Low Body Temperature

[PattiL]

I know this topic has been posted before--but, Chrissy's been feeling really crappy lately and now her temp. (armpit) has gone as low as 92.8. I don't know if the thermometer is wacko or what. Her normal temp. is around 96-97. She said she feels really warm on her entire body, except her feet (which are always cold). When I feel her head, she doesn't feel warm, or cold for that matter!! I can usually tell if one of the kids has a fever by touch. She has vertigo right now, burning eyes, diarrhea, and what the Dr. thinks is Vasomotor Rhinitis.

Any ideas on what the deal could be on this really low temp.?

Patti

[pat57]

all I can offer is the instructions............

How do I take Armpit Temperature?

You could follow the procedures shown below:

1. Wash the oral thermometer in soap and water and dry it.

2. Shake the mercury down into the bulb.

3. Wipe the armpit dry.

4. Place the bulb next to the skin in the deepest part of the armpit.

5. Hold the child's arm against the body to keep the thermometer in place.

6. Remove it after 3 to 4 minutes.

7. Read the temperature and add 0.5 degree celsius (to correct for the lower

external body temperature).

[Guest tearose]

Wow, that is unusual even for us.

I don't know what that would be.

I hope you can figure it out and I hope Chrissy get's well soon.

best regards,

tearose

[ajw4790]

Have any of her meds been changed up etc? I had a time a few months ago where I was freezing and could not get warm and my temp was always low. Not quite that low, but 95-96 degrees. I think I was told if it gets below 93 degrees go to the ER. I think mine was caused by trying Melatonin and my body did not like it at all! Also, maybe check the thermometer to just make sure. Also, it is important to note she runs low anyways. But, even at that you don't want to get too low.

Hope you find some answers and if it goes much lower maybe try to seek medical attention.

[PattiL]

Thanks for your replies. First off, I think I'm going to toss the thermometer. It's one of those digital types. I'm going to go back to the old mercury standby and see if there's a difference.

Off to the store....I'll let you know the outcome.

Patti

[Sunfish]

the digital thermometers are good...when they work. with a wacky reading, though, particularly one that doesn't seem to correspond to symptoms, my first thought would be to make sure it's not the thermometer. additionally, some digitals aren't meant for use under the arm so that may be an issue. is there a reason you can't take it by mouth? even if the thermometer is working well you may not be getting a good reading under the arm. and/ or even if she is technically cold under the arm but isn't by mouth (aka systemically) it may indicate a different issue (i.e. something with circulation) than if her systemic body temp is super low.

i tend to run low (97) and have gotten down to 95 at times but 93 is really low so i'd definitely be concerned about the thermometer itself. we keep several in the house b/c if something's really off on ALL of them we know it's me and not the thermometer (i.e. the time i had 107 fever); they're not expensive (at least most aren't anyway) so it's an easy back-up to keep in place.

i have a few thoughts if it does end up to be a temp issue (rather than a thermometer issue) but i'll wait for updated info before rambling on in that regard.

regardless of the temp issue, though, sorry to hear that chrissy hasn't been at her best & hope she's feeling at least a bit better soon!

melissa

[Ernie]

Hi,

I would check the thermometer on someone who is healthy in the house and take the temperature in the mouth. If the temperature is normal then I would try it again on the sick daughter in her mouth.

If her temperature is really low I would go to the ER.

[PattiL]

Melissa, it's so nice to hear from you. How are you feeling? How's the family? When we see Grubb this summer we'll be sure to call you before hand to see if you'd like some company again.

I found another thermometer around the house and we took her temp by mouth and it's 98. Whew! It's still around 95.5 under her arm though, and it's been fluctuating between 92.8 and 95.5. I can't remember the last time I took their temp. by mouth! Isn't that ridiculous? I feel so stupid. My kids haven't gotten a fever in so long and Chrissy's is always low--anyway, Thank God it's normal. There's too many other things going on with her right now, she surely didn't need this. Any ideas on how to help her vertigo, Melissa? I have to call the ENT Dr. tomorrow to see if these flu symptoms and vertigo are related to the new meds. Here we go again....

Thanks to everyone for responding so quickly!

Patti

[Sunfish]

hi patti -

glad to hear that you can at least check this one issue of the list of "things that need to be dealt with"! i owe more people an update than i can count so will try to post one soon, here and/or on my website. in short, i'm a mess in many realms (pain, infections, dysmotility, nutrition, etc) but in some ways am doing better than i should be considering? i know that doesn't really doesn't tell you much of anything, but i don't want to take over this post with my ramblings so will leave it at that for the moment.

it's always good to see you though so definitely do let us know whenever you're in town and able to squeeze in a visit. we (my mom & i) were actually in cleveland last week (at cleveland clinic) for two days. we thought it was going to be one really long day but it ended up being two; since we didn't know that we weren't prepared to stay over (largely in terms of what i would have needed medically...not the sort of stuff that can be picked up at the store easily!). the back-to-back day trips were definitely exhausting and wouldn't have allowed for any visiting, but there may be some additional cleveland visits on the agenda in the near future so you'll have to refresh my memory again re: how close/ far you all are from the city? there's a slight chance that an inpatient stay may even happen so i'll definitely let you know if that happens in an unashamed plea for visitors!!

and nope, i unfortunately don't have any words of wisdom in the vertigo department. you may want to post that question separately as i know a few members have dealt with it more extensively and thus might have something more to offer. a search is certain to bring up some past discussions too so that's an option if you're up for some searching/ reading through of old posts. thankfully vertigo has been one thing that hasn't been a huge issue for me over the years. i've dealt with it just enough to know it's miserable, but only in more acute realms, i.e. inner ear infections & a reaction to a med that i shouldn't have been on in the first place (when a doc was convinced i had epilepsy many years back). for that reason though i definitely wouldn't rule out the possibility the it's med related so am glad to hear you're planning to call the ENT to ask about that; in the mean time have you checked the full prescribing info yourself? i've never been unable to find that info online (though sometimes it's an easier find than others!)

melissa

[sarct]

I suffered 6 months with vertigo, because I lumped it into my episode symptoms. The doctors were at a loss. Turns out I just had wax in my ears. The docotrs saw the wax, but never got it out. I finally went to an ent and she cleaned it out real good. Told me to knock it off with the Q-tips (I get crazy with them) because I was packing the wax into my ear.

It hurt like crazy when she washed the wax out. She didn't know why it hurt as it usually doesn't hurt people (her words). The next day I was totally fine.

I am not saying this is the issue with your daughter (I am a Christina BTW), but I thought I would throw it out there for you to maybe check. They actually had me doing pt for inner ear conditioning and all I needed was my ears cleaned.

[PattiL]

Melissa,

Please do let us know when you're in Cleveland again. If Chrissy's feeling up to it, and of course, if you are, we could come down there to visit. We're only about 40 minutes away. My youngest son Nick, is down at Case, so we could always hang out with him if you were running late with an appt. or something. We could meet in Little Italy, which is two minutes from the hospital. OK, I'm getting carried away...let us know when your next visit is and hopefully we can get together! Our appt. with Grubb isn't until August.

Talk to you soon.

Patti

[juliegee]

PattiL,

When my son was at his worst, his temp (orally) was often below 95, (like 94.6) never 93! At that time, he would also complain of being very hot (except for his feet.) His feverish complaint is what prompted me to check his temp. And then I was shocked by how low it was. He would sleep alot and his HR was around 39. It almost seemed as if his body had gone into a hibernation state. The docs at the ER freaked out the first time I brought him. They thoroughly checked out his heart and chocked it up to weird atonomic stuff. In retrospect, I think he had a bacterial overgrowth in his GI tract at the time that might have prompted the woerd symtoms. It took me a few weeks to figure it all out.

I share in hope that it might be helpful in trying to figure out Chrissy's stuff. Hope she's better soon.

Julie

[Sunfish]

hi patti -

just had a quick addition for you on the vertigo topic. i just had to look something up about a med i've been using intermittantly the past few months for nausea & noticed that it's also used/ indicated for vertigo so thought i'd mention it to you. it's a fairly short acting drug so might be an option for some relief even if the vertigo chrissy's dealing with is (hopefully) a short term issue (though obviously you'd want to rule out the med side effect possibility first). The med i'm referring to is Meclizine Hydrochloride (generic name); the name brand is Antivert. i've been using 25mg (via my J tube) as needed for increased nausea spikes (often in combination with zofran odt). it's nothing magic for me but does seem to help some without (for me) causing any added problems. obviously no way for me to know if it might help chrissy but thought i'd at least mention it as something that's helped me a bit without hurting.

melissa

[mrsdavidson8605]

Hi,

There IS a theory out there (not sure how valid it is) that low temp is a sign of a thing called type 2 hypothyroidism... not many doctors who do modern medicine agree with this, but some who believe in the wholistic approach say that this type of problem cannot be ruled out with a normal thyroid test and people who have it, have a very low body temperature in the mornings.... again, i'm not sure how much research is out there on this, but I read your post and thought I would share that...

[gelann]

I know this topic has been posted before--but, Chrissy's been feeling really crappy lately and now her temp. (armpit) has gone as low as 92.8. I don't know if the thermometer is wacko or what. Her normal temp. is around 96-97. She said she feels really warm on her entire body, except her feet (which are always cold). When I feel her head, she doesn't feel warm, or cold for that matter!! I can usually tell if one of the kids has a fever by touch. She has vertigo right now, burning eyes, diarrhea, and what the Dr. thinks is Vasomotor Rhinitis.

Any ideas on what the deal could be on this really low temp.?

Patti

Hi Patti, I just want to mention that my daughter Angela,25, has these huge temperature regulation problems. She can go from 93 to 103 occasionally within a very short time. This is all part of the autonomic disregulation. Her temperature problems started back in 1999 and the doctors kept looking for infections. No one understood what was going on until she started passing out a few years ago. At least we know what it is now. When the temperature is low, we try to warm her up with lots of blankets and when it is high she will put on her ice vest from Coolsport. It does help. We now understand from Dr. Grubb that this is one of the less common problems with dysautonomia. They did put her on pindolol to try to help control the temperature fluctuations. They occur less often.

I hope she feels better. Gelann