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[Truean]

I have a fluctuating temperature that has topped out at 102.3 F. (Normal being 98.6). It goes down after taking products with acetaminophen like theraflu, or just ibprophen. I don't mix the two and am careful about the max amounts. I'm staying in bed, and started putting a cold wet washcloth on my forehead.

Oddly, despite having a fever, I feel cold. To spare the worst details, let's just say massive headache and productive cough (yellow, I'm sorry but it matters).

I am a little worried about all of this as I'm not sure, but I think 103 is a dangerous fever that should get a call to a doctor. I dislike taking meds but I absolutely will in this circumstance. The fever is the primary thing that worries me.

Additional Points:
A.) Should I bundle up in bed? I felt cold so I did, and I fear that may have helped the fever get up there? I'm not sure. I feel like it's weird wanting to be very warm when I have a fever? Stay in bed with lots of blankets or less or no?
B.) Plenty of water.
C.) When to call a doctor? Again 103 isn't good and I've come close to it. Ideas.
D.) Any other points?

Thank you

PS My dad got me sick.

[RangerCado]

I've had something similar of running a temperature but feeling cold. What I recommend is:

-take some cold medicine like dayquil and nightquil every 4-6 hours.
-be wrapped up in blankets to keep your body feeling warm.
-drink PLENTY of water to keep hydrated. Cold water when possible to help with your actual temperature.
-some juicy fruits and berries would be good as well for natural sugars to keep energy good.

If things aren't improving and the fever gets worse, then calling a doctor may be a good idea. Keep hydrated though, big point there.

(I do not claim to be a medical expert, this is just how I dealt with something similar)

[Sanctume]

Check temperature frequently  every 15 minutes when its above 101. 

You want it to drop down, so no blankets, and even ice baths are used in the hospital when it goes up.
That is because high temp of 103+ kills the infected cells, but even the good cells.

You need lots of fluids, ambient temp fluid instead of hot; but not cold because you already feeling cold.

You will feel cold because your skin is also working on cooling your internal temp.

Light blanket when your temp is falling is fine, add more for comfort but not to the point that your burning up when bundled.

Food wise, how's your intake?  Other than that, plenty of liquids.

Congestion?  If you blow your nose often, consider a pre-emptive use of lotion to prevent your nose from drying up and becoming irritated from the use of blowing onto tissues.  Moist + soft paper will turn into dried particulates that irritates the skin.

Sleep and rest. 

I hope you feel well.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Your fever is dangerously high. A fever of 104 degrees is where the risk of brain damage and organ failure begins for adults, and though increases in fever tend to become exponentially rare anything above 101 is cause for concern.

If your fever holds at 102 or reaches 103 at all you should seek immediate medical attention. If it even spikes to 104 you are at high risk of losing consciousness, at which point preventing damage will obviously be difficult.

Take the OTC meds. I used to be against unnecessary use as well, and it got me pneumonia and the worst sickness of my life, which lasted over a month. Regulating illness is one of the benefits of modern society, and cracking down on small things as a matter of course makes large things less likely to develop.

As was said, you feel cold despite being warm due to temperature difference between your surface and core, as well as the fever playing hell with your thermoregulation sense. It's not unusual, and you aren't really at risk of raising your fever if you stay in blankets like a healthy person would. Don't wrap yourself into a heat sink, obviously, but there's nothing wrong with staying in bed. Remember, the fever is not being caused by the illness, it is "intentionally" triggered by your immune system in order to burn out the pathogen. It is still a thermostatic process, and so you don't "add" to it anymore than wearing a blanket normally adds to it. The issue is just that there's no upper bound for the fever response to run into before it goes so hard that it starts damaging important things. Like your liver.

[uber pye]

if your tempature reaches 102 or 103, take an ice water bath/cold shower. if ya get to 104, get ye to the hospital(preferably with someone else driving).
in gerneral hydrate hydrate hydrate.

[ChairmanPoo]

...in all honesty, I think 102.3 is more than enough to justify going to the ER.

[Truean]

Well, called doctor's office, appointment at 8:30 Monday morning. If anything gets worse, then go to urgent care.

Light sheet/blanket. Washcloth on forehead.

I'm drinking a ton of water.

There's a lot less congestion right now.

Food, I'm eating but really, that's a mixed bag with this situation.

Thank you all for your consideration. It does mean quite a bit to me. Any additional advice is rather appreciated.

[Plex]

Oddly, despite having a fever, I feel cold.

The sensation of cold/chills is a component of fevers. Your body is trying to increase its temperature beyond the threshold of survival of the offending bacteria/viruses.

A.) Should I bundle up in bed? I felt cold so I did, and I fear that may have helped the fever get up there? I'm not sure. I feel like it's weird wanting to be very warm when I have a fever? Stay in bed with lots of blankets or less or no?
B.) Plenty of water.
C.) When to call a doctor? Again 103 isn't good and I've come close to it. Ideas.
D.) Any other points?

Keep as warm as you can, but wear an ice pack or something on your head if your temperature rises above 100F. If you surpass 103, get to urgent care. Keep drinking water and try to rest all day, taking naps if you can. Don't overdo it if it ruins your sleep at night, though.

Try to take some day/nyquil and things like aspirin, in moderation. The stuff's bad for your liver.

Watch your temperature carefully though, and try setting your alarm for 1-2 hour periods during the night to check your temperature if it gets even higher.

Hope that helped. Get well soon, Truean.

PS My dad got me sick.

Welp.

[PyroDesu]

Try to take some day/nyquil and things like aspirin, in moderation. The stuff's bad for your liver.

Do not mix them - they both have acetaminophen, and that can and will damage or even destroy your liver if you go over the maximum recommended dose. Paracetamol is the same chemical, just to make sure. The stuff is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the western world. Plex is right about moderation, but I'd say that it would be a bad idea to mix two medicines with acetominophen because they'll have differing amounts and recommended dosages because of it, and it would not be difficult to accidentally go over the limit.

Ibuprofen, on the other hand, is to my knowledge safe to combine with acetaminophen.

[Djohaal]

A bit late to the party but intense fevers above 38-39ºC (100.4 and 102.2 for you folks that use this fucked up measuring system), up to 40 (104) and so on are usually more indicative of bacterial infection. The productive cough gives a tip it might be a pulmonar origin (pneumonia, maybe?). If you have fever this intense, and possibly pallor, malaise and/or shivering, I'd consider a visit to the ER for a physical exam, X-ray and maybe some bloodwork. Feeling cold is normal for fevers because of how the temperature regulation in the brain is messed up by the infection.

Fever above 40 to 42ºC can cause neurological lesions and even death but it is uncommon for it to be triggered by mere infections (usually it's due to brain lesions, tumors, etc; then it is called hyperpyrexia).

For fever management until a medical appointment the best advice is to use medications such as paracetamol/acetaminophen and an nonsteroidal antiinflamatory drug. The daily dosage for paracetamol should not exceed 3000 mg daily (750mg every six hours). Dosage for antiinflamatories depends on the drug and it varies wildly from over 1000mg for ibuprofen to only 30-40mg for some newer drugs, so you should refer to the info in the box if it's OTC.

If you have a runny nose and end up with your nostrils sore from all the friction, nivea cream does wonders for it, I rub it on my nose once the redness starts, usually heals overnight.

Just keep in mind I've practiced exclusively psychiatry for the last year so my clinical expertise is already getting rusty. I hope I haven't made any big mistakes there. 

[Truean]

Good to know, all of it really.

Well I've been carefully taking medicine as directed, and oddly the fever goes down when that happens, only to go up after the effective time frame. Oddly, it goes way down, 95 F. It's a not so lovely yo yo effect, so I try to keep things regulated, not taking too much but not letting it lapse either.

Also I suppose this is part of "Sweating out a fever," because that is certainly happening.

[Djohaal]

Anedoctal evidence time but in my personal experience with colds, flus, infections and other fevers, usually when my fever goes down accompanied by a lot of sweating and malaise improvement it is a sign that the condition is improving. I'm extremely sensitive to temperature, 38C or even 37,7ºC and above and I can barely stand on my feet.

[Truean]

Well, the fever seems to be down quite a bit actually. Sadly, the coughing and night sweats persist.

Currently un-medicated. Oddly, the night sweating stopped once the med wore off, but that's probably coincidence.

[ChairmanPoo]

It isn't. You won't see it listed in the side-effects list, but I've had many patients complain of the exact same thing.

[andrea]

do you take medicines before going to bed? if so, that probably is the cause of sweat. ibuprophen and similar convince your body to lower body temperature, but one of the ways your body cools down is, just like in hot days, sweating. After medicines stop their effect, you stop sweating because the body now tries to heat up again.

also, get better soon.