Chills is a feeling of cold combined with trembling muscles. The chills may be with or without fever. Chills with a fever most often accompany a cold or other infections. The causes of fever-free chills can be much more serious. Check which disease may indicate chills and how to deal with them.
Chillsisfeeling coldcombined with involuntary, slight and uncoordinated muscle tremors.
Chillsusually occur in the period of rapid fever build-up and are an expression of stimulation of the thermoregulatory center in the midbrain.
Chills may also appearwithout fever , e.g. during a significant drop in body temperature (freezing). It is a beneficial symptom - an expression of the body's response and defense mechanisms. The contractions of the muscle groups provide extra heat to warm up the body.
What else causes the chills?
Chills with and without fever - causes. What diseases do chills indicate?
Chills most often appear in the course of a cold or other infection - viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic. Then a low-grade fever or a fever appears. Chills in the course of fever are a pathological phenomenon, caused by the penetration into the blood of "pyrogenic" substances (bacterial toxins, bacteria themselves, viruses).
However, there are other, less obvious causes of the chills:
- diabetes- when it comes to hypoglycaemia (hypoglycaemia), chills, irritability and nervousness appear, difficulties with association and thinking, disorientation, confluent sweating
- urinary system diseases- acute pyelonephritis, cystitis
- cardiovascular disease- chills can cause poor blood circulation or low blood pressure
- menopause- fluctuations in the level of sex hormones during this period of a woman's life often result in the appearance of hot flashes and chills
- neoplastic diseases- chills may occur during the breakdown of a neoplastic tumor
- mental disorders- depression, neurosis, anxiety disorders - chills may appear, sometimes of considerable intensity and long duration
You should see a doctor if the chills are accompanied by a fever, especially when these symptoms persist for a long time or appear in young children or the elderly.
Paramedic Ariel Szczotok on temperature chills
Source: x-news.pl/Dzień Dobry TVN
Chills - other causes of chills
- medications - the body can react differently to substances contained in medications, one of the undesirable symptoms of medications used is sometimes chills, not accompanied by fever
- alcohol abuse
- exhaustion of the body, e.g. with work, physical exertion
- no sleep
I am 24 years old, I have had strange symptoms for about half a year: cold feet and hands, chills that make me feel cold, my armpits are sweating and my palms are sweating. Sometimes I am flooded with sweats at night. What could these symptoms be? Which doctor should I see? I would add that I am quite skinny (48 kg \ 170 cm tall), but I eat as much as I always do. I also have chills when smoking (now I'm limiting).
Iza Czajka, MSc, Nutrition Physiologist- start by visiting your GP and doing a thorough body examination. Morphology with smear, electrolytes, vitamin D levels, thyroid hormones: TSH, FT3 and FT4, urine test, stool test for parasites. Your BMI indicates malnutrition, so a dietitian should assess whether "eating what's always" is not actually the cause of your well-being and translating into body dysfunction.
Chills - how to deal with chills?
Treatment of chills depends on the cause of the chills.
If the chills are a result of an infection and are accompanied by a fever, you should drink plenty (a few glasses a day) of fluids, preferably hot tea with raspberry juice, linden flower infusion or elderberry. If the shivering is accompanied by a feeling of coldness, cover the person with a blanket. Antipyretics should be given if body temperature is high. Antibiotics are necessary in the case of bacterial infections.
If the chills are a result of fluctuating sex hormone levels in menopausal women, hormone replacement therapy may be necessary.
If the chills are caused by exhaustion of the body (caused, for example, by work or hard physical exertion), the most effective method of fighting them is resting.
About the author
Monika Majewska A journalist specializing in he alth issues, especially in the areas of medicine, he alth protection and he althy eating. Author of news, guides and interviewswith experts and relationships. Participant of the largest Polish National Medical Conference "Polish woman in Europe", organized by the "Journalists for He alth" Association, as well as specialist workshops and seminars for journalists organized by the Association.
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