# Why are fevers dangerous? (In Children? Adults?)



## AngeInBoston (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi all, when we saw my daughter's Endocrinologist for the first appt a few weeks ago, one of her warnings to me was to watch out for 'High Fevers' (which she defined as 101') because something could be wrong with white blood cells I think...(sorrry I don't have notes with me at work).

Well, last night my daughter suddenly got really listless, and hot and sweaty. I have a stupid digital thermometer that I don't trust because it seems to give almost random readings. The first reading was 100.7, but the rest were back down around 98. My daughter slept til noon this morning, and woke up still sweaty and tired. I had to go to work after giving her breakfast and she seemed pretty good playing on the computer.

She just called me and said she feels nauseaus, (but no actual vomitting), and her temp is consistently reading 99.9. I called my PCP nurse and she said to buy a new thermometer on the way home, and to bring her to the ER if she hits 101'.

My alarm is that I do not even know WHY a fever is so bad for a Graves patient? What do the White Blood Cells have to do with it? I don't know if this is something that's the same with Children and Adults, hopefully someone can shed some light on this?

As always, any information is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Ange


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

I think a high fever could be a symptom of a thyroid storm, which some of your daughter's symptoms sound like. Thyroid storm can be life threatening if untreated.

Thyroid storm
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000400.htm

Thyroid storm is a life-threatening condition that develops in cases of untreated thyrotoxicosis (hyperthyroidism).
Causes

Thyroid storm results from untreated hyperthyroidism. It is usually brought on by a stress such as trauma or infection.
Symptoms

Symptoms are severe and may include:

* Agitation
* Change in alertness (consciousness)
* Confusion
* Diarrhea
* Fever
* Pounding heart (tachycardia)
* Restlessness
* Shaking
* Sweating

When I was in thyroid storm, I had a lot of stomach/intestinal issues as well which are common with graves patients. I had dry heaves at one point.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

AngeInBoston said:


> Hi all, when we saw my daughter's Endocrinologist for the first appt a few weeks ago, one of her warnings to me was to watch out for 'High Fevers' (which she defined as 101') because something could be wrong with white blood cells I think...(sorrry I don't have notes with me at work).
> 
> Well, last night my daughter suddenly got really listless, and hot and sweaty. I have a stupid digital thermometer that I don't trust because it seems to give almost random readings. The first reading was 100.7, but the rest were back down around 98. My daughter slept til noon this morning, and woke up still sweaty and tired. I had to go to work after giving her breakfast and she seemed pretty good playing on the computer.
> 
> ...


Hi there! The high fever signifies Thyroid Storm. Here are the symptoms.

Symptoms of Thyroid Storm (thyrotoxicosis):

•Increased body temperature

•Tachycardia (rapid heart rate)

•Nausea/vomiting

•Frequent loose bowel movements

•Heart palpitations

•Heart failure

•Pulmonary edema

Here is the whole article which I know you will want to read.

http://www.clivir.com/lessons/show/thyroid-storm-symptoms-causes-and-treatment.html

If not tended to immediately, the patient goes into vascular collapse. This is seriously life-threatening.

Sending lots of hugs for the both of you wrapped up in a lot of concern as well,


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## AngeInBoston (Oct 14, 2010)

OMG!! Thank you so much for the information!!

I've seen people talk about Thyroid Storm but it went over my head, I didn't know what you were referring to! Those links are great, thank you both!

I'm so scared and GUILTY that I caused this because over the last few days I twice forgot to give her her morning dose of Meth (she takes 1 1/2 pills 2x/day), mainly since she's been sleeping til Noon (staying up til 2 or 3am). Before we were on a pretty good 11am-11pm schedule but we're all messed up now. On the two days I forgot, I gave her 2 pills at night the first, then 3 pills last night.....have I inadvertantly put my Baby's life in danger?

I just called her and she seems OK, just not feeling great, so it doesn't seem to be a 911 situation....yet.....but I'm going to watch her carefully and be MUCH more diligent not to mess with her medication! Those links really drove home how life threatening a situation a Thyroid Storm is!

Once again I'm left wondering WHY none of the medical professionals explained any of this to me?

Thank you!
~Ange


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

AngeInBoston said:


> OMG!! Thank you so much for the information!!
> 
> I've seen people talk about Thyroid Storm but it went over my head, I didn't know what you were referring to! Those links are great, thank you both!
> 
> ...


I wonder why also; actually, I wonder a lot of things. Anyway, I am glad we could help you and it is very important for your child or anyone w/hyperthyroid to take the antithyroid med in a most timely fashion. It has a very short half-life (literally hours) and therefore does not build up in the system.


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## AngeInBoston (Oct 14, 2010)

Thank you so much Andros! Now this also makes sense why she was acting all Ragey on the days she missed the morning meds too....I'm so sorry I've been irresponsible!! I'm a BAAAAAD Mommy and this is gonna haunt me! 

I'm Hypo, and I can get lax with my levothyroxine and miss days here and there and it never seems to matter unless I've missed like 4 days, so I think I didn't realize how totally different her case is from mine.

You and Lavender have done a valuable service to many people today by explaining this to me, thank you!


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## AngeInBoston (Oct 14, 2010)

One more question....what if the patient has a fever that may be from the Flu or being sick? I guess that would be up to the Hospital to figure out? So if a Graves patient EVER gets ANY fever, they should rush to the hospital? And at least call the Dr. if they have a temperature but it's not at that critical number yet? Err on the side of caution?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

AngeInBoston said:


> Thank you so much Andros! Now this also makes sense why she was acting all Ragey on the days she missed the morning meds too....I'm so sorry I've been irresponsible!! I'm a BAAAAAD Mommy and this is gonna haunt me!
> 
> I'm Hypo, and I can get lax with my levothyroxine and miss days here and there and it never seems to matter unless I've missed like 4 days, so I think I didn't realize how totally different her case is from mine.
> 
> You and Lavender have done a valuable service to many people today by explaining this to me, thank you!


Please don't guilt trip. None of us are perfect. And you would feel better if you took your thyroxine replacement in a timely fashion. Maybe you and your daughter can work some team work out here.

Bonding.....................do it "together!"

Hugs,


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2010)

Have you thought of buying a medicine dispenser? You could fix her meds for 7 days by am and pm dose and leave a note on the fridge or bath mirror as a reminder for her to take at a given time. The one my husband has is a 7 day am/pm, it even has Sunday - Saturday so there is no mix up on days.

Just a suggestion that might help with her meds. If not this then maybe you are someone else may have a suggestion to help you.

Please do not feel guilty, you also have your health problems that cause you issues.

You and your daughter are in my thoughts & prayers!

Kay


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Andros said:


> Hi there! The high fever signifies Thyroid Storm. Here are the symptoms.
> 
> Symptoms of Thyroid Storm (thyrotoxicosis):
> 
> ...


I had every single one of these in thyroid storm. finally called the squad because of chest pain and difficulty breathing. The paramedics told me I was having an anxiety attack. I was so delusional that I had no idea why they were keeping me in the hospital. Thought they were required to watch me cause I complained of chest pain. I just wanted to go back to work. (even though I hadn't made it through a whole day in over a month)

Angie, I will pray for you and your daughter. Don't feel guilty. It's really hard to know when this stuff is serious. Even my doc missed it. I think it took 5 appointments over a month for her to put it all together. By then, I was too severe for her to treat. I was in the ER three days later. Probably should have gone much earlier, but the important part is that I lived through it. Your daughter will too.

Infection can be a part of thyroid storm. My doc treated me with antibiotics twice before I landed in the hospital. She actually said that the infection kept her from figuring out that it was Graves.


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## AngeInBoston (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi all, just wanted to update that my daughter recovered without going into full blown Thyroid Storm....she even feels well enough to go Trick-or-Treating with her big sister tonight, although she constantly feels hot (without a fever) and refused to wear as many layers as I normally make them bundle up in. So if she gets cold, she'll just have to cut short her night!

Thank you again for the valuable information!

~Ange


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

So good to hear! Being sick is hard on us adults, can't imagine it for the little ones.

I am sure she will be fine outside. Hyper T makes us really hot and sweaty. Kinda like a really long hot flash. I kept my AC at 65 all summer long because of my hyper T. Usually, I barely turn it on and 65 is freezing to me in the winter.


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## Debbie from Milwaukee (Apr 18, 2010)

Ange:
I think your daughter feeling hot and sweaty is mostly part of having Grave's disease. I remember my daughter feeling that way most of the time she was hyper.

I don't have any experience with thyroid storm, but I have another idea about the fever issue. Methimazole can cause a rare side effect of preventing your body from manufacturing white blood cells to combat an infection. So, a fever that spikes very quickly could be evidence of this going on. My daughter's doc gave us a prescription for a blood test to check this out in case of a spiking fever, and we were instructed to go to an ER with this prescription *very quickly * if it ever happened. Your daughter's doc will also likely periodically check her blood for liver function, because methimazole can also be hard on the liver.


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