Migraine

I though I wanted to start a discussion on body temperature fluctuations and migraine, particularly HM.

Has anyone out there taken their temperature regularly during the different stages of the migraine and if so what were the results?

My son who is six and has migraine always complains of being too hot or cold when he has the migraine. The Dr wants me to start taking his temp each time he complains of a temerature change as he may be having a fever associated with HM.

I have bought 3 different thermometers and have thrown them out over the last few years because each time I have taken his temp I get a different answer. I even bought the one they use in the ER (very expensive) and I thought that it is not working properly because of the variations. It has just dawned on me that problem may not actually be the thermometers.

A few days ago I bought thermometer number 4 and I am going to use both together and see if both vary simultaneously. My husband laughed at this.

I took his temp when he had the last migraine and when he was "too hot" it was 37.4 C and "too cold" it was 36.2 c. (Sorry I do not know the American conversion). He described the "too cold" phase as being "frozen on the inside". These temperature vaiations happened within an hour.

A few hours later he had the total loss of vision and the stabbing head pain and that was the end of the migraine. I was a bit too freaked out at this point to find a thermometer. He has not had another episode since thank god so I am curious to see if others have the same thing.

Hi Daisy,

I don't have HM, but I definitely have what I call "temperature control problems", particularly the "Migraine cold". I get unbearably cold sometimes, especially during my worse Migraines, and can't warm up for anything. DBF can always tell when I'm feeling "Migraine cold" because I bundle up in tons of layers and several blankets. I haven't ever taken my temp during these episodes though. I do also experience hot flashes, though less frequently.

the conversions for your son's temps:
37.4* C = 99.3* F
36.2* C = 97.2* F
average normal body temp is 98.6* F

We had a thread on fever with Migraine a few months ago that you may find helpful:
Fever with Migraine

Hope this helps!

That is very interesting. I had never heard of that. Though I have extremely varying temps. I keep track of my basal (first morning) temp every day to watch my menstrual cycle and also my thyroid condition, and my temps "bounce" way more than the average person's.

Hi all!

I don't have Migraine but with my headaches I do experience quite a bit of temp change. There was a time a few years ago when I was in the ER, they were taking my temp and it was from 94 to 106. It was a horrible feeling. I know that when I am in a very large amount of pain (like 10 of 10) that I feel like I'm freezing. My doctor suggests sitting in a hot bath to help with this, which usually works. Good luck!

Throwing my two cents in about fever cycles: That was part of the factors in my being given a diagnosis CFS/ME. With that illness flucuating temperature is know to be a major factor for dx.

Mary in NM

Some people do run slight fevers with migraine as part of their regular pattern. We've also had people report feeling either too warm or too cold with migraine, absent any recordable temperature change. Most of the people I've seen posting about this have had regular types of migraine, as opposed to hemiplegic migraine. Anecdotally, it seems to me that kids are pretty well presented when reporting fever with migraine in forum posts.

Temperature fluctuations can happen daily in normal, healthy people, though, too. Knowing whether or not it's probably just part of your migraine pattern might be reassuring, so you can convince yourself it's "not just me", and it can help be a red flag alerting you that migraine beasties are lurking and ready to strike, but beyond that I don't think it's much more than a curiousity thing. It just is what it is, in a sense. It might be tough in some situations to differentiate between a normal fluctuation and a fluctuation due to something else, such as migraine, particularly if the fluctuations are slight.