The temperature has remained at just over 37°C for several weeks. Wait to swallow antipyretics or worse, antibiotics. Perhaps the reasons for this condition are psychological.
Our expert is a leading researcher in the laboratory of pathology of the autonomic nervous system of the Research Institute of Neurology of the Research Center of the First Moscow State Medical University. I. M. Sechenova, Doctor of Medical Sciences Elena Akarachkova :
For a prolonged increase in temperature against the background of emotional problems, there is a special term - thermoneurosis. Neurologists are involved in its correction. However, before this diagnosis is confirmed, the patient will have to go a long way, and must first contact a therapist.
On a note
Prolonged fever is often experienced by:
Women during menopause . Hormonal changes cause an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, and at this time women are prone to depression and anxiety.
Lovers of strength exercises . After heavy exercise, lactic acid is produced in the muscles. If there is a lot of it, tissue metabolism is disrupted, which leads to a local increase in temperature. In a healthy person it does not last long. But, if there are problems with autonomic regulation, overtraining can become a provoking factor that will lead to long-term low-grade fever.
Sensitive children .
The situation when a child goes to school after the holidays, and a few days later his temperature suddenly rises, is quite common. Involvement in the educational process is stress, due to which the autonomic nervous system fails. Source
The essence of the problem
There is no official diagnosis of “thermoneurosis” as such. But the phenomenon itself exists. Thermoneurosis is usually understood as a psychosomatic disease when a person experiences an increase in temperature over a long period. The numbers will be low-grade, that is, the temperature will fluctuate between 37-37.5 degrees. This is one of the manifestations of vegetative-vascular dystonia, and some experts even consider this state of affairs to be a sign of depression.
There are two types of thermoneuroses: psychogenic, which occurs against the background of stress, and neurogenic, when the brain is affected by hematomas, cysts and other formations that put pressure on the thermoregulation centers.
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Psychologist instead of antipyretics. How to calculate thermoneurosis?
If we are talking about a tumor, then we will have to be regularly examined and monitored. If the tumor does not grow, people live well with it for many years. In this case, it is usually recommended to undergo an MRI procedure once a year in order to monitor the condition of the formation in detail.
Temperature of a psychogenic nature can be elevated for a long time: from several days to several years. It all depends on who and how helps a person cope with the disorder. If everything is left to chance, the situation can be long-lasting.
We talk about thermoneurosis when the temperature remains unchanged throughout the day and for at least several days. For example, if it always stands at 37.2 or 37.3. To exclude factors influencing temperature and determine a more accurate diagnosis, it is recommended to draw up a temperature chart. Indicators must be measured three times a day. The first time is 20-30 minutes after sleep. There is no need to do it right away, without getting out of bed, because after waking up, everyone’s temperature is slightly elevated. Then measurements are taken during the day without reference to meals. And the third dimension is before bed.
Vegetative-vascular dystonia - a disease or a myth? More details
Consequences of the problem
Thermoneurosis, which lasts for a long time, affects human health. And it doesn’t matter whether the body is a child’s or an adult’s. Children, as a rule, become irritable against its background. And adults become exhausted faster. Naturally, all this affects performance, because there is constantly not enough strength. At a constantly elevated temperature, the body requires more strength to concentrate attention and memory.
There are even more serious situations when symptoms such as fainting, arrhythmias, headaches, and sometimes insomnia appear. But still, for the most part, thermoneurosis is asymptomatic, accompanied only by fever and irritability. Against this background, the quality of life significantly decreases.
Temperature record. How to deal with high numbers on a thermometer Read more
Causes
The impetus for the development of thermoneurosis can be a previous illness, stress, physical and emotional overload, or previous head injuries. It is important to understand that thermoneurosis, the symptoms and treatment of which are largely similar to VSD, is, in fact, a temperature of a neurogenic nature.
People of a neurotic type, with a weak nervous system, are more susceptible to this disease. Today, this diagnosis is not uncommon, since the overall stress load on a person has increased significantly. Teenagers face this even more often - due to increased emotional vulnerability during puberty.
Treatment
When thermoneurosis occurs as a result of psychological stress, then, as a rule, as a result of correction of the emotional state, its symptoms disappear .
Practice shows that the majority of patients have no further symptomatic manifestations.
After eliminating the provoking factors, it is necessary to protect the child as much as possible from subsequent nervous shocks.
In order to restore the normal functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, it is recommended to take B vitamins, follow a sleep and nutritional regime.
In each specific case, treatment is prescribed on an individual basis. Often therapy is complex . The measures are aimed at alleviating the child’s condition.
Symptomatic therapy is used.
At the same time, physiotherapeutic procedures, psychotherapeutic sessions and medications are prescribed.
Parents should be very attentive to the treatment of this condition and follow all doctor’s instructions. Neuroses tend to progress .
Psychotherapy
In practice, in the treatment of thermoneuroses, maximum results are achieved in a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy with Gestalt.
The first method is aimed at creating a different worldview and correcting behavior, the second method is to teach the child to cope with psycho-emotional experiences .
Psychotherapy is simply necessary for recurring thermoneuroses. In a single case, as a rule, it is rarely used.
Medication
Drug treatment includes complex or separate administration of sedatives, most often herbal preparations .
Be sure to take vitamin complexes , including folic acid and B6, especially in the off-season.
In particularly difficult cases, nootropics .
Physiotherapy
Shows good treatment results for such pathologies, especially in children. In a large number of cases, the use of physiotherapeutic methods helps to avoid the use of medications.
The following procedures may be prescribed:
- electrosleep;
- physiotherapy;
- relaxing baths;
- acupuncture;
- reflexology and others.
A particularly important role is played by maintaining a daily routine, sleep and rest, healthy eating, physical activity, and spending time in the fresh air.
The main diseases manifested by low-grade fever:
- Chronic infectious diseases (chronic tuberculosis, brucellosis, sinusitis, pyelonephritis, parasitic lesions, cytomegalovirus, herpes, mononucleosis, sexually transmitted diseases and many other focal infections in a chronic form);
- Diseases associated with impaired immune response (rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, post-infarction syndrome). This group also includes diseases of an allergic nature;
- Malignant neoplasms (leukemia, lymphoma, hepatoma, kidney adenocarcinoma, etc.);
- Diseases of the endocrine system ( pathological menopause, thyrotoxicosis, pheochromocytoma, etc.);
- Diseases of the central nervous system of various etiologies ( traumatic brain injuries, neuroinfections, etc.).
Low-grade fever in children, especially young children, often has no connection with any pathology. It occurs due to the body’s thermoregulation not yet established. Children's body temperature rises after physical activity, overheating, and in infants after eating.
One of the common causes of persistent low-grade fever is psychological and mental stress, as well as stress, accompanied by general poor health, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
There is a person, but there is no diagnosis?
It is in the latter case that the diagnosis remains as LNG. This is the official term, and it is included in the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision), so the doctor who made such a diagnosis based on the results of the examination is often, to the patient’s displeasure, absolutely right. It makes more sense to leave the patient under dynamic observation than to treat him for invented chronic bronchitis or pyelonephritis, often completely unsuccessfully, or even to the detriment of the patient. LNG entails a number of problems: unclear diagnosis and, as a consequence, delay of treatment for an indefinite period, length of hospital stay, a large (often expensive) volume of examinations, and loss of patient confidence in the doctor.
Shaking, chilling, pounding... Whose fault?
Let's look in more detail at the causes of LNG. Infectious-inflammatory diseases are the largest section, which includes, in addition to infectious diseases themselves, caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, and purulent-inflammatory diseases of internal organs, such as abdominal abscesses, kidney diseases, and biliary tract diseases. Many infectious diseases today behave differently than they did decades ago. In the age of antibiotics and a changed ecology, microorganisms are also modified, adapting to new conditions. Tuberculosis is again relevant, which does not occur with changes in the lungs, but affects other internal organs, bones, lymph nodes, often manifested only by prolonged fever. A once forgotten disease, malaria, reappeared with fever. Only fever can manifest viral diseases - herpes, mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus), hepatitis B and C, human immunodeficiency virus. Due to the increased activity of ixodid ticks, Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia, which is transmitted by a tick bite, has become more frequent. Among tumors, fevers most often manifest as blood diseases or hemoblastoses, in particular, lymphoproliferative diseases (lymphogranulomatosis, lymphosarcoma), however, tumors of various organs can be accompanied by fever. Systemic connective tissue diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic vasculitis and others) are a large group of diseases in which the process can begin with fever. In these cases, long-term follow-up and repeated laboratory examinations are often required. Other pathologies include diseases of the intestines, lungs, liver, thyroid gland, blood vessels of various etiologies, as well as allergic diseases, including drug fevers that occur in response to taking various drugs. In addition, there is a group of hereditary diseases that manifest themselves in adulthood with fever.
Prevention of rotavirus
Nonspecific prevention includes a set of sanitary and hygienic measures (regular hand washing, using only boiled drinking water, room ventilation, wet cleaning). Another important point is the timely isolation of a sick person who exhibits signs of acute respiratory viral infection and intestinal infection.
Gastroenterologists advise taking prebiotics and probiotics as a preventive measure. Probiotics, called “friendly bacteria,” are live microorganisms that aid digestion and improve protection against possible infections. Natural probiotics are found in fermented milk products: organic yogurt and cheeses, miso soup, sourdough bread, and sauerkraut. There are also probiotic supplements that come in capsules or drinks.
When the temperature creeps up
The cause of an increase in body temperature is not always an infectious disease. Tumor cells are also capable of producing endogenous pyrogen, which is most often the cause of fever, rather than the inflammation or decay that accompanies the tumor process. In the case of the non-infectious nature of the disease and the occurrence of aseptic inflammation during mechanical and chemical damage, leukocytes also migrate to the site of damage and produce endogenous pyrogen. In all cases, the mechanism for increasing body temperature is the same. When the diagnosis is clear, the underlying disease is treated and the problem of increased body temperature is resolved simply: the disease has disappeared - body temperature has returned to normal. In these situations, normalization of body temperature is a criterion for recovery.
Diagnostics
When a child’s body temperature rises for no apparent reason, attentive and responsible parents turn to their local pediatrician.
A good doctor, having studied the medical history and existing symptoms, excluding viral diseases, can suggest thermoneurosis in a child. In this case, parents receive a referral to a neurologist.
After examination by a specialist with a narrower profile, as a rule, an additional examination is prescribed . Diagnosis is aimed at excluding possible pathologies that have similar symptoms, as well as confirming the suspected diagnosis.
Diagnostic methods:
- Clinical blood and urine tests.
- Blood chemistry.
- Encephalogram.
- Ultrasound.
- Specific aspirin test.
- Fluorography.
- EGC.
An aspirin test taking half an aspirin tablet.
For viral and bacterial infections, the temperature drops after 30-40 minutes.
If thermoneurosis is confirmed, acetylsalicylic acid has no effect .
