Last night I was feeling really bad, I felt like I was flaring. I don't know if each of them is a new, "little" flare or if I haven't really shaken off last month's big flare. My SI, my back and my ankle were hurting, my eyes were closing, both my eyes and face were really puffy (where that came from, I don't know!), and I ran a slight fever (37 C). And fever got me thinking so I decided to ask you guys.
All my life I never had high fever. I am 26 and I remember only one time that my fever was above 38 C. (We use celcius here). My normal body temperature is 36.5 C, and when I see 37 C, I call it a fever Mostly 37 C is considered normal body temperature but as I said, because it almost never goes beyond 37 C (maybe 37.5 if I am really, really sick) and when it is 37C I feel really, really bad, that IS fever for me. I had chikenpox, I had the swine flu and never above 37.5 fever.
So it got me thinking, since fever is a sign that our immune system is fighting and functioning, and since PsA is an autoimmune disease, could it be said that my immune system never functioned properly? How was it for you guys? Do you get high fever or are you like me?
I get high fevers if I'm really sick, though that happens infrequently as an adult. I do get the low grade fevers when I'm flaring, but not so much since my disease control improved. This might just be one of those normal variations, including how frequently people catch colds from those around them.
I don't think most adults get fevers as often as children--I've only had a few in my adult life also--4 that I can remember. With the Type A Flu, it was up to 103 F. With pneumonia once and strep twice, it hovered around 102. But, otherwise, I can't recall having any other fevers. I think a telltale sign of a fever is/are bad body aches and chills.
For me, I think I've had a really strong immune system. 4 fevers since childhood, and now that I think of it, I don't remember having any fevers as a child. It's funny, but I'm the only sibling of 6 who has autoimmune disease, and I got sick the least!
The cough I recently got over and now the, what seems like a sinus cold setting in, are very unusual for me.
I hope you're feeling better soon. It's an inconvenient time of year to be sick!
Thanks Grandma J. On Monday I have a thesis follow-up committee, it would be really bad if I was feeling bad then. Anyway I started taking my antiinflammatory medicine and I feel better now, only a slight and stubborn pain in my SI. Turns out I'm using the medicine more than I hoped I would and that kind of depresses me.
Yes I get the chills and shivers as well when I flare. One thing that bothered me about the antiinflammatories was the side effects, but I seem to get less bothered by them now, I think my body got used to it. So it's ok I guess.
I enjoy my thesis more when I'm reading and everything I read sort of falls into place in my mind, less when I have to defend what I am thinking in front of a committee :) These committee things can be brutal! But I am unusually calm about this meeting. Up to the point that I am about to freak out about how calm I am :) I guess that means I'm ready. Yes I'll get feedback, this meeting will mostly be about me telling my committee what I have been up to and them giving me suggestions about how best to proceed.
Well, then, very inconvenient time for YOU to be sick! Hope everything goes well!
ladylazarus said:
Thanks Grandma J. On Monday I have a thesis follow-up committee, it would be really bad if I was feeling bad then. Anyway I started taking my antiinflammatory medicine and I feel better now, only a slight and stubborn pain in my SI. Turns out I'm using the medicine more than I hoped I would and that kind of depresses me.
Interesting topic here...I run and elevated temp at least once a week. My normal is 97 (sorry don't know Celsius values) so when I am at 99 to 100 I feel really bad. As a child, according to my Mother, I ran a fever quite often and they would go quite high. My highest was at 105 but that was when I had been taking a sulfa drug (needless to say I can't take those). So now I look back and wonder if my immune system has always been screwed up.
I wonder if the hot flashes I get are actually a symptom of PsA and not really menopause. Oddly, I usually only get hot flashes in the summer because I can't tolerate temperatures over about 74 F. Lately I've been getting "hot flashes" even though the inside temperature is at 70 F and outside it's a lot colder than that!
I know they're not a fever--usually if I check my temp while I'm having one it's at 97.5, which is over a degree less than the normal F body temp.
Hmm, I don't know about hot flashes but a couple of times I too measured my temperature thinking I had a fever and it was less than normal body temperature :) I don't know, I began trying to make sense about every little thing that was "unexplained", hence the weird question about fever :) But it seems like not running a high fever is not very common so I think my hypothesis was wrong :)
Hot flashes suck and I hope you never experience them! They're way more than a flash! I sweat profusely from the neck up, which is very uncomfortable AND embarrassing. This all started around menopause, which is also when PsA symptoms gradually started invading my body! :-/
ladylazarus said:
Hmm, I don't know about hot flashes but a couple of times I too measured my temperature thinking I had a fever and it was less than normal body temperature :) I don't know, I began trying to make sense about every little thing that was "unexplained", hence the weird question about fever :) But it seems like not running a high fever is not very common so I think my hypothesis was wrong :)
My mother is also going through menopause and she didn't experience hot flashes so much. Maybe once or twice. She was bothered by cold flashes though :) And it seems like I got the majority of my genetics from my mother so it is more likely that I too will be having cold flashes as well.
Also I think it makes sense that PsA started invading your body along with menopause. We did a ton of research with my mother when hers began, because she was experiencing weird conditions as well. She had a weird skin condition, her whole lower back was covered in what seemed like pimples. Dermatologists didn't understand what they were. Also, her fingernails seemed cracked and there were dents. Dermatologists did not understand what it was either. (But she said "maybe it was psoriasis" when I got diagnosed with PsA). Finally, she started a gluten free diet (although the tests didn't show gluten intolerance, but it can happen without showing in the tests) and all the pimples cleared up. Still, when she eats gluten they pop back up again. Weird, huh?
Well that is weird! I went on a gluten free diet a couple years ago (only for 6 weeks) thinking maybe, just maybe that was the answer and I'd be cured, but it didn't work for me. I then told my regular dermy about it and she said she'd never heard of a gluten-free diet curing psoriasis.
So, was your mom diagnosed with psoriasis or PsA? Or didn't they figure out what caused the pimples and dented fingernails? Mine were dented and pitted really bad but they're slowly improving from the Enbrel. I'd love it if we could be P and PsA symptom free just through eliminating gluten. I think--I know I could handle that!!!! :-)
ladylazarus said:
My mother is also going through menopause and she didn't experience hot flashes so much. Maybe once or twice. She was bothered by cold flashes though :) And it seems like I got the majority of my genetics from my mother so it is more likely that I too will be having cold flashes as well.
Also I think it makes sense that PsA started invading your body along with menopause. We did a ton of research with my mother when hers began, because she was experiencing weird conditions as well. She had a weird skin condition, her whole lower back was covered in what seemed like pimples. Dermatologists didn't understand what they were. Also, her fingernails seemed cracked and there were dents. Dermatologists did not understand what it was either. (But she said "maybe it was psoriasis" when I got diagnosed with PsA). Finally, she started a gluten free diet (although the tests didn't show gluten intolerance, but it can happen without showing in the tests) and all the pimples cleared up. Still, when she eats gluten they pop back up again. Weird, huh?
No, she wasn't diagnosed with anything. The pimples cleared with the diet (at least we think it was the diet), I don't know how her nails are at the moment. I live very far away from my parents. I will ask about her fingernails when I visit them in January. The funny thing is, I always get diagnosed on behalf of my mother :) Everything I was ever diagnosed with, she also has all the symptoms! So I wouldn't be surprised if she developed PsA at some point, although I hope that never, ever happens!