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The connection between body temperature and anxiety (social)

Some background:

- I suffer from severe social anxiety (brought on by cannabis usage)
- My normal body temperature is 97.4

Is it normal for anxiety to raise my temperature to as high as 99?

Everyday I step into my workplace, I feel the anxiety consuming my body. And shortly after begin to feel serious hot flashes on my face, I'm always convinced it's a fever, but it's usually not (it's usually about a degree higher when I check orally, but can go up to 99 degrees on occasion)

I just want to know if a 1.5-2 degree increase in body temperature can be attributed to anxiety or not? Also know that my temp never exceeds 99, that's the peak every time I've taken it.

Any thoughts or consolation?
17 Responses
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Avatar universal
He said it was sudden, and his doc said this could happen. fwiw.
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Avatar universal
Yeah, elimination diets are heck (don't think they'll censor that one).  My guess is your brother was always allergic to milk -- adult humans other than two ethnicities, one in India, one in Scandanavia, lack the enzyme to digest milk, and it's especially bad with cow dairy, as a cow's digestive system is the weirdest thing in the world.  It just takes time to show up with everyone and most of us don't notice it unless we stop drinking it and then start again-- then we notice big time.  
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Avatar universal
Actually I did tell him the temp isn't a concern so that is why it wasn't discussed.
".I think nursegirl told someone else on this forum that that kind of temperature difference is not any concern - she will likely show up here to correct me if I am wrong."

And when I called it a substitution diet I really meant an elimination diet - just wasn't familiar with the proper term. The problem with elim diet is you can have multiple allergies so it might take forever and involve multiple eliminations to pinpoint the problem - by which time a new one might pop up that you weren't allergic to before, Example my brother went allergic to milk - Fine one day but allergic for life the next.

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Avatar universal
I wonder why nobody thought to tell you that 99 degrees isn't a temperature increase --  that goes on all the time whether you suffer from anxiety or not.  Our bodies do change temperatures.  Now, if you're getting the sweats or something like that, that's one thing, but if your temperature measures only 99 it isn't higher than the norm, which for most people is 98.6 but which will vary naturally through the day depending on activity, hormone levels, stress, lack of stress, etc.  Allergies, on the other hand, can be very annoying, and are extremely common nowadays -- in fact, epidemic.  There are many theories as to why this is so, but allergies are an auto-immune disorder and these are also epidemic now.  Immune systems are under assault.  But having allergies doesn't cause most people to become anxious, it just makes them uncomfortable.  As to finding food allergies, the above description of food substitution may be a method, i don't know really, but the one nutritionists would usually use in bad cases is an elimination diet, not a substitution program.  They would cut the diet down to the least common allergenic foods, maybe three of them.  The least common allergen, for example, would usually be rice, so an example of this mode of search is to go down to just eating rice -- just an example for illustration purposes -- and then add in one food at a time to see what the reaction is.  It's a difficult and long process, but sometimes allergies are so debilitating that's what has to be done.  The easiest thing is to eliminate the most common allergenic foods, which is wheat and dairy (and some would add soy and corn) and see if there's any improvement.  Unfortunately, this doesn't eliminate environmental allergens as a source of problems, but symptoms are usually a bit different.  So just because you have anxiety doesn't mean you don't have allergies -- almost all of us in developed countries do now.
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Avatar universal
All these "symptoms"  are just your anxiety making you over-analyze yourself. Your temperature is not out of control and there is no mystery disease plaguing you that doctors can't detect. Anxiety makes you over-analyze every twitch, flash, ouch or itch because you erroneously think there is something wrong, and are searching for clues to identify it. Reality is there is nothing wrong, the symptoms are not new and you EXPERIENCED these sensations in the past but ignored them then because you knew there was nothing wrong and knew they would disappear because they are meaningless.

Reread this part that I asked about 17 hours ago and realize the docs are experts but you are not experienced in medical diagnosis.>>   ".....I do find it very odd that after countless dr. appointments nothing was found."
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Avatar universal
Thank you for the informative response.

I think you're right about me being in the "chasing the tail stage" - unfortunately though I think I'll continue this way until either my anxiety dissipates or I, somehow, find an answer (which I realize is unlikely).

The second & third paragraphs make perfect sense to me and coincide with the little I've learnt from reading about anxiety.

Ultimately though, you're right - the first priority needs to be getting my anxiety under control.

How I'll go about that? I'm really unsure, as I have to work everyday and don't have the money to see a therapist. Quitting smoking is proving to be helpful, but it's also making me realize how severe my agoraphobia/social anxiety is (now that I'm not clouding my mind everyday).

I'm sitting at my desk right now and am feeling:

- Like my face is very hot
- I see veins bulging out of my forehead (likely a sign of a high BPM)
- A persistent worry that people are misinterpreting my anxiety in negative ways.
- Maybe unrelated, but I have a strange gait when I'm anxious - I don't feel coordinated - it's as if my body/face is frozen ... until I'm alone again.

This really ***** :(
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I wasn't intending to say the anx and allergies are related, so I didn't present my position clearly. My comment was intended to say that if his stools are "loose" as he describes and it has been going on for a while the issue should be looked at by doc or a nutritionist.
Helpful - 0
480448 tn?1426948538
Hello there,

It sounds like you're in the "chasing your tail" stage, where you're looking so intently for a solid black and white answer that isn't anxiety or something scary (ie HIV).

Absolutely body temperature will rise with anxiety like you described, especially during a panic attack.  Your pulse will also increase, as will your blood pressure and respirations.  Those are all normal physiological responses to the "fight or flight response", which is basically what a panic attack is.  

Basically, your body is making all of these physiological, chemical, circulatory (to name a few) changes to prepare you to either fight for your life, or get away from the mortal danger (fleeing).  Problem with a panic attack, there IS no life threatening danger, so those symptoms and sensations we feel as a result of our sympathetic nervous system kicking in are very out of context, which makes them that much more terrifying.

I think it's fair to say that even IF there is another cause (ie allergies) that are contributing to some of your symptoms, anxiety is a factor for you too, and that needs addressed.  Have you ever seen a mental health professional?  If not, that's a good starting place.

Keep us posted!
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Avatar universal
It is very hard ot test for allergies using substitution because you might have multiple allergies. Stop eating food A for 3 weeks but the symptoms are still there because you are allergic to B as well and you have kept eating B. A nutritionist thought I had allergies, and advised me to do the substitution route while advising of the problem of multiple allergies. I tried that method but couldn't figure what the issue was  
Also you can grow into and out of allergies and she told me medical testing for allergies was not reliable. No one ever corrects me when I post that now, so perhaps unreliability is still an issue. You might want to talk to doc about it instead of just wondering what is wrong.
.Can you explain this? I am not exactly sure of your intended meaning and would like to know before I comment. ".....I do find it very odd that after countless dr. appointments nothing was found."
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Avatar universal
Thank you for the response.

I think you made a great point in your first two paragraphs. I also agree that anxiety can cause you to be hyper sensitive about your body, and I'm sure it's making whatever symptoms I have worse.

In regards to allergies, I don't think it can be that as I've tried different diets, eating different things (and keep in mind I'm always attune with my body) but the problem persists.

I think I may just blame the drug usage for these symptoms, although I do find it very odd that after countless dr. appointments nothing was found.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You say you aren't supposed to feel this way at 23. You also aren't supposed to take all the drugs you have consumed and continue to consume if you want to keep a relaxed outlook.
It would be better to focus on the dangers of those drugs in order to quit them rather than worrying about having some diseases like hiv that tests have told you do not exist or worrying that your temperature regulator system is out of whack - although you worry that cannabis has.created an anxiety condition you continue to use it daily.
No wonder you are worried if you take something daily that you think is harmful.
I do not believe Life360's comment that you are still growing at 23 if it was meant to claim that is part of your problem. Look at a professional athlete - they don't have all kinds of growing issues at 23. I believe you stopped growing a few years ago and certainly the things you worry about like temperature are not related to your age - probably not to any age either.

It is possible that you are allergic to some foods causing your stool problem, but this should be discussed with your doc to make sure your self diagnosis of loose stools is valid.
Anxiety makes you over-analyze your body so every little twitch, ouch or flash becomes a clue for the over-anxious mind to analyze. You likely had all these issues before but knew they were meaningless and ignored them because they go away.
I can't diagnose you but if you think this temperature is really an issue then you can see doc..I think nursegirl told someone else on this forum that that kind of temperature difference is not any concern - she will likely show up here to correct me if I am wrong.
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Avatar universal
That's true. Yes I eat fairly healthy - I love fruit/veggies (and natural/organic foods), but despite all of that the symptoms continue to linger.

I've been smoking pot for 7 years just about everyday (and had very brief stints with speed and cocaine) so that's what also worries me (any damage I may have caused).

I just know that something is seriously wrong - you aren't supposed to feel this way at 23! My symptoms make me feel like I'm 70 years old! I'm also slowly losing weight (now I'm 5'8" 144 lbs) and just cannot put on a pound despite eating massive amounts and exercising.

I'm just very concerned and realize there is only so much you can do to help.

Thanks for your time and interest anyways.

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3149845 tn?1506627771
At 23 your body is still growing. Hows your diet do you eat good food?
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Avatar universal
Thank you again for your time.

I just don't know what to think anymore though, for the past 2 years I've had:

- Muscle atrophy
- Chronic low grade fevers that come and go
- Overwhelming fatigue
- Loose stools EVERY DAMN TIME I GO TO THE RESTROOM

I'm only 23 years old, and I feel like I'm dying slowly! I've gone to the ER/specialists/GI doctors more than I can remember! I don't feel like living anymore if this is how my life will continue, that's how worried these symptoms are making me.
Helpful - 0
3149845 tn?1506627771
I think i anwered you there. protected vaginal and unprotected oral is no a risk.
I want to propose something to you. This time you have thinking about negative things and have been told no risk, take this time, which is wasteful thinking and come up with a product idea. I started a user group here called success but no one has joined yet, maybe youll be the first. Its about retraining the mind to be productive instead of destructive.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the prompt reply.

I see you've answered HIV questions before, so I guess I'll ask something related if you don't mind. I have been very paranoid about HIV as well, my last exposure was 6 months ago (and 5 in total, protected sex with escorts) and ever since my symptoms seem to not disappear.

Is a fleeting, but chronic low grade fever indicative of HIV? I've tested 6 times using OraQuick's rapid test and all came back negative, but these symptoms continue to ruin my life with panic and anxiety (and that's aside from the social anxiety).

Any thoughts?
Helpful - 0
3149845 tn?1506627771
Hi, i will say that a major cause of physical symptoms from anxiety is due to adrenaline pumping through the body weather this causes a temperture increase im not sure but would think so as would heat up the body.
Helpful - 0
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