Is there any truth to this?

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I sometimes have people insist they are feverish when they aren't based on what they state their baseline temp is. "Well, I usually am 96.5 so YOU may not think 98.6 is a fever but for me it is". I have only ever had females make this type of statement and to be honest it has always been a patient who is difficult to care for in other ways. I do not want to dismiss it out off hand but my gut reaction is pretty much an inward eye roll. Is there any basis for this claim that anyone knows of?

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I sometimes have people insist they are feverish when they aren't based on what they state their baseline temp is. "Well, I usually am 96.5 so YOU may not think 98.6 is a fever but for me it is". I have only ever had females make this type of statement and to be honest it has always been a patient who is difficult to care for in other ways. I do not want to dismiss it out off hand but my gut reaction is pretty much an inward eye roll. Is there any basis for this claim that anyone knows of?

Many years ago when women had to "doctor" to get pregnant...the treatment at the time was to take their temperature every morning before they got out of bed. When the temperature rose they were ovulating...so yes...many women KNOW their "normal" temperature is 96.5.

As much as it drives me NUTS! My Mom is one of them...and she's right.....as she has proven to non believers time and time again..... when she is 99.5 degrees she's pretty sick. One time was when she eviscerated after an abdominal surgery for MRSA infection.....no one (her MD's) would listen to her that she felt "feverish" and unwell....they patted her on the head and blew her off....until her abdomen let loose in the kitchen...TRUST ME! They NEVER blew her off again.....Grrrrr.

edited to ad; too funny I gave this similar answer already....LOL

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whelp... I'm one of those people... I don't go to the doc unless I feel like I'm dying and then I second guess myself. I run low so a 99 or above is quite significant for me and I show the signs of running a fever. Unfortunately when I've gone in sick and have this "fever" I get the eye rolls and then feel like a complete ass for wasting their time, even though I know I'm sick which makes me wanna go back to the doctor even less so

I'm also an athlete (well I exercise intensely 6 days a week) so my other values are generally fairly low too. I think you can't discount personal information just because you "know better"

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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

When my sister's kids were little, they were obviously ill with a temp of 99. My kids? Nope, they were going all out until they hit 102 & then would kinda wilt. "You don't feel good? Oh my gosh, you're burning up!"

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.
Some of you need more education.....

What were you taught about hypothyroidism? ? If your memory is shot I will remind you...one ss of hypo is low baseline temp. 96 is common. When that person rises to 98.5 that is like a normal baseline of 98.6 going up to100.6! VERY uncomfortable for that person These people do not tolerate warmer climates either.

Research your endo!

I can confirm....as I am one of them. Even though I take a total replacement (200mcg), I still run low baseline like the majority of other ↓thyroid patients.

Low Wy and Montana.....HATE Florida/Texas!

Don't think a patient is whining next time....

I have Graves Disease, 3 years post TT. When I go hypo, I tend to be freezing cold, can't get warm at all. When I'm hyper, I can't tolerate heat, it's miserable. BUT I tend to feel better otherwise when I'm slightly hyper, so we keep my meds at a slightly higher level than you would think it should be on paper.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I know your frustration. I hear about the high 99.1 fever all of the time.. I try to provide education, but it falls on deaf ears or the patients argue with me.

If my temp is 99.0 or above, I feel it, and I'm sick. I'm not being a hypochondriac, not neurotic, not in need of education.

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Learned today that the average temp in an esrd patient is 97.0 so a fever is anything over 99.1.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I can tell you are not going to like this answer, but you are mistaken, and you're committing the error of not listening to a valid concern from your patients to boot.

A bit of history: Who says that 98.6 degF is normal temperature? Where did that come from? It came from the late 1800s in what was then the golden age of physiology research, when new technologies were being invented or transformed into bedside tools. EKGs were invented then (remember Einthoven?) There were a lot more Germans in this business, and one decided to determine patient temperatures. HE took a lot of them with his spandy new clinical thermometer (and we know now that any clinical instrument may need calibration from time to time, but then? ), averaged them, and declared with Teutonic certainty that 98.6 was IT. That has been part of medical mythology ever since. And you have bought it hook, line, and sinker. And you would be wrong.

Now, if you give it a moment's critical thought you would know perfectly well that it's completely impossible for the result of an individual metabolism to be so precisely uniform across the entire human race of all ages and both sexes at all times, Germanic certainty or not.

It is, as a matter of fact, the truth that many people's basal temperature is lower than 98.6. (Some are higher, too.) And when they have an infection or other source of inflammation, they increase their body temperatures, just like you do. It's just that because they started at a lower baseline, their fever is not as high as yours. However, it no less "valid," means no less than any elevated temperature does, and is not a figment of their imagination.

So if someone tells you that 98.6 is a fever for her, you'd be well-advised to listen to her...and to maintain a higher level of suspicion for other indicators of infection (look for left shifts in the diff, for example). Doing otherwise is acting from a position of ignorance.

Brava, and LOL at this piece of writing!

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
If someone tells me "98.7 is a fever for me, because I'm normally 96.2" I will acknowledge that and monitor accordingly. But, if they are otherwise asymptomatic, I'm not going to literally treat 98.7 as a fever. If all they're presenting with is that temp, I think it would be absurd to give Tylenol or call the doctor.

Yes, everyone's metabolism is different, but are we really saying that 98.7 for one person might be the "traditional" equivalent of 101.8 (or whatever)? That's going a bit far. I'm sure for many, 98.7 is surely a low grade fever. And low grade fevers are very important to assess. But I'd bet it's very, very rarely the equivalent of what one considers true febrility.

And I agree with other posters, giving Tylenol for a low grade fever is a huge pet peeve of mine. Why do nurses do this? Don't mask the fever!

You wouldn't give the pt. Tylernol if s/he was uncomfortable; aches, chills etc.? No one's liver is going to explode from one dose of Tylenol.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

Jeeze - i don't even treat my fever until it hits 102 - but then i tend to run hot - it's not hard for me hit hit 104 when i'm cooking a virus away

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You wouldn't give the pt. Tylernol if s/he was uncomfortable; aches, chills etc.? No one's liver is going to explode from one dose of Tylenol.

I said in that post that I wouldn't give the tylenol for a temp of 98.7 if that's all they presented with. Pain/aches/chills would be another story.

And, again, I really hate giving tylenol for low grade fevers in most cases. In a LTC setting where patients' vitals aren't checked as often, this often leads to a true emerging fever getting masked and an illness like pneumonia or sepsis falling through the cracks until it's too late and hospitalization is required.

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I completely understand when a patient states they run low and 99 is a fever and the symptoms they describe is not a red flag or emergency. Being one of those patients who's temp runs 95-96 after jogging 10 miles in the heat...at 99 or higher I do feel unwell and feverish. Around 5 years ago I visited the doc just not feeling well. Since my temp was 99 and considered normal and my lab work looking as healthy as a horse I was prescribed antibiotics to clear up a possible infection if I had one. A few weeks later I was still feeling bad and preparing for general sedation dental surgery which required a chest x-ray where it was discovered I had double pneumonia. I spent 2 weeks in ICU at the hospital. My temp never reached over 99.

Moving forward over the past several months I've visited the doc due to just feeling unwell and feverish. My temp always ran 95-96 but now was 99.1-99.6. I've been giving everything from antibiotics, anxiety meds (no anxiety) offered depressing meds(no depression) and blood work was always fine. It wasn't until my temp reached 101 that something was considered wrong. I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 44 which also has a "textbook standard" for those over 50. My only symptoms were my temp being higher than my "norm" and feeling of unwell.

Of course not everyone who states their temp runs low and present with what they consider a fever at 99 will have the problems that I did...but I've always paid close attention to what they may think is not normal for them.

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