I'm not sure if this will be helpful to anyone but, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway. My daughter has been home now for 2 months. While being treated for wounds received while she was missing it was discovered that she had an extremely low body temperature, ~96.8. With good nutrition and dressing in sweats (in 80-90 degree heat) we've been able to get her temps up to the mid to upper 97's. Going back through her medical records there was a pattern of her body temperature dropping when she goes through her irrational periods. Her low temps are certainly not the root of her problems, but it is believed that they are a contributing factor. I thought if there's even 1 person out there with a child with low body temps and raising those temps helps to clear their thinking to improve their quality of life, it was worth sharing.
Body Temperature and Cognitive Thinking
- Thread starter dlgallant
- Start date
witzend
Well-Known Member
Where did you find that information? It's generally accepted that "normal body temperature" is not necessarily 98.6, and most people's body temperatures change within a degree above and/or below every day. In fact, our body temperature is not considered "low" unless it is below 95 degrees.
Mayo Clinic low body temp
Low body temperature could be a symptom of other things that also can cause cognitive disturbances, such as thyroid issues, kidney problems, or diabetes. Has she had a full blood workup lately?
Mayo Clinic low body temp
Low body temperature could be a symptom of other things that also can cause cognitive disturbances, such as thyroid issues, kidney problems, or diabetes. Has she had a full blood workup lately?
Big Bad Kitty
lolcat
Yeah, that does not sound right to me either...although I am no doctor.
By the way, where have you been? Haven't seen you in a long time. How are things?
By the way, where have you been? Haven't seen you in a long time. How are things?
Marguerite
Active Member
Chicken or the egg - did her body temperature drop and this trigger the change, or did the temperature drop as a result? Or is there some other factor and this isn't causative, simply a coincident factor?
On a different note - my favourite author, Terry Pratchett, has written a fantasy satire series with a range of different 'species' characters in it. Trolls are made of rock, for example, so they move slowly, they think even slower. But in one book, a troll got very cold indeed, and suddenly began to think at extremely advanced level, very very quickly. The author claimed that at low temperatures the troll's brain became superconductive (silicon-based lifeform). That particular troll was in the police force and was often used for road blocks. He WAS the road block. But after that incident if the troll was faced with tricky questions, he reached up to his modified police helmet and switched on a little cooling fan...
I think an important question with your daughter is, how stable was the low temperature? Did it stay low even when she felt comfortable? At what temperature did she begin to shiver? Or was she not shivering? I would think cortisol levels would be interesting, as well as thyroid hormones.
Marg
On a different note - my favourite author, Terry Pratchett, has written a fantasy satire series with a range of different 'species' characters in it. Trolls are made of rock, for example, so they move slowly, they think even slower. But in one book, a troll got very cold indeed, and suddenly began to think at extremely advanced level, very very quickly. The author claimed that at low temperatures the troll's brain became superconductive (silicon-based lifeform). That particular troll was in the police force and was often used for road blocks. He WAS the road block. But after that incident if the troll was faced with tricky questions, he reached up to his modified police helmet and switched on a little cooling fan...
I think an important question with your daughter is, how stable was the low temperature? Did it stay low even when she felt comfortable? At what temperature did she begin to shiver? Or was she not shivering? I would think cortisol levels would be interesting, as well as thyroid hormones.
Marg
<SIGH> I'm very well aware that everyone's body temp is not 98.6, most women are aware that their body temps change throughout the month. But when your normal body temp drops 2 degrees and you're constantly shivering and have goosebumps when it's 90 degrees out, that is NOT normal. Her doctor isn't sure which comes first, what the cause is, how much if any role it plays, and it even can be a cycle of one thing contributing to another and so on and so on. 2 years ago my daughter was found along side the highway suffering from hypothermia after disapperaing. Her body temp took months to return to normal. At the time everyone assumed the low body temp was due to living on the street. But when the doctor noticed that her last 2 episodes coincided with a significant decrease in HER normal body temp, the doctor reasoned there could likely be a connection. That was all I was trying to say. That physical changes in our body can be connected to our thought processes.
I'm trying to blame all my daughter's issues on her body temp. Obviouly she has other issues. And as I feared, she succeeded in getting pregnant. Now she can't fathom what she was thinking or what was driving her. But she's been taking excellent physical care of herself, she's back in college making good grades, and mostly back to her old self. Everyone once in a while she exhibits a disconnect in her thought processes and that's very concerning. With my daughter I truly believe there's a combination of physical causes along with the inability to deal with the abuse she suffered from her father.
I'm trying to blame all my daughter's issues on her body temp. Obviouly she has other issues. And as I feared, she succeeded in getting pregnant. Now she can't fathom what she was thinking or what was driving her. But she's been taking excellent physical care of herself, she's back in college making good grades, and mostly back to her old self. Everyone once in a while she exhibits a disconnect in her thought processes and that's very concerning. With my daughter I truly believe there's a combination of physical causes along with the inability to deal with the abuse she suffered from her father.
I am sorry you daughter has such troubles. I know firsthand how horrible you can feel with only a small change from your normal body temp. My normal body temp IS 96.9, but below 96 I feel horrible, about 97.3 or 4 I feel horrible. I odn't notice cognitive challenges from that, but can believe that monitoring your daughter's temp could give some insights.
I am glad she is taking care of herself while pregnant. Wondering if there is a plan for after baby? Will pray for y'all. She is lucky to have mom and doctor who spotted the link.
Hugs,
Susie
in my case the docs believe it was years on steroids during puberty that cotnributed, not caused, but contributed.
I am glad she is taking care of herself while pregnant. Wondering if there is a plan for after baby? Will pray for y'all. She is lucky to have mom and doctor who spotted the link.
Hugs,
Susie
in my case the docs believe it was years on steroids during puberty that cotnributed, not caused, but contributed.
