my temp is usually 96.8 if i go above 98 i feel like i am running a fever. i have cvid and an autoimmune of some sort they suspect MCTD i see a new rheumy this wed she is specialist in MCTD, i feel like i have the flu most everyday, the feverish feeling aches etc. my daughter is 23 and has cvid also she has low temp and when her temp goes above 98 she to feels like she is feverish. i think with an immune system that is out of wack fevers, low temps, and the like are to be expected. my aunt has lupus she often runs low grade temp.

i finally decided it is because our systems are so confused all the time they dont have the right responses like normal people.

just my ramblings no scienfitic data just personal obseravtion with me and family members.

hope you get a well break soon, it sounds like you are in need of one

Mary,
This sounds like my issues with fevers. Could this be a drug reaction to your TNF inhibitor? Are you on Remicaide, Humara, Embrell, Cyclosporin, Methotrexate, Cellcept?
These are all auto immune drugs that cam cause the body to build up antibodies and sometimes CAUSE an immune response.It can happen within weeks or sometimes years after starting these. It is frequently ignored or forgotten by Docs that this can happen. It usually means fevers, chills, weakness (my temp went to 103.) Luckily the covering rheumatologist recognized my symptoms as a drug reaction, but not before the stupid er docs did blood culture and an abdomenal CT scan to rule out an abcess that wasn't there. What a pain. But, as soon as the med was stopped ( and I was put on a small tapered dose prednison), I felt so much better.
Hugs,
Louise

It is fairly common with autoimmune stuff to run fevers. My normal is 96.2 so when it hits 100 I am sick. Its been like that many years even before any meds. Early sign of flare for me. hugs M

One of my very first symptoms of MCTD was a low grade fever and when I finally got the diagnosis 3 years later, the fever helped the Rheumy decide on MCTD as opposed to Lupus etc. My mormal has always been 97.6. Spring of '06 I whiped out in the energy department. That is when I noticed my temp averaging 99.3. I'm on no meds that could cause the temp to rise like that. I don't think my temp has dipped below 99.0 since. It has definitely not gotten below 98.0. It is very uncomfortable, but there is nothing that can be done. I can't stop meds that I'm not on...

Best of luck. Not good news, but misery loves company. ;-)

CJ

I recently went three months with fevers of around 99 to 100 and they never could explain them.

This is one of those topics where our experiences are just SO similar.

Like Pcon, my fevers tend to run low now, about 96.8, and when they hit 98, I feel feverish.

My first symptoms, back in '73 or '74, were fevers, mostly from 99.5 to 100.5. I did have a few bouts with higher fevers, the highest clocking in at 104.5, and I vividly remember hallucinating-- I knew they were hallucinations-- seeing cups and saucers flying across the ceiling, mom staying up with me half the night.

I have noticed-- and again, this is just anecdotal-- that when I am between flares, my normal temperature runs a bit closer to normal-- say, 97..5 or 98. If I am in a flaring kind of mode, my normal temperature drops.

The fevers are really debilitating. It's not like aches and pains or the exhaustion, where you can play hurt... even working or going to school half time with fevers was total agony. And it's strange, because it's not as dangerous as pericarditis or DVT, but it's nasty on quality of life, working, relationships, etc.

Here's the good news: Fevers are rarely part of the clinical picture now. I have OTHER problems, but for me, this was really a feature of the first few years of the illness. So here's hoping anyone suffering from this follows a similar track!

--CAT