OT: Have you had a high fever?

I'm just getting over some kind of cold from heck during which I had a 104 degree fever but otherwise was never quite obviously sick enough to call the doctor.

But I am hypochondriacal enough to try to use Blogsearch to see if I have some kind of thing other than the usual "winter sucks" bug. It looks as if there is, but it's hard to tell. To me, one possible indicator is that the metadiscussions got crankiest as my fever was peaking, which made me wonder if some of the angriest comments were posted by people also running 104 degree fevers.

Anyhow, I was wondering if in your area you'd noticed people getting colds from heck, or maybe even run into someone energetic enough to go to a doctor and identify the bug from heck?

Symptoms:

• Very high fever. (In my case, up to 104 before I broke down and took an aspirin.)
• Bad, cold-like congestion. (Hence, didn't seem to be like a normal flu bug or strep throat infection.)
• Awful, gross mucus.
• Leaves you with way less appetite than you'd have during a normal cold.

I think this is sort of on topic for Daily Kos, because, if there really is some unusually terrible bug from heck going around, maybe that should influence whether, for example, you schedule large, in-person events or whether you let candidates who are running high fevers soldier on or force them to go to bed.

Update: My conclusion, from looking at the comments, is that there is some nasty epidemic going around, and that no one has really figured out whether the bug causing the epidemic consists of a virus, bacteria or a combination. If you are reading this and are a doctor, maybe it would be good if you could ask a lab to figure out what people are getting.

•  104 degree fever in adults...

  ...is like 112 degree fever in children.

  You should have called your doctor.  I'm surprised you didn't get seizures.

  Thanks,

  Mike

  by LordMike on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 11:30:56 PM PDT

  •  Our lovely health care system

    One reason I didn't go in is that I really didn't feel all that bad, other than that I had disgusting snot and no interest in cleaning the house whatseover.

    But the other is knowing that, if I did go to my doctor, she probably would then send me over to the diagnostic testing center a few miles away to get a strep test or whatever.

    Just the thought of getting in the subway to go to the doctor, then having to take another subway and walk a long way to get to the testing place, was really offputting.

    I guess this has to be low on the list of national priorities for improving health care, but one thing that would be at the top of my list, after making sure that all people have health care, is clearing up the red tape that makes it hard for doctor's to give diagnostic tests.

    by sclminc on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 08:25:30 AM PDT

•  yup..I was 30 y/o I had about 104* +

  had it off and on for about 3 daYS AND THEN.....the dreaded CHICKEN POX took over my body. FUCKING NIGHTMARE. Good luck and call the doctor. adults with that high of fever is dangerous...Get help.

  by Chamonix on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 11:32:58 PM PDT

•  going around norcal is a nasty that

  lasts weeks - NO energy - sleeping ALL the time, low grade headache, night sweats, dark circles under eyes and feeling like crap!  (not it isn't from watching cspan all day!)  i know a few people that have it and we all have the same "haunted" look and feel really crappy.  mine has put me flat for almost six weeks... no energy, shaky when up and moving around.

  finally, it just was "done"... the last two days, other than tired, i feel almost normal.  clear headed again, circles going away - etc.

  if it were just me, i'd think that it was end of year exhaustion, but i've talked to at least 4 possibly five that have had the damned thing - right down to dark circles!

  hope it is finally done!

  by edrie on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 11:40:28 PM PDT

•  I got my flu shots and pneumovax shot.

  And five or six of my friends got such a bug, long lung involvement. The weather is faking people out. Cold and dry. Cold and wet and sleet. Warm and wet. Warm and dry. Poor body just freaking out.

  But I'm OK. Lotta fresh fruit.

  by ormondotvos on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 11:48:48 PM PDT

  •  The wife & I both got our flu shots...

    ...and so far no drips runs or errors. She's a heavy smoker and keeps colds all winter, though and you couldn't get a piece of fruit down her at gun point. I'm a health freak [walking talking food pyramid] and seldom get sick which makes her mad.

    by ImpeachKingBushII on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:20:05 AM PDT

    •  Gee?

      could there be a correlation?

      by newfie on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 06:36:44 AM PDT

•  104 in an adult for any length of time is

  potentially very dangerous; I'm surprised you didn't call your doc.

  {something you should probably do, even now to make sure some other underlying condition is not persisting}

  by shpilk on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 11:52:44 PM PDT

•  Yeah

  but the fever thing didn't seem as ugly. I still felt feverish, aching all over, my head felt like a balloon, and it felt good to stretch out and lie down in bed.

  Then again, I've never had a fever above 101 or so. I've come down with strep, flu, colds, this, that, the other thing, still nothing that high.

  As for the congestion and mucus, yeah. My nose is going through tissues like heroin. Sneezing, coughing (and it's a mean sounding cough), honking my nose into a damn kleenex, one of these three at least once every 3 minutes.

  I've noticed a lot of people who came down with the same kind of bug. Guess the flu's a bit nasty this year, or something.

  by BullitNutz on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:24:25 AM PDT

  •  As for the appetite

    that remains unchanged. I eat lots of food, then run it all off at work.

    Then again, this is a job where I can eat a full meal (baked potato, 8-10oz steak, soup, and salad) and still feel like I need something to eat at the end of the night. SO, I drink a bottle of water at the end of the night before going to sleep, and my stomach wakes me up  with some very pissy-sounding rumbling, so I eat a nice brunch (eggs, toast, fruit, juice, milk, occasionally some bacon) and start the cycle all over again.

    by BullitNutz on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:29:28 AM PDT

•  pneumonia

  As people have noted 104 is completely abnormal. See the doc. Pneumonia kills.

  by northsylvania on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:37:14 AM PDT

  •  If the fever goes down if you take 1 aspirin,

    does it still count as a super high fever?

    I basically let the fever go super high till it got a little scary because I figured it was just cleaning out the germs, but it came down pretty quickly when I took an aspirin. (I know about Reyes syndrome, but I remembered reading about how the 1918 flu killed by provoking an autoimmune reaction, so my fear of the 1918 flu overpowered my fear of Reyes.)

    by sclminc on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 08:07:42 AM PDT

•  I had something similar fifteen years ago.

  I have it again. It started with my sister getting it and missing a week's work. She never misses work, so that tells me it is a rough flu.  I wasn't around her during that period, but the kids were exposed at school and brought it home. They took antibiotics and were still sick and feverish for a week.

  If this is what I had fifteen years ago, the secret to getting rid of it is not to get tired. I had it for weeks and my tax lady told me that everyone  had it and the secret was not to push yourself when you start feeling better, but to take it easy.  She was right, if I felt better I would work as long as I could then end up sick again.  So after that I rested until my body was strong enough to fight it off. That worked for me.

  Eating a soup of chicken noodle with red pepper to taste and a clove of garlic helped me too.  So did gargling with salt water.

  by relentless on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 01:25:26 AM PDT

•  Fever of 104 is too, too high.

  I had a fever that high with a sepsis and was admitted to Hospital and place in ice.  I was out of my mind!  Sounds like the flu to me but if you still have a cough call the Doctor or go in.  You may have infection in your lungs.  Sometimes you can get a flu with a secondary infection.

  by Owllwoman on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 04:51:20 AM PDT

  •  I wasn't out of my mind, but I was

    probably enjoying the Discovery Health channel way more than any human being should.

    by sclminc on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 08:03:24 AM PDT

•  Unfortunately,

  ..I have seen several cases such as what you are describing in the office for the past couple of weeks.  An otherwise healthy young (for me these days, anything under 60 is young) adult comes in with high fever, muscle aches, fatigue, lassitude, chest congestion, cough with lots of nasty sputum..
   The fever you are describing is high for an adult but it does not always mean an overwhelming infection with a bacterium.  In all the patients I saw, all of the bacterial cultures were negative, and they have been slowly convalescing with symptom control measures.  This does not mean that an adult with a high fever should not see a doctor - you should, with a fever that high.
   The reason folks feel so crappy when you have something like this is that the symptoms (fever, muscle and joint aches, fatigue and malaise) are symptoms of the immune system activation. Immune complexes and other protein factors that are produced to fight the infection are the source of you feeling like week-old leftovers.
   So, if you are on the mend, take care of yourself.  If you are not on the mend, call the doctor (or I will come up there and pay a house call on you!)

  by drchelo on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 05:01:42 AM PDT

  •  Well, the fever left Tuesday, so now I guess I

    I have to go wait to see if I get entertaining rebound infections to see a doctor.

    by sclminc on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 08:02:14 AM PDT

•  folks around here had this last month

  This winter yuck made the rounds here last month-- looks mostly like your typical upper respiratory virus, but with fever and fatigue.  My eight-year-old missed a week of school with it.  Some of my co-workers have had it.  I've had just typical winter sinus crud myself, which is a blessing since I don't have time to be sick (as if anyone does).

  by mamamedusa on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 06:33:19 AM PDT