fever question

[Allison.]

Hi, I am the mom of an adult son who has a rather perplexing symptom. Once or twice a year he gets ill with a high fever. He gets achy, sick to his stomach and runs a really high fever for a couple of days, like 102-103 degrees. It leaves him weak and lethargic. A doctor once referred to it as a fever of unknown origin. Anyone heard of that or gone through this themselves? It is real hard, cause he usually has to miss work because of the fever. He is in his early thirties and has had this problem for many years. Scares old mom sometimes. Thanks for any input. kASEY

 

[kddave]

Unless there are other health issues, I'd say he just picks up a virus periodically. Not unusual. Just some things to consider: is he in good health overall, exercise regularly, good weight, good diet, allergies, tonsils or not, etc?

 

[Dexter Morgan]

I have the exact same symptoms once or twice a year when I get the flu. My whole body aches, I can barely get out of bed, and I get a fever over 100. A couple months ago was the worst it had ever been, so I decided to go to the doctor, and found out it was swine flu. I just recently had blood tests done and they checked my thyroid and found out I have hypothyroidism, which causes constant fatigue, but I didn't really notice it before, I just thought I needed more sleep. They said that the hypothyroidism actually makes the flu worse for me than most people. The symptoms your son is having sound like the flu, just more severe than usual. He may want to see a doctor and find out if there's an underlying problem like a thyroid issue.