Why does a person feel chills?
Body temperature is maintained by the thermoregulation center in the hypothalamus. During infection and inflammation, pyrogens are released into the blood, which raise the set temperature level. Until the body has warmed up to a new value, it perceives the usual 36.6 ° C as cold: the blood vessels of the skin narrow, goose bumps appear, and the muscles begin to contract finely. It is this trembling that is felt as a chill, and the heat it produces raises the temperature. When the set point returns to normal, the picture is reversed: the person breaks into a sweat.
- Chills are the body's way of quickly producing heat.
- Shivering usually precedes a rise in temperature
- Sweat and heat appear as the fever subsides
- The severity of the chills does not always reflect the severity of the illness
Chills with fever: common causes
The most common cause is acute respiratory infections and influenza. However, severe, repeated shaking prompts a search for a bacterial focus. With pyelonephritis, chills are combined with pain in the lower back and changes in urine, with pneumonia - with cough and shortness of breath, with cholangitis - with pain in the right hypochondrium and jaundice. Chills after a blood transfusion or drug administration may be a reaction to the drug. In people who have visited endemic regions, attacks of chills with a clear frequency require the exclusion of malaria.
- ARVI and influenza
- Pneumonia and bronchitis
- Pyelonephritis and cystitis
- Purulent foci: abscess, phlegmon, erysipelas
- Cholangitis and cholecystitis
- Reaction to a medicine or vaccine
Chills without fever
If the thermometer shows normal but you feel chilly, the cause is usually not an infection. The feeling of cold is caused by anemia, decreased thyroid function, dehydration, low glucose levels in a person with diabetes, and taking certain medications. Chills often accompany anxiety and panic attacks: adrenaline causes trembling and cold hands. In elderly and weakened people, severe infections sometimes occur without fever at all, so a normal temperature in itself does not guarantee that everything is calm.
- Hypothermia and wet clothes
- Iron deficiency anemia
- Hypothyroidism
- Low blood sugar
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Dehydration and malnutrition
What examinations are needed
The doctor asks how long the chills last, whether there is a fever, cough, pain, changes in urine, where the person has traveled and what medications he is taking. A basic set of tests helps to distinguish a viral infection from a bacterial one and find the focus. If a severe infection is suspected, procalcitonin and blood culture are added, and if the picture is atypical, studies of the thyroid gland and iron metabolism are added.
- Complete blood count with leukocyte count and ESR
- C-reactive protein
- General urine test
- Chest X-ray for cough and shortness of breath
- TSH and ferritin for chills without fever
- Procalcitonin and cultures for suspected sepsis
What to do and how to treat it
During chills, you do not need to undress and wipe yourself with cold water: this intensifies the trembling. It is wiser to take cover, take off wet clothes and drink warm liquid in small sips. Antipyretics are taken when fever is poorly tolerated, and not for the sake of the number on the thermometer itself. Further treatment depends on the cause: for a bacterial infection, the doctor prescribes an antibiotic, for anemia - iron supplements, for hypothyroidism - replacement therapy. Self-administration of antibiotics during chills is unacceptable: it blurs the picture and makes it difficult to make a diagnosis.
- Cover yourself warmly and drink warm liquids
- Antipyretic - according to how you feel, not according to the thermometer
- Do not wipe with alcohol or cold water
- Antibiotics - only as prescribed by a doctor
- Measure temperature and record dynamics
- If your condition worsens, call 103 for help.
