Low Body Temperature

[Guest guest]

Subnormal temperature is one of the indicators that our MD uses to

select candidates for ISAC/Coagulation testing. Hyde(1992) reports

that it is very typical for CFIDS patients.

> I recently had a trip to the hospital. (24 hrs) My temperature

was pretty consistently 96.6. Sometimes passed 97. Does anyone have

feedback on this? I have no idea what that means, if anything, but

it sure does seem low. I don't usually take it so don't know my

average. It used to be low but not that low.

> Katrina

[Guest guest]

A one or two degree lower body temperature is very common with

FMS/CFIDS. It is often assumed that the culprit is the thyroid gland

since it is kind of the thermostat that regulates body temperature.

Including a little kelp or other seaweed in the diet supplies the

thyroid with iodine. However, the problem may not be with the thyroid.

When the body produces energy, in the form of ATP, excess ATP is used

up and it generates heat in the body. My thinking is that it is not

so much a problem with disregulation but rather not having sufficient

fuel to produce the heat.

An analogy can be made to a house thermostat. It does not matter if

you set your house thermostat to 75 degrees, if there is not enough

fuel in the furnace the house is not going to warm to the selected

temperature.

I recall one study with FMS (I haven't been able to find it on the

net again) anyway the researchers were exercising people with FMS and

their core body temperature would actually drop as a result of the

exercise. This is a pretty fascinating result.

A 1 degree celcius (about 2.5 F.) change in temperature directly

corelates to about a 15 percent change in metabolism. So with a

reduced temperature of 1 degree F., your probably looking at about a

5 percent drop in metabolism so your body is further impeded in its

ability to produce energy, ATP.

So, in the study above where the PWFMS were exercising they were

putting there bodies in a condition where they required more ATP to

fuel the activity and their bodies were actually decreasing

production of ATP as a result of the lowered body temperature.

Also, body temperature is affected by blood circulation. So there

could also be a connection to decreased circulation affecting the

body temperature.

In a program that has been successfully used by a few people to

reverse symptoms of FMS they used a FIR sauna. One of the effects of

this is to gently raise the body temperature, increasing circulation,

and as a result the bodies metabolism.

All the best,

Jim

Fibromyalgia: A Hypothesis of Etiology

http://www.xmission.com/~total/temple/index.html

> I recently had a trip to the hospital. (24 hrs) My temperature

was pretty consistently 96.6. Sometimes passed 97. Does anyone have

feedback on this? I have no idea what that means, if anything, but it

sure does seem low. I don't usually take it so don't know my average.

It used to be low but not that low.

> Katrina

[Guest guest]

Ken,

Makes sense to me. If I recall ISAC/Coagulation test has to be sent to lab and

expensive. I only have MediCal. And want to do something short term so I can

travel on 30th. In the hospital they gave me a subcutaneus shot of something for

platelets that they said was like a low-molecular weight Heparin, with less

" problems " than Heparin. Do you know what that might be? It may have begun with

a C.. I see PCP today. Maybe he would do a trial of it. I'll probably have to do

an antibiotic for respiratory too. Do you have a suggestion for that? Not

amoxicillin...

Thank you,

Katrina

-- In @y..., " ken_lassesen " <ken@l...> wrote:

> Subnormal temperature is one of the indicators that our MD uses to

> select candidates for ISAC/Coagulation testing. Hyde(1992) reports

> that it is very typical for CFIDS patients.

>

[Guest guest]

The usual.. not medical advice, always consult and get approval by

your MD first ...

The ISAC is expensive -- which means that if you do without this

monitoring tool that you may have a risk of taking something normal

to abnormally low... so looking at " NORMALIZERS " (i.e. things that

reduces high levels but seem to have little effects on low...)

1) Coagulation reducers:

a) Tumeric (Kitchen Spice) -- make into capsules and take

with meals. Benefit: Reduces Fibrinogen if high.

Grape Seed Extract -- effects like aspirin BUT with no

bleeding risk.. Benefit: Reduces platelet activity

c) Have your chloestrol checked - if high, get on a statin

(reduces coagulation tendency) - lowers lp(a)

d) Niacin - regular flushing (because of cheap cost... likely

$6/month). Have your liver function checked -- if ok, ask MD for

permission to go up to 1000-1500 mg/day. lowers lp(a), increases

circulation

e) Bromelain (Cheapest of the three ezyemes that dissolve

fibrin)

f) Alpha-lipotic acid -- increases blood flow...

FIRST, check these at http://www.lassesen.com/cfids/supplements.htm

and then DOUBLE CHECK using http://www.google.com -- so you are

comfortable with each item.

2) Antibiotic:

a) My first choice for a female would be minocycline. It seems

to encourage candida growth less than anything else, it penetrates

well (especially if you take bromelain with it), effective against

most of the bacteria infections and also appears to be an anti-

coagulant. If possible get a month of it. If you can talk your MD

into another month, than go for Zithomax for the 2nd month. If your

MD will not give more, than take Olive Leaf Extract (a natural

antibiotic) for at least a month, followed by generic transfer factor.

Make sure that you keep your diet anti-candida...

Ken

> Ken,

> Makes sense to me. If I recall ISAC/Coagulation test has to be

sent to lab and expensive. I only have MediCal. And want to do

something short term so I can travel on 30th. In the hospital they

gave me a subcutaneus shot of something for platelets that they said

was like a low-molecular weight Heparin, with less " problems " than

Heparin. Do you know what that might be? It may have begun with a C..

I see PCP today. Maybe he would do a trial of it. I'll probably have

to do an antibiotic for respiratory too. Do you have a suggestion for

that? Not amoxicillin...

> Thank you,

> Katrina

[Guest guest]

Katy's normal is 97.0 temperature. I get really worried if she hits 99!

That's oral.

In His service,

Dale

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/25/03 3:52:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

blessd8@... writes:

> He just plain does not run fevers, according to their definition, hardly

> ever....even when he has been apparently sick.

Hello Everyone,

rarely runs a temp--and usually it's only with a throat infection or

Pneumonia. Ear infections, most viruses and sinus infections do not warrant a

fever in him. His Ped says it's because his immune system doesn't react

enough to raise his temp. The ear thermometer can be a useful tool in

determining

if his ears are infected, though. He always registers " hot " if his ear is

infected, but he doesn't have a temp!!

Sandi--Mom to , age 10. Immune Deficiency, Tetrology of Fallot, Mitral

Valve stenosis, chronic sinusitis, chronic ear infections, asthma, severe

allergies, GERD, Pulmonary Valve Transplant--July 18.

[Guest guest]

Macey runs 95-97. This has been well documented during hospital and doctor

office visits. Fevers are few and far between for her so it is a great sign

of function to us. Granted after it goes on for a while or gets too high

then I get concerned but mostly because it makes her uncomfortable.

Ursula Holleman

and Macey's mom (8 yr. old with CVID, Diabetes Insipidus)

http://www..com

[Guest guest]

Cassie has always run fevers (very high) before IVIG. But since she has

started IVIG, her normal temp. has dropped into 97 degree range. The docs

rarely rely on the number of her temp, but rather how she looks/feels.

Belinda Rose,

Mom to Allyssa (11) and Cassie (8), igg immunodeficient, asthma, sinusitis,

IVIG for 7 years, heart condition

[Guest guest]

Kody also has a low body temperature. His normal is between 96.5 to 97. In

the begining of our little PID journey, he used to run high temperatures for no

reason at all. But then for the last 3 years he hasn't run fevers at all, but

does run a 99 from time to time, which to me is a fever for him. His doc's

haven't made much comment on that since every time it's 99 he really is sick

with

something or other so we just haven't discussed it. It is interesting how

many of our kids have low body temp. Kody's nurses during IVIG comments on it

all

the time. They usually look at the thermometer, and say " that can't be

right " and then redo it in his arm pit. And yup it's always right! LOL!

Diane, Mom to Kody, age 7, precious and precocious who has Di Syndrome,

Hypogammaglobulinemia, epilepsy, asthma, chronic encopresis. Also Mom to

Arika age 16, Kaila, age 12, and Sami age 9 (she happens to also be Dyslexic),

and

wife/soulmate to for 10 years.

check out my website: www.geocities.com/schmidtzoo/SNAK

[Guest guest]

Anne,

Normally, the body temperature is maintained at 98.6 F. by the

hypothalamus in the brain. It regulates heat production by the rate

of metabolism (and by promoting shivering, if necessary), and heat

loss from the skin by adjusting the blood flow to the skin and by

promoting sweating, if necessary.

A paper has been published that reports that in CFS the core body

temperature (down inside the abdomen) is normal. However,

temperatures measured under the tongue or in the armpit often come

out low in PWCs. So it is important to distinguish between core

body temperature and peripheral body temperature.

The fact that the core body temperature remains normal suggests to

me that the hypothalamus continues to have the correct set point in

CFS. I suspect, then, that the low measured peripheral temperatures

result from an abnormally low rate of metabolism in the skeletal

muscles, since it is the heat generation in the skeletal muscles

that provides the heat to maintain the peripheral body temperatures.

When the body is faced with such a situation, it closes down blood

flow to the skin in order to minimize heat loss and to maintain the

core body temperature at the set point of the hypothalamus, which is

necessary to sustain life. I suspect that this is what is happening

in PWCs.

In order to close down the blood flow in the skin, the sympathetic

nervous system serving the smooth muscles around the arerioles in

the skin must secrete extra norepinephrine. This requires the amino

acid tyrosine as a precursor. I suspect that this overuse of

tyrosine to maintain core body temperature takes priority over

supply of tyrosine to the sympathetic nerves serving the veins in

the lower body, and that they therefore are allowed to dilate,

producing blood pooling in the lower body, and orthostatic

hypotension.

I think that the reason for the low metabolic rate in the skeletal

muscles is that there are partial blockades in the Krebs cycles and

possibly also the respiratory chains in the mitochondria of these

muscles. I think these partial blockades result from elevation of

peroxynitrite (as Prof. Marty Pall has theorized). I suspect that

this peroxynitrite elevation results from a depletion of

glutathione, and that the glutathione depletion originally results

from a combination of long term stresses of various sorts, combined

with some genetic predisposition in the individual. I think that

the glutathione later on is held down by some vicious circles that

arise, such as elevation of the body's load of mercury, the need to

break down noradrenochrome which results from oxidation of the

excess norepinephrine, and the immune system's fight against ongoing

infections.

Some PWCs lately have been reporting that the use of far-infrared

(FIR) heaters or FIR saunas have been beneficial in raising their

long-term body temperatures. I suspect that among other things,

this type of heating breaks the vicious cycle involving

norepineprhine.

Please bear in mind that this is an unproven hypothesis, but I do

think it is consistent with reports of history and symptoms from

many PWCs, as well as with a lot of known physiology and

biochemistry.

The warm feelings you feel from time to time may result from fever

in response to infections. The hypothalamus is able to raise its

temperature set point (like a thermostat on a home heating system)

in response to cytokines generated by certain white blood cells when

they detect infection.

I hope this helps.

Rich

> Does anyone know anything about low body temperature? I've been

> taking my temperature lately and it's always 96 or 97 degrees. The

> strange thing is that I can get hot easily. It doesn't make sense

to

> me. I've never seen anything aobut this. Or, is this not really

low

> body temperature?? I thought it was always 98.6 degrees. Oh, a

friend

> said hers was 94.6 degrees in the doctor's office the other day

and I

> told her 'no way'. She said the nurse took it twice. What's that

> about?

>

> anne

[Guest guest]

> Does anyone know anything about low body temperature? I've been

> taking my temperature lately and it's always 96 or 97 degrees. The

> strange thing is that I can get hot easily. It doesn't make sense

to

> me. I've never seen anything aobut this. Or, is this not really low

> body temperature?? I thought it was always 98.6 degrees. Oh, a

friend

> said hers was 94.6 degrees in the doctor's office the other day and

I

> told her 'no way'. She said the nurse took it twice. What's that

> about?

>

> anne

***************

Hi Anne,

Mine is typically in the 96's and 97's in the A.M., and around 98 in

the P.M. I think that's common in PWC's.

Also, I sometimes feel like I'm running a fever when my temperature

isn't elevated, (over 98.6.)

I'm very sensitive to both the temperature outside, and indoors; to

both heat and cold. I think that's also common among PWC's.

Rich, thank you for the scientific explanation.

~~Carolyne

[Guest guest]

The following is pretty much my experience as well, although it is all less

extreme than it used to be.

Adrienne

Hi Anne,

Mine is typically in the 96's and 97's in the A.M., and around 98 in

the P.M. I think that's common in PWC's.

Also, I sometimes feel like I'm running a fever when my temperature

isn't elevated, (over 98.6.)

I'm very sensitive to both the temperature outside, and indoors; to

both heat and cold. I think that's also common among PWC's.

Rich, thank you for the scientific explanation.

~~Carolyne

[Guest guest]

Yes, it does help Rick. I appreciate your response. I ordered

ImmunPro for glutathione intake. While the body temperature in and of

itself does not disturb me too much, as I do not see/feel any adverse

effects, it does help me to know these little weird things are part

of the CFS. And it matters because I am still adjusting to having

CFS, that is, in 'justifying' it to others, at least in my mind. And,

I also believe it helps to understand this disorder as much as

possible. I believe I need to have a hand in my treatment as much as

possible. Thank you.

anne

> > Does anyone know anything about low body temperature? I've been

> > taking my temperature lately and it's always 96 or 97 degrees.

The

> > strange thing is that I can get hot easily. It doesn't make sense

> to

> > me. I've never seen anything aobut this. Or, is this not really

> low

> > body temperature?? I thought it was always 98.6 degrees. Oh, a

> friend

> > said hers was 94.6 degrees in the doctor's office the other day

> and I

> > told her 'no way'. She said the nurse took it twice. What's that

> > about?

> >

> > anne

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I read on a hypothermia site that low body temperature is created by your body

not producing enough energy to keep it warm. In other words, your metabolism is

so low that it can not maintain your body temperature or that you are in the

cold surroundings. So if you are in room temperature space, it is your

metabolism.

But your endocrinologists, in their alleged infinite wisdom don't check for

metabolism, only the thyroid-based partial indicators for it.

Sometimes it amazes me that doctors manage to return anybody to health.

Have a great day,