Do you have fever as a part of PEM?

[Jonathan Edwards]

It seems that there are quite a few studies of temperature in ME/CFS or CFS patients but a very quick skim through suggests that a lot of them are not very useful.

I don't think wrist temperature is much use.
Earlier testing devices may have had calibration problems.
Numbers are small.
I don't see reference to PEM.
Brain area temperature may be interesting but is a separate question from fever, which relates to control of core body temperature. The latter may tell us something about immune signals the brain may be responding to. The former would not.
Etc.

It looks as if there is no very major difference from controls at least in some studies but we can expect difference to be quite subtle and intermittent.

I think a minimum number for a study would be 20, perhaps 10 moderate and 10 severe. Up to 50 might be good.

I think monitoring should be over a period expected to include at least 3-4 episode of PEM.

The monitoring should be continuous. I suspect armpit or nearby chest area is the best place to measure although external auditory meatus might be ideal (like a hearing aid).

I think it is worth picking through the literature carefully to see how much we think we already know.

 

[V.R.T.]

I get extremely feverish, with all the typical symptoms except a significantly raised temperature. Body boiling hot to the touch (confirmed by others) and everything. IIrc temp has been slightly raised once or twice but nothing comparable to how abysmal I feel.

That said wasn't the information going round for acute covid in 20/21 that feeling feverish with a hot back or something of that sort was enough to say you had a fever?

I also get other 'immune' type symptoms like a runny nose and sneezing in bad PEM. I also get rigours and extreme shaking if the crash is really bad.