Low Grade Fevers

[Mitch]

Maybe I haven't looked far enough to find an answer to my question, the question being, is it normal to run low-grade fevers? They seem to be coming almost daily now. At first they were rare; however, every time I had one, I would develop some paralyzing neuropathy in a new place. Any input would be helpful.
Mitch

[RCOSSIO]

You could be flaring...expecially as you mention frequent fever and neuropathy. Have you change meds recently..dropped pred or switch immunosuppresants???

Go get some bloodwork and schedule appt with Rheumy...remember WG can spead like wildfire suddenly.

[Mitch]

Richard, thanks for your response. I am so afraid. (I'm Danell, Mitch's wife, responding.) I just don't know what to do....I want to scream for help!!! It is so difficult to see him in this situation...

[Sangye]

Mitch, I agree. Call your doc right away. Something's not right.

[Mitch]

Thank you, Sangye.

[Mitch]

Somebody, please help me!!! I'm at my wit's end. This is my husband who is almost bedbound! Breaks my heart to see a healthy, active person reduced to the bed. Is there any help for the caregivers? I'm speaking from an emotional standpoint. Breaks my heart to see him in this condition in spite of the fact that he has such a good attitude.

[RCOSSIO]

Danell...hang in there. WG is treatable and can be contained...but I STRESS, you can't delay. Low grade fevers and joint pains can be managed...but if it starts attacking his kidneys, or lungs....its not worth the wait. Go to your local hospital today...have them run some blood work especially his creatine and sed rate. That will give you enough information as to what is going on. I don't normally like to discuss other WG patients...but one of the patients my Rheumy cares for took too long to see him, and now has to do dialysis to restore his kidneys function.

Put him in your car, take him to the hospital and have them run blood work...

Again I stress its easier to control now..

[Sangye]

Danell, I agree with Richard's recommendations. Whenever you go to an ER, make sure they order basic bloodwork, a sed rate (aka ESR), a CRP (C-Reactive Protein) and a urinalysis.

As far as caregiver support, we do have a few caregivers who post on here. I wonder if it'd be a good idea to give you a unique area to post, since that would encourage others to post as well. But you should always feel free to ask for help, rant, whatever you need. Take things one day at a time. The great thing about Wegs is how quickly things can change.

[JanW]

I agree with Sangye and Richard. Get to a hospital.

[Mitch]

Richard, never hesitate to give me advice. I appreciate any and all. Actually, he saw his kidney specialist last week and his creatine and sed rates were normal. I will call his/our internist on Mon. morning. Initially, this stuff attacked both kidneys and lungs. We were fortunate that his doctors restored function in both areas. Lungs were filled with tumors which are almost non-existant at this point. His kidney specialist says he is clinically in remission. Doesn't seem like remission to me. Do you have days of weakness so overwhelming that you can hardly get out of the bed? No appetite? I know that WG's is different for all patients; I'm just looking for answers, I guess. And last night, I was especially not understanding the constant fevers; he's had them in the past, but these seem to be more prevalant. I did look at a Weg website this morning and one of the symptoms was fever. Gave me, though not him, some relief. I then went to the subject of fevers and found that anything up to 100.4 should be left alone because the body is naturally fighting its own inflammation. Today it shot up to 101.9. Not good.
Well, thanks for listening and responding. You have no idea how much I appreciate any input.