Interested in your thoughts on fever...

[boysmom2]

About a month ago I wound up in the ER with what turned out to be just a horrendous case of the stomach flu (not gall bladder issues after all). I had a fever of 103 and the accompanying chills. The ER staff (desk clerks, nurses, PA, and MD) all denied me blankets because I had a fever. At first I thought they just wanted to check my temp before giving me a blanket, but no, I was not allowed one the whole time. This was really miserable, but also just seemed wrong. Would covering up really raise my fever? And if it did, how much? Or is there some other reason why I shouldn't have had one? When ever I or my dh or dcs has had a fever and chills I load on the blankets to make the person comfortable and no one seems to have suffered. So, thoughts?

[tanyalynn]

I think it's odd they wouldn't give you a blanket. I've had illnesses with fever and chills and I definitely did better all bundled up, and it's been the same sometimes with the kids. I have no idea if it actually makes the fever go higher, but it seems helpful.

[boysmom2]

Maybe it has something to do with the pervasive thinking that fever is bad? I'm one of the few people I know who lets a fever run it's course without treating it, like with Tylenol. I think there's still this belief that any fever needs to be brought down. Now, if someone had a fever so high that it was in danger of cooking their brains that's different, but in the case of your run of the mill flu I think it's helpful. So, if you're not treating the flu, the person will have chills and therefore need blankets to get comfortable enough to sleep, which is what you need to do to get better. I don't know. I'm kind of hoping there's some really good reason other than that they were just being dumb.