Unexplained low grade fever

[libertyforlife]

Hi, all! I'll try to make this short!

I'm 22, female, no kids, no known health problems, healthy weight range, though I have symptoms of hypothyroidism, blood tests are normal.

Jan. - Came down with worst cold ever - maybe flu, but I don't know. Also had a urinary tract infection that didn't go away with cranberry pills like they usually do.
Feb. 9 - Cold had progressed to sinus infection, so I finally went to NP, who prescribed a week of antibiotics for sinus and UTI.
Feb. 23 - Better, but had a lingering cough which seems to have caused a rib dislocation. NP ordered a chest x-ray which was normal.
Feb. 27 - Went back to NP who thought the rib pain was pleurisy, and put me on a mild steroid for a week. That visit is when he first found the low grade fever.
March 12 - Back to NP who checked out the rib and sent me for a CBC due to the fever. CBC showed white blood count as on the "high side of normal" and some kind of bacterial infection, so NP put me on another antibiotic for a week.
March 18 - Back to NP - low grade fever and now high blood pressure and ears and face flushed. NP suggested chiropractic work on the rib after more blood work and an abdominal CT scan to ensure that all organs were normal and healthy.
March 24 - Abdominal CT, 2 blood cultures, CBC, CMP. All results normal.
March 25 - Chiropractor worked on the rib and did kinesiology to look for viral infections, kidney problems, thyroid problems - everything he could think of and found nothing.
Today, the fever is still around the 99.5 area and varies by a few points. Blood pressure is down again, but ear and cheek flushing still present.

Have not had an appetite since I had the cold in January, and have barely been able to eat, though I have not lost weight.

I'm on Yaz and Differin for acne. Differin can cause flushing, but I'm not putting it on my ears and my ears are worse than my face - so I don't know. I understand that in rare cases, Yaz can cause hypertension, but I've been on it for months and it seems to be fine - NP and chiropractor think it's unrelated.

Anyone else had anything like this?

Thanks!  

[libertyforlife]

Thank you so much for responding to my post! I will ask my NP about those tests!

Last night, whenever I woke up (which was several times all through the night), I had vertigo. I still have it this morning.

I've had headaches off and on through the whole illness, but I've had headaches for years (my NP thinks that they are some type of migraine), so I don't know how much they are related to my other symptoms.

Is it possible that I just have allergies?

My NP said that he may send me on to a specialist in internal medicine. Is the low grade fever that serious, or is it something that I can just monitor for a while?

Thanks!!!

[Dr J Singh]

Hello,

Although there are many possibilities for low grade fever,but due to your symptoms of facial flushing along with,two possibilities that need to be ruled out are SLE and reactive arthritis.SLE is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease that can affect any part of the body. Reactive arthritis is an autoimmune condition that develops in response to an infection in another part of the body.

I would suggest consulting a physician and getting ANA titres and MRI to confirm the diagnosis.If ruled out ,then other possibilities like chronic hepatitis,pernicious anemia,yellow fever and other chronic infectious diseases have to be probed.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted if you have any additional queries.Kind regards.