Constant body chills!

Hey everyone,

I'm having a little bit of a problem. The last month has been a bit rough on me with the storms in my region, two big snows and two little ones all triggering migraines. I have been recently getting body chills which I had attributed to the migraines. They go away when I take the fioricet w. codeine but come back within exactly 4-5 hours of taking the medication, so I was almost positive this was a symptom of the migraine and the codeine in the pills was covering it up(barbituate in the pills last a lot longer..I usually feel the effect for 6-8 hours).

Well, after the storms passed I had a series of good days with no migraines. I had also stopped taking medication as well. Well, the chills had continued even though I had no symptoms of m. I was thinking it was possible dependence of medication but I had waited it out and took nothing and still, the chills battled on with no other sign of dependence. I informed my husband that I might be dependent and to look out for agitation and other signs and asked him if he noticed anything out of the ordinary and he said no! The ONLY symptom I had was chills. No aches or pains, no runs or nausea, irritability or anything. Apparently, Fioricet w. codeine is one nasty medication to come off of so I think I'd notice if I was having withdrawals.

When another migraine hit I did a little experimenting. I took stadol instead to see if it would rid me of the chills. It did! This time the chills returned within 4 hours of taking the stadol. I know I am not dependent on Stadol as I used it only 3-4X this month. I go days without it just fine.

If it isn't the migraines causing the chills, nor is it the narcotics or barbituates, and this is not a known side effect of topamax, so what is doing this to me?

As you know I have no experience of these meds. I hope someone else can help you out. Sounds nasty.

Have you taken your temperature? I wonder if you're running a fever.

I know when I went cold turkey off my pain meds, I experienced an achy/crawling out of my skin feeling but not the chills.

I hope you figure it out as I am sure it is quite vexing.

£eslie

I get chills also. Usually with a migraine and sometimes without one. I attribute some of them to menopause but I am past that now. The only abortive I have available is Excedrin Migraine and Aleve. I don't even have any pain relievers so meds are not involved as far as I can see, I think the chills are part of the migraine phenomenom. Since it is a brain imbalance that causes migraines it makes sense to me that something in the brain ia a bit off causing an inability to control body temp.

They suck. No matter how many blankets I pile on, I'm still freezing.

Alli

Thanks guys.

Leslie, I have taken my temperature a lot to see if it is related to the chills. No fever. I always run low at 97.6 my whole life, weird but true LOL. I'm normal temp for me. The chills are constant, and occur every time I move..even blink my eyes, or a draft hits me. Sometimes I don't even do anything at all and the chills occur. Eck.

It is driving me up a wall.

Well I guess chills are better than hot flashes. It does seem like symptoms change every once in a while but if mine went to that - I could handle it

Another odd bit in common - I run a degree low too. Which is infuriating when I have a temp of a bit over 99 - this is normal in another person but it actually is a low grade fever.

Hope you feel better.

Gia, this sounds (to my uneducated mind) like a neurological problem. Sadly, it also sounds like something a doctor will just shrug about.

I hope you have better luck figuring it out than my pessimistic viewpoint ;-)

£eslie

LG, mention this when you next go to the dr. I don't know if this will help, but I am always cold. Always. I sit with a blanket wrapped around me in July. I told my dr. this years ago, and she did bloodwork on me, and it came back that I was anemic. She did a whole workup, and put me on various iron supplements, only to find I don't absorb iron the way normal people do. In fact, no matter what she had me on, my iron would just drop lower and lower. She said she had never had a patient respond as I had, it was baffling.
She was going to have me go in for drastic treatment, but I discovered a liquid supplement on my own at Whole Foods. It's darned expensive, so I recently stopped taking it, due to budget constraints (haven't told the GP this though).

All this to say, that's the reason the dr. gave me for always being chilled. HOWEVER, when I told my nuero about how I was always cold, got the chills, etc., he was not surprised. I don't know if it means anything or not. I'd love to know more about it too.

I don't think your chills are related to your medication intake/withdrawls. I take stadol in a much higher dose than you and I haven't noticed physical withdrawls when I don't take it. Dependence, yes, withdrawls, no.
It would be interesting to find out if there's a nuerological cause of the chills, though. I can tell you I rarely sit in the evenings without a blanket, or even two. When I go to visit my family, my mom has to go get me one of hers out of the closet, and then remind my dad, "she's anemic, remember?" when he says, "how can you be cold?" I'm the family freak. LOL

But I'm not cold, I just have the chills Sometimes I'm sweating hot and I get them! It is very puzzling to me! I will mention it to the doctor though. Maybe it is neurological..maybe it's like Alli said..a symptom of migraine that I happen to get all the time. Ugh.

I have that often too...and mine also have been extra intense this past month (interrrresttting!!). I always have chaulked it up to part of the Migraine disease because when I first had some concerns about lesions that were found on my brain in an MRI I studied up on MS and heard that temperature control was greatly effected. I am like you this month tho LG, I will be in bed with a heating pad on and so hot from it but hating the chills I have.

Let me know if your neuro is concerned or what he/she has to offer about it.

I have the same problem, I am always extremely cold my hands and feet and nose are eternally frozen,
but my doctor just shrugged it off and told me to move to California... well, not in those exact words, she told me her personal friend suffered from the same condition, has investigated it but never found the cause
and in the end moved to Cali. "The medicine does not have an answer to everything, Miss Risa.." grrrrr

Well I wish I could move. But it's not that easy!

I know that Cushin'g may cause this, but she doesn't think I have it so she won't send me for tests.

Risa

Ris...a big cause of being always cold like that is a PFO in your heart..also a main cause of migraine with aura. If you close the PFO a lot of times the migraine with aura goes away. They are sending me off for testing for that this month.

I'm getting chills though when I'm not cold though. I can be sweating hot and still get chills. It is like the feeling you get when you listen to a really good song, or something hits you that is really motivational or whatever..only over and over and over again. You'd think it'd be cool the way i'm describing but it really isn't. It sucks major big time.

Might it be thyroid?

I was forever cold and had chills when I was Topamax. Now that I'm not, I'm back to my hot-blooded self with the windows open in the winter.

I put it down to the 40 pounds I lost when I was on Topamax. Unfortunately, I have all my natural insulation back.

Just a thought I'd throw out there. I know you've lost a lot of weight.

Charlotte

One thing my neuro told me was that cold hands and feet are a symptom of migraines. I've had eternally cold hands and feet - even in the dead of summer, they are often like ice. And they get cold very easily...I can be wearing a pair of heavy wool socks and 15 minutes out in the cold and I might as well have been barefoot.

When I had riding classes in college, they lasted 90 minutes and we had a heated arena. I used to figure how cold it was by how many of toes were completely white when I'd come back home and shower. The fewer, the warmer. Fingers are easier to keep from freezing, except one of my middle ones - must have gotten frost bit at some point.

Thought it was interesting as I really had never had any explanation of why my feet and hands are always cold.

lovegia wrote:
I'm getting chills though when I'm not cold though. I can be sweating hot and still get chills. It is like the feeling you get when you listen to a really good song, or something hits you that is really motivational or whatever..only over and over and over again. You'd think it'd be cool the way i'm describing but it really isn't. It sucks major big time.

Ohh. So really it's getting goosebumps not necessarily chills, per se. I think ppl hear chills and think cold/chilly. But you are only getting the goosebumps part.

Hmmm. Maybe if it is a PFO thing they'll be able to tell you more when you go for the test? I have many symptoms consistent with PFO, however, my neuro told me that the closure procedure was not scientifically proven effective enough to treat Migraines, just a crap shoot at this point. I looked it up and talked to a few people who have had PFO closure, and 1 was the same in terms of M and 2 were WORSE off. I looked into the research and understood my docs point of view and did not want to go down that road.

That was a year and a half ago, tho, so maybe things have changed? I was eager to potentially have something tangible to diagnose and treat and maybe even try to fix, but then cancelled the test as I did not feel like it would lead me anywhere productive.

That's just me tho. Not judging you or your situation. I know we are all different. And all docs are different as well. If I had a doc who was eager to find out if I had that and supportive of the closure procedure, I may be in a different boat.

Gia,

Try soaking in a hot bath. Sometimes chills can be caused by poor circulation. There have been times when that was the only way I could get warm. That was after spending all day and half the night skating on Lake Ellen in Glen Ellyn, Il.

Hal

Hehe Hal, wish it was only for a day now. This has been going on for about three weeks. I have tried hot baths and hot showers, they usually insensify the chills believe it or not.

I don't get goosebumps on my skin either, Jess. It's like fever chills but without the fever. Ach this is strange I guess I am really a weirdo!

As for the PFO I think another study has come out but it was small. It did show promising results for us migraneurs though. Real promising results. I think the main reason PFO is being investigated in my case is because of the risk of ministrokes. My doctor thinks because of my cognitive and spelling problems as of late I have been having TIA so he wants to check for PFO and ministrokes by doing a bubble study. If I do have a medium to large PFO and have had TIA then he is going to suggest closing the PFO to minimize the risk of a full blown stroke. An added bonus would be hopefully a reduction in migraines, although I'm not counting on it. I think my migraines are hereditary and hormonal. It is a good thing to know about though, this PFO business..any new information is good information!

LG, sorry, I thought chills meant you were cold! LOL Definitely ask the dr. if they are medicine and/or migraine related. I wonder if it's topomax related.

You must have quite a list for the dr. by now! Oh my. I'll think on this and see if I can find anything out though.

Gia,

You're just wierd. Maybe it is drug related. If you live in NY with all of the snow and cold you guys have had I'd have more than the chills. This is the first mention I have heard of it being caused by M. Obviously, I have no idea what I am talking about. Wish I could help. I'll just send good thoughts your way and maybe it will go away.

Hal

Sorry, bad head. Will keep it short. I get terrible chills when I have a bad M. The meds make them go away. Also, I htink Stadol and Fiorocet with codeine hit the same receptors in your brain. If it is withdrawals either drug would alleviate the symptoms. Withdrawals can last several weeks. There are some things that can help if that is the problem. Everyone experiences withdrawals differently and when it happens to me the first symptom is the sweating.

good luck.

Mary Anne

LG,

Are your lymph glands swollen? Chills and sweats can be a symptom of your body trying to fight off something. Also, thyroid problems.

However, I sometimes get chills right before escalation of my migraine. Sometimes I just get so cold I can't get warm no matter how many blankets and how many layers of clothing I put on. I often use the heating pad just to try to warm my body, especially hands and feet. Once I take an abortive med, I usually go to the opposite extreme and have a hot flash.

I hope the weird chills stop and you can continue to have some pain-free days. Might be a good idea, however, to see your primary care provider just for a checkup.

Please take care,

Becky

During a bad migraine I seem to lose the ability to control my body temperature. Sometimes I get chills, but mostly I am really hot and feel feverish, but my body temperature doesn't actually change. My preference is for heat to help my migraines (most people seem to want cool packs), so maybe I just go the opposite way temperature wise?!

When I use midrid one of the main side effects I get from it as it works is feeling really cold to my core.

None of this changed with PFO closure for me either so maybe not the link, but who knows.

Amy