Do All Fevers Cause Side Effects?

December 13, 2022

When you are sick, you can expect to experience a wide variety of different symptoms. Headaches, congestion and a sore throat are all some of the more common side effects of illness. Fever is also a common symptom.

While some fevers can cause even more symptoms, others can be present with no symptoms at all! In both cases, your body is working hard to overcome whatever illness you have. Our AFC Urgent Care Chattanooga team lays out the details regarding fevers below, so read on!

What Is the Threshold for a Fever?

For adults, the typical body temperature is 98.6 degrees on a normal day. While this number can fluctuate a little bit as we move about our days, it usually hovers around this baseline number. When we start to get sick, our bodies can react by spiking a fever. Fevers are diagnosed at 100.4 degrees or higher.

If your thermometer starts to read this number, don’t panic! Fevers are a natural part of our body’s response to illness. A raised body temperature signals more white blood cell formation and encourages your immune system to work more efficiently. It also makes it harder for your illness or infection to replicate and thrive. Fevers often produce extra symptoms while you are sick since our bodies aren’t used to a higher internal temperature.

Symptoms Caused by a Fever

Chills, shivering or shaking
Body aches
Fatigue
Sweating
Flushed skin

Do I Need to Visit With a Doctor if I Have a Fever?

You normally do not need to make an appointment with your care team if you have a fever. Just keep an eye on it, rest and drink plenty of fluids. In time, it should start to go down and will go away on its own in a few days.

If this doesn’t happen and your fever gets worse and reaches 103 degrees or higher, now is the time to visit with your medical provider to do some further investigation. While complications due to fever are relatively rare, they can still happen and leave you vulnerable to things like organ damage.