Freezing!?!?!?

[Crohn'sGirl]

Hey guys want to get people's opinion about something I am dealing with almost on a daily/weekly basis. There are days I would say are "bad" days. They usually consist of constant trips to the bathroom every 10 minutes with diarrhea or days with trips to the bathroom and constipation. After I leave the bathroom about half way into the mornings I start getting really really cold and chilled. My body is burning to the touch and I usually have about a 103 degree fever that I can not get down but I am so cold I usually get in the bed with fleece pants, fleece socks, slippers, tee shirts and a fleece bathrobe. I also get under our regular sheet and comforter and usually end up with another comforter on top plus two thinner blankets on top of that. The house is not freezing, only stays on 74. Here's the deal, I live in South Florida where it is about 90 by 10 am. I get so cold and cannot warm up I go sit outside in the direct sunlight in 95+ degree weather in a sweatshirt and long pants and socks. My teeth are chattering and I just cannot warm up my body which then makes me feel like I have to go to the bathroom. Now also I sit outside in this weather for probably over 30 minutes and cannot warm up! Sometimes this cold feeling and not being able to get warm lasts for about 8 hours! Then as soon as it hit me I get hot and start sweating. I change into shorts and a tank top and drink tons of freezing cold water but my body is not warm to touch. I do not know what is going on. Does this happen to anyone else? Or something similar? Any help I would appreciate. My GI is running tests to see how bad my anemia is, but I do not think it is just my anemia!

 

[Trysha]

sounds like chills and fever---usually goes with infection of some kind.
good that your GI is involved and hopefully he /she will soon resolve the problem for you.
Hugs
Trysha

 

[DustyKat]

Trysha is right, what you are experiencing are rigors and they accompany a high fever. They are a complex reflex response and when you start sweating you have effectively broken your fever and your body is able to regulate it's temperature in a normal way again.

Anaemia may well play a part in you feeling cold at times but anaemia does not cause rigors, infection does and usually a bacterial infection. Your GI needs to start looking for a source of infection. It may be that it is from your gut as I think you are flaring, that is right isn't it? or perhaps an abscess?

Dusty. xxx

 

[Crohn'sGirl]

My GI actually did mention the possibility of an abscess or fistula being the cause of my infection. He did mention he thought I had an infection and had me get blood work drawn and a CT scan with contrast done to figure some more information out. Good to know I'm on the right track for once!

 

[archie]

I was like that last year when I had an abscess, I lived in a hot bath to get some heat into me and then was the opposite at night. That's all stopped now the abscess has gone, it's def a sign that your body is fighting infection.

 

[EmAitch88]

you need to not layer up like that. it just prolongs the fever. i know the last thing you wanna do is take a cold bath, but you may have to do that sometimes. i remember my sister giving me a cold bath when i was little with a really high fever. i was crying and crying...at least, i know that's what you should do when you have a fever when you're sick. not sure about infection.....? i dunno. i hope you get it all figured out!

 

[DustyKat]

Hey Em,

You are right hun, it's not always good to layer up too much but you shouldn't take a cold bath either when you have rigors as it will increase shivering and raise your temperature further. It is best to have a lukewarm bath.

Dusty. xxx

 

[handle]

Hi,
I used to get that dreadful shivering and cold (rigor) whenever I flared. It doesn't mean you have any infection at all if it is autoimmune related. The brain sets a new higher temperature for the body as it thinks there is an infection, even though it is actually the crohns immune response. Shivering is a way to raise the body temperature in order to reach the new level. Paracetamol is the best thing to take, and definitely try to get your body up to the higher temperature point (though I always found that really hard) where the shivering will finally ease and sweating begins. When you get the Crohns under control that stuff will stop.
Good luck.

 

[toml99]

I agree with Handle. I run low grade fevers off and on, and occasionally they spike. My GI's comment is, "Of course you do -- you have Crohn's." Apparently my body bumps up my temperature as part of my autoimmune response to an invasion that of course isn't there.

Same with the chills -- they are part of a high fever, but just as importantly they are part of the complex internal train wreck that we experience with CD. I get them a lot, even in the summer. Following are explanations from several websites --

Feeling cold and chilled is frequently the first sign of an infection. The body's immune system is compromised and weakened and coldness often sets in. Stress on the body, fever and anemia can cause a person to feel cold as the body attempts to reset to a normal body temperature.

Chills are caused by a wide variety of infectious diseases, some of which are common, such as the flu. In some cases, chills can be due to an inflammatory condition, such as an allergic reaction, or an autoimmune disease, such as lupus. Chills and fever can accompany certain cancers as well.

Inflammatory causes of chills
Chills can also be caused by inflammatory conditions including:
•Allergic reaction

•Blood transfusion reaction

•Inflammatory bowel disease (includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)

Hang in there, and best of luck.

 

[Kit]

I have run a low grade fever on and off for almost 4 weeks now. It normally goes down with rest. I have Crohn's and Anemia. Hang in there. I am getting it checked out by my Gastro soon.

 

[Crohn'sGirl]

I just got results from my GI about my CT scan I just had and he found an abscess in my pelvic area and a fistula plus active Crohns. He stated that the rigors and fever are most likely from the abscess because he saw it on my CT scan from my previous GI 3 months ago. Worst thing about it, when my past GI read my scan he never told me about the abscess and he knew it was there! Seriously though any type of fever and chills needs to be checked by your GI cause I found out it might not be just from the Crohn's and it could be worse and now I have to have surgery to drain it.

 

[Kit]

Glad u found something out, but sorry you have to have surgery. Take care and I hope all goes well.