Intermittent Fevers

[deathraygoat]

I am a 32 y/o female.  Right before Christmas, I feel ill with a fever, cough, sore throat, chills, aches - the whole nine yards.  Within a couple of weeks, most of the symptoms had cleared up, but for the last 5 months, I have had intermittent low grade fevers (100.0-101.0).  I go through periods of a week or two where I only have fever once or twice and there are other times where I'm getting fevers like that nearly every day.  It's not all day either.  Usually the fever will come in the morning then get better then often come again in the evening and then get better before bed time.  Aside from the fever, I've had quite a bit of fatigue.  I don't know if it's just my body being worn out from dealing with the fevers all the time or what.  

I've been to my primary doctor and she ran some basic bloodwork (CBC, metabolic panel, some tests for markers of inflammation, thyroid levels) and everything came back completely normal.  She also sent me for chest x-rays, which were also completely clear.  She referred me to an infectious disease doctor.  I've been to that office several times now too.  More bloodwork for immune diseases and other less common things that could cause the fever and everything and then a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis.  All came back completely fine.  

The infectious disease doctor has given up trying to figure out what's going on and basically said that it's just going to be a situation where we're not going to be able to figure out what's causing it.  I'm just constantly running on empty now - between the exhaustion and fever, I feel like there are some days I can barely function.

Has anyone had something like this?

[deathraygoat]

I do put my 2.5 year old down for a nap during the day (on the weekends when I am home - no naps for me during the work week).  He naps poorly but I do often get a 45 minute nap.  It doesn't really seem to help - when I've got the fevers, even rest doesn't seem to help the run down feeling.  

My husband isn't very supportive (he thinks I'm making it all up so I can be lazy) so no, I really don't have anyone who can watch my kids (I have two) so I can get rest.  Even today, I am off work and the kids are at daycare, but I have had so many things to get done, I haven't been able to rest at all.  

[jemma116]

Well I hope you start to feel better very soon.
Don't know if you still put your 2.5 year old for a mid day nap, if you do have a nap with him.

Sounds like you are exhausted.  
Have you got anyone that can look after him for a while so that you can have good rest day?

Best wishes.

[deathraygoat]

Well, the specialist I saw was an infectious disease specialist - he was looking for any indications of anything infectious - bacterial or viral.  

Though I had EBV about 7 years ago, I was tested again, and it showed no recent antibodies (same with CMV, which I understand causes similar symptoms to EBV).  I wish I remembered everything they tested for, but I don't, unfortunately.

And yes, when I refer to fever, I am taking a thermometer reading.  I generally get fever-type symptoms whenever they come on - chills or sweats, general malaise, feeling worn out.  When I have a stretch when I'm not getting the fevers (like last week, for instance - I only had one short bout with fever and it was still just over 100, so really not elevated much) I feel pretty good, but once the fever gets around 100.5 or so, I just feel like garbage.  So aside from the fever and fatigue, I don't really have any other symptoms.  The specialist asked about a million questions at each appointment and nothing came up.  My joints in my hands are somewhat bothersome, but he couldn't find anything that could cause that with the fever that he hadn't already cleared me of.  At one point he said it felt like my spleen was enlarged, but upon further testing, that was found not to be true - or if it had been enlarged it wasn't anymore by the time I got further testing (about two weeks later).  I don't really have anything that would indicate premature menopause specifically over anything else but I need to schedule a regular appointment with my obgyn anyway, so I guess I can get some additional bloodwork done there.

Making matters worse is the fact that I have two small children, the youngest of whom is 2.5 years old and absolutely will not put himself to sleep, so I'm having a hard time even just trying to relax a little so I can try to get my health back.  

[jemma116]

Unfortunately, you only get tested on what the doctor requests.  So if he/she didn't request to look for bacteria or virus problems, that would not have been done.

You may have had the mononeucliosis (Epstein Barr) virus and that can cause a lot of fatigue for ages even when your body has fought the virus off.

Antibiotics will have no effect on virus infections.  So a healthy balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg and some fresh air will help.

The hormone balance I was thinking of was early premenopausal symptoms.  As you have polycystic problems that will affect your hormones too.  When you say you have a fever, I presume you are taking a thermometer reading.  Do you experience  any other symptoms apart from the fever?

Just takes this slowly until you build your stamina back up again.

[deathraygoat]

Yes, kidney function is normal - it's been checked multiple times, actually.  And you are correct, they checked for anemia and that all looked good as well.  

Any suggestions on what kind of hormone imbalance might cause something like this?  I know they checked my TSH levels which were fine.  I actually have polycycstic ovarian syndrome which typically tends to make my hormone out of whack in a way that makes my core body temperature lower than normal (basal temp in the upper 96's, getting up to the 97's during the day but not much more - granted, that's been a couple of years but you get the idea).  

I drink a ton of water, so I'm definitely not dehydrated, but I should probably try to start a multivitamin, though I've never seen much difference in my energy in the past, I wasn't as rundown as I am now.

I would have assumed that if it was still a virus that was causing the fevers, the tests would have indicated at least some level of infection (increased WBC or something) and none of my bloodwork ever indicated any of that (even fairly early on when I started getting the bloodwork done, which was after about a month of fever).  

[jemma116]

Have you had tests on kidney function and your urine tested for any abnomalities?

As you had a blood test, I presume you were tested for anaemia.
After that type of illness that you had, it does take some time to recouperate.  These virus problems can linger on for ages and make you feel fatigued and run down.  

The low grade fevers may be related to a hormone imbalance.

You may benefit from a multivitamin to give you a boost.  Also make sure you drink plenty of water so that you do not become dehydrated.