Low Body Temperature

[radiohfan23]

I am going to see a new doctor as I suspect Lyme disease could have caused my POTS outbreak. One thing in prep he's had me do is take periodic temperature readings. I'm consistently low ranging from 96-97.5 degrees. From what I've researched it is consistent with Lyme disease to have this. I also have a low WBC which is also consistent with Lyme.

Does anyone else have low or abnormal body temperatures?

thanks,

Joe

[sandymbme]

My body temp always runs low. My normal is about yours, 96.5 (or so) to about 97.5. I can have horrific infectious illnesses like pneumonia, and never get over 99 degrees. Body temp is another autonomic function, though, so I am not really surprised mine doesn't work as it ought to. I personally do not have Lyme, or have any suspicion about having it, so no connection there for me.

Sandy

[s-pot]

That is really interesting Sandyshelll!! i never considered that aspect of Autonomic dysfunction.

I have had years of constant severe infections, chest, lungs throat etc etc but it has always puzzled me how i could be so ill so often, require so many antibiotics but never have a high temp!!

Makes sum sense now...ive only been diagnosed in April with POTS buts Its like putting a puzzle together all the time since i got diagnosed. You pick up little things here and there and suddenly life long illness/symptoms that always went unanswered all fit in the POTS pot!!

Shedding alot of light on how long this has gone undiagnosed!!

[HopeSprings]

Yes, low body temperature here too.

[songcanary]

Before diagnosis, I had mid day temps ranging anywhere from 94.0 to 97.0, they were very erratic. Now I average around 97.5.

[Tarastomsgirl]

yep I range in the 96.4-97.5 range consistently. Every time I go to the ER or doc I'm assured to have it checked more than once cause they think its wrong.

[Katybug]

Yep...have had Lyme and Babesia and also have chronically low temp. 97.1 is my normal temp these days.

The only time in 4 yrs I have gotten a fever was when my kidneys shut down and I became septic from having a kidney stone lodged in a ureter (caused a horrendous inflammatory reaction which caused the kidney issues and infection.) I was really, really sick and in the hospital for several days.

I was also just reading that chronically low temp can also be a symptom of thyroid issues (which I just found out I have).

[IDreamInColor]

My temp bounces back and forth, it can be 97.1, and an hour later it jumps to 99.9.

[Kate2011]

I have low temp too. (It's so weird to suddenly be able to relate to people by the way, this forum is great!) I run at about 97 or so most days. The last time I had a fever along with my flu I had Swine Flu and it spiked to 104. Normally a fever for me is about 99. I hardly ever break 100.

[icesktr189]

The last fever I had was 104 and that was when I had active Epstein Barr (mono) for 5 days it was horrrible.

[Beckles]

I don't have such a low body temperature but it is very erratic. A while ago I was learning about using body temps to predict ovulation and the people teaching me were shocked at how erratic my temperature was. I wouldn't be surprised if it was another POTS symptom but it doesn't really bother me much.

[gertie]

Mine runs from 95 - 97. What I find strange is if I use an ear thermometer mine will be 100. I thought it was my

therm but others have tried it & they are normal.

[kmichaelson]

Add another to the low temperature list! Mine is usually 96-97 degrees. When I had mono it was as high as 104, but usually when I'm sick the highest it gets is about 100.

I wonder if having low body temperature is related then to autonomic dysfunction somehow? It seems like something the autonomic nervous system would control!

[brethor9]

there are days my body temp is so deregulated I have to have 3 baths in one day just to try to keep my core temp up....it is agonizing on those days and its an internal cold not something easily fixed by throwing on a warm blanket

Bren

[friday7]

First I am not too surprised to see so many people with this illness having low temps. I too run low, about 96.5 on average. What I would like to know is how do you get the doctors to accept this. Is there some way to get this verified? Some way of getting this diagnosed, for lack of a better word. It is much like a diagnosis because if you tell someone I have thyroid disease, they are not going to take you seriously without a diagnosis.

But with the low temp. No one takes it seriously. Which is a problem when you've got a fever. I can tell the doctor that I normally have a low temp and explain why, and how this is not uncommon with P.O.T.S. or CFS. and even when they say okay, they still say it's not a fever unless it's over 100 degrees. Well, how do you deal with that? Being that I normally run about 96.5, when I get to 98.6 I feel like I have a fever. Makes sense since if I had a normal temp of 98.6 I'd have a fever at 100.6

I keep thinking if you had some kind of paper signed by a doctor or something maybe they would then treat you according to your personal temp. But my problem is most of the time when I see a doctor I'm sick. I have an inner ear condition that is in need of surgery but until I can get that done, I have on again off again infections. So my temp is usually 97. something or 98. something when I see my GP..but it's usually lower than normal still..unless the infection is really really bad at that time.

Still I would like to know if anyone has had it documented somehow and do you have a doctor that accepts that you feel you have a fever although your temp is lower than normal.

[Katybug]

It's a question I have asked in my head many times, friday7. Now that I have a POTS diagnosis, I think I'll ask it out loud. I have all 3 of my docs appts coming up between now and Dec. 5. I'll see if I can get an answer from them about what we can tell medical professionals to help them understand that it is not normal and 99 degrees is an elevated temp for us.

I do understand why it is not a concern for most docs...the 100 degrees is the temp at which certain life-sustaining chemical reactions stop and certain harmful chemical reactions begin, so that is one of the concerns with a fever. The big question for me is...how many of these standard measurements are where our POTSy bodies start and stop reacting because I feel like my body reactes opposite of the way a healthy body does. I often have a drop in my temp these days when I get sick with something like the flu. ???

I'll follow up on this link if I get any good answers from the docs.

[sue1234]

My temp is also low. It ranges from 95.5 to 98, but usually sits around 97.something. HOWEVER, I always FEEL like I should be 101 !!! I am always soooo hot all the time. My thyroid levels are really good, so mine isn't connected to the thyroid.

Back before POTS, I used to take my temp periodically. It used to sit at 99 to 99.5. I didn't feel as hot then as I do now being low. It doesn't make any sense.

[friday7]

Katybug, I'd be interested in what your docs have to say.

So far I havne't found one that will really listen as far as the temp goes. I've had a temp of 98 or higher every night this week and I feel terrible. I had an ear infection so it makes sense but I've been taking these ear drops for two weeks and I Feel worse now and I'm thinking maybe i should have gotten oral antibiotics instead.

so I 'm goign to see the ENT next week. I'm hoping this will clear up by then otherwise I have to explain the low temp thing to yet another doc and I just get so nervous cause I'm afraid of the brush off, and I know I'm sick..I turn red every night.

And I dread having to explain the low temp thing to yet another doctor.

[rubytuesday]

I have always run low temp around 97, but sometimes lower to such degree that the nurses have to warm up my fingers before the temp will register on the finger gadget. I imagine that now I am on vasoconstrictors, it will register lower. I was tested for Lymes and it was negative. Nor did I have thymus, thyroid or adrenal problems.

[blueskies]

Hi,

I have low body temperature always but I feel overheated most of the time?

I have never gotten a doc to take my body temperature seriously. Not sure why they won't address it with me. The one doc I haven't asked is my pots doc. He's the person to ask and yet I forget.

blue

[Katybug]

So I asked the cardiologist today what temp I should consider a fever since my new norm is 97.1. She said..."Good question!" She said she considers a temp of 101 degrees to be of concern in normal, healthy adults, so she feels that if mine (running about 1.5 degrees below the norm) hits 100 degrees, I should be on the phone to one of my docs that understands and is involved with my POTS treatment. She was very honest and said that she has never had the need to even think about this issue with any of her other patients but that it is a valid concern.

I'll let you know what the other two say as the appts. happen.

[Frugalmama]

The normal ranges that doctors use tend a bit problematic whenever you're not the norm. My BP is normally 90/60, so if I get a reading at 140/85, that's really high for me and I have major symptoms....but for another person, it's not a big deal. well, at least we're all unique!

[friday7]

thanks Katybug, for telling us what you doctor said. it's great that you have at least one doctor that understands. i was wondering if there is anywhere on the web in any studies or anything written by doctors that mentions low body temp and POTS...or at least low body temps and CFS. I feel like if at least there's someplace official in some way that states that it is common for patients with POTS or CFS to have a low temp..at least that would be something to show the doc.

I looked at potsplace to see if it listed it under symptoms and it did not.