
I guess I was going for “my body temp is low, why am I feezing!!!” FQ thing. But you’re correct: maybe more appropriate for IMHO or MPSIMS.
As above I’ll wait a couple days before calling a doc. I have options. It’s just my symptoms are are so non-specific at this point I hesitate to even bother. “Doc, I’m freezing ass but I’m not running a temp” isn’t really a conversation worth having. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Check your blood pressure. Check your chest. Check your throat. Check your eyes. Check your extremities. You know - doctor stuff.
Are you afraid he’ll make fun of you for coming? He’s a doctor. He sees ugly naked people all the time, and doesn’t make fun of them. He won’t make fun of you.
In other words, you say you don’t need to see a doctor, but as you are not a doctor yourself, you’re hardly qualified to make that decision, are you? Let the professionals do their job.
We can’t force you to go, and appreciate the whole “not want to look silly thing” but we’d feel worse if you missed something serious developing. Please at least consider the Doc-in-the-box option especially if there’s a delay to see you PCP: little to no waiting, and as we’re approaching prime cold/flu season, it’s only going to get harder to see anyone.
If nothing else, take a page from my wife and see if getting out of the chilled zone (via bath, piles of blankets, whatever it takes) for a few hours allows to to keep the chill away with medium to heavy clothing. Because if you can’t get to a comfy temp and keep it there after that… we worry. And perhaps check your thermometer to make sure you’re getting an accurate reading.
Are you ff-ing kidding me? I have IMO good insurance, and I’m afraid I’ll get billed 1 to 3 hundred dollars to talk to a doctor at all for something that may not be a big deal. Why the hell would I not take a long hard look at whether I should go at all?
If you’re in a UHC area, hell yes! – high five and you rock! BUT I’m not there and seeing a doctor is fucking expensive.
