Possibly stupid q about body temperature.

[AnachronisticCorpse]

Ds is a bit poorly, off colour and he has a temperature of 39, down to 38 after Calpol. So not a mad fever but quite warm.

DH and I have just had a stupid discussion (that we have every time one of the kids has a temp) where he says, yeah but the house is really warm. He is cold blooded and constantly turns my lovely warm central heating down. I turn it back up.

Anyway, am I right in saying that you’d have to have extremes of hot and cold to affect your internal temperature? And that a normal toasty room isn’t going to mimic a fever?

This is all academic as Ds is clearly poorly and is dosed up and asleep next to me but I’d like a definitive answer so I can tell him to shush next time he uses it as an excuse to make my house cold. Google is inconclusive.

Having the heating on is not going to cause a temperature of 39.

No, room temperature would definitely affect your body temperature. Haven’t you ever opened a window to cool down?!

But no that wouldn’t cause a fever obvs!

Heating should be 20 degrees

I always thought that your temperature in response to the environment was a separate thing to your internal temperature.

But now I’ve written that down I’m not even sure it makes sense.

It won’t cause it, but it won’t be helping. Turn it down or strip DS if he’s got a fever.

My heating is on 21.5. I hate being cold. I’m wearing fleece pjs and a jumper and bed socks. And my temperature is currently 36.9.

A healthy body is very efficient at keeping temperature stable by sweating, shivering etc regardless of external temperature. A hot room isn't going to cause a high temp but a cooler room might help to make someone who has a high temp feel a bit more comfortable.

He’s in pants btw. He’s like a little radiator. Actually I think the heating will have clicked off half an hour ago anyway. Poor little hot sausage.

Well it wouldn't cause a fever. But a high room temperature can increase body temperature.

Your body will always work towards maintaining a normal body temperature. If the environment is too warm the body will take steps to try and cool the body down by sweating and the urge to remove clothing layers. It wouldn’t get to temps of 38 though.

I overheat extremely easily and when I was in having ds2 the midwife was convinced I had an infection because my temp was 37.4. I didn’t, it was just the ward was boiling hot. I begged them for a fan which I eventually got and I could then cool down. They used to over wrap ds2 as well and he used to end up looking like a strawberry lollipop with his bright red face.

No, only extremely cold or hot temps will have an adverse effect on internal body temperature.

A fever is often caused immune response to a virus or bacteria attack - your body attempting to kill off the microbes by using heat as a weapon. Other causes might be an inflammatory condition such as arthritis. IIRC it can also trigger the body's repair processes.

Unless my children's temperatures get to over 40C, if they are feeling otherwise ok, I don't use Calpol and the like to try and bring their temperature down because it is actually serving a purpose. Obviously if their temperatures get dangerously high then I will administer medicine and seek medical advice.

I would be sweating my as off at 21.5 degrees. Turn the thermostat down.

NobodyKnows that is exactly my thinking. I knew I wasn’t making it up.

I only gave him calpol this evening as his head was hurting. I’ve let his fever run its course otherwise as I had a vague idea it was A Good Thing up to a point.