Sometimes a person may feel cold. This condition can occur against the background of an acute respiratory infection, pneumonia or other infectious diseases. But sometimes, in the absence of an obvious reason, “goose bumps” still appear, although it is warm outside and the body temperature is normal. Why does this happen and what to do if it’s freezing?

Hypothermia

One of the common causes of chills is hypothermia. If it is cool outside, and a person has been outside a warm room for a long time or is not dressed for the weather, then he freezes quite quickly. At such moments, the blood vessels narrow and, accordingly, blood circulation slows down. This is a normal protective reaction of the body, which allows you to prevent the process of damage to the capillaries and prevent frostbite. Almost all the blood accumulates near the internal organs to warm them.

At first glance, it may seem that nature has provided everything. However, this condition, especially if it lasts for a long time, leads to a decrease in local immunity and, above all, to the upper respiratory tract. That is, there is a huge risk of developing a respiratory disease.

What to do if you freeze as a result of hypothermia? Once in a warm room, you should warm up by any available means. Can be accepted warm bath or even a contrast shower. Be sure to drink plenty of warm fluids. It could be tea or milk. You can add spices to the drink to speed up blood circulation: ginger or cinnamon. Feet can be placed in a bath of warm water. If there is no increase in body temperature, you can make applications from mustard plasters. A massage of the whole body and/or legs helps restore normal blood circulation. It is also recommended to eat high-calorie, but easily digestible food, which will help restore expended energy. In such cases, it is not recommended to take alcohol, except in therapeutic doses.

Dietary unbalanced nutrition

Almost every person dreams of being slim, but it is not always possible to quickly lose extra pounds. Some people, in pursuit of a slim body, go on strict diets, completely forgetting about their own health.

First of all, this happens if the diet involves avoiding fat. However, do not forget that they are required for normal thermal regulation of the body. This is especially true for women, since fat in the subcutaneous tissue is also responsible for the functioning of the hormonal system. To confirm this, we can give an example that not only chills torment women on a diet, sooner or later problems with the functioning of the ovaries appear.

It’s very cold, what should you do if this condition appears during a diet? Naturally, reconsider your diet. Limiting your carbohydrate intake will help you lose weight more than cutting out fat completely.

Hormonal imbalances

It is no secret that the thyroid gland, namely thyroid hormones, plays an important role in thermoregulation. If their quantity is insufficient, then the disease is called hypothyroidism. In the presence of pathology, a person experiences weight gain, a constant feeling of weakness and chills.

Heat metabolism is influenced by sex hormones. This is pronounced in women during the menstrual cycle, when chills and hot flashes are observed.

Freezing can also occur if you have diabetes. Already at the last stage of the disease, when glucose plaques appear in the vessels, normal blood circulation is disrupted. In such cases, the patient often experiences chills in the legs.

What to do if a person is freezing due to one of the diseases? Naturally, contact an endocrinologist.

The cardiovascular system

Sometimes a person fails to warm up because the circulatory system is disrupted. This may be vegetative-vascular dystonia, in which the functioning of nerve cells and blood vessels is disrupted. Another one of possible reasons- anemia or anemia. These diseases are associated with a drop in hemoglobin levels.

You can often hear complaints that a person feels cold if they have hypertension. Very often this condition appears at the moment sharp jump blood pressure, after it normalizes, the chills completely disappear.

What to do if it’s freezing and you know for sure that there are problems with the cardiovascular system? Of course, eliminate the root cause. If it is hypertension, then lower the pressure. If you have anemia, you need to increase your hemoglobin level.

For vegetative-vascular dystonia, hardening procedures will help relieve chills.

Gastrointestinal problems

The digestive process occurs almost continuously, and almost all organs are involved in the process. Today, poor environment and nutrition, abuse of “wrong” foods and alcohol, have forced many people to consult a doctor with diseases of the digestive system. Indeed, gastrointestinal pathologies are the scourge of our time, and they have a wide range of symptoms: from nausea and vomiting to chills. If a person is freezing, it is not necessary that he has gastritis or an ulcer, but this symptom occurs if they are present.

Very often, chills are a consequence of intoxication, which can be caused by food poisoning, alcohol, or medications. What to do if it’s freezing in such a situation? First of all, you need to take activated charcoal to try to cleanse your body of toxins as much as possible, and then go to a medical facility for examination.

Fast-paced life and the development of scientific and technological progress have led to the fact that city dwellers are almost constantly in a state of stress. There are problems at work, at home too, your feet are trampled in transport, and so on - nervous overstrain. Very often in such situations a person feels a slight chill, which is in no way associated with an increase or decrease in body temperature. This simply involves the activation of protective forces to overcome external stimuli.

What to do if it’s freezing without fever, and the cause is stress? This condition is associated with a decrease in vascular tone, so a contrast shower, hardening and a visit to the bath will help. Such simple and pleasant procedures will restore vascular tone and make it easier to tolerate nervous tension.

To quickly recover from stress, it is recommended to take a few deep breaths and drink a glass of cool water. For some time it is recommended to drink soothing teas or decoctions of sage, chamomile or lemon balm.

What other reasons could there be?

What to do if it’s very cold and for what other reasons can this condition occur? Chills may be additional confirmation of the presence of a hidden inflammatory process in the body or the onset of hemorrhage. In some cases, in the initial stages of tuberculosis, a similar symptom may be observed, as with the development of malignant or benign neoplasms. Some people feel cold after a fright; women may experience this condition during menopause. Very often, a state of chills is a harbinger of the development of a certain disease.

As a rule, a person who has a cold experiences a whole bunch of symptomatic experiences. This and headache, sore throat, runny nose and chills.

The main question that arises when the temperature is high and freezing is what to do? As they say, there are different temperatures. If it does not exceed 38 degrees, then knocking it down is not recommended. In this way, the body tries to cope with harmful bacteria and activate the immune system. The body gives off heat to environment, so the person freezes.

If the temperature is too high

The question becomes more serious when the temperature is 39 and freezing. What to do in such a situation? In this condition, antipyretic drugs will already be required. With such an increase in body temperature, the internal organs overheat. It is necessary to observe bed rest so as not to overload the body with physical and mental activity. Drink warm drinks, for example, one sip every 10 minutes, to prevent dehydration.

In the room where the patient is located, there must be created optimal conditions, the room should not be stuffy and hot, approximately +20...+22 degrees. The room should be ventilated periodically. The humidity level should not fall below 50%.

What to do if you have a headache and are freezing, and your body temperature has risen to 40 degrees? In this case, you should immediately call an ambulance. In this state, the patient may even experience convulsions and delirium; often people lose consciousness at this temperature.

What to do if your child is cold? If the symptoms do not go away within two hours, then you should call a doctor and take some measures. Cover the baby with a blanket and put on warm socks. The child should be constantly given warm drinks, herbal tea or compote. If it is clearly visible that it is a cold, then you should not give acidified liquid with the addition of lemon, this will only increase irritation in the throat. When lowering the temperature, you should not rub down; it is better to use candles or syrups. Under no circumstances should you steam your child’s feet or use an electric blanket or mustard plasters until the temperature subsides.

Prevention

When it freezes without a temperature for no reason, what should you do? This issue should be resolved with your doctor. In addition, try to avoid hypothermia and do not allow severe physical strain on the body. Avoid “harmful” foods and eat more fruits and vegetables. With excessive excitability nervous system Refuse to work where it is emotionally difficult. Any respiratory disease, even a minor one, requires serious treatment so that it does not become chronic. Go in for sports, it could be gymnastics or yoga.

Good day, dear readers!

In today’s article we will look at such an unpleasant symptom that accompanies many diseases as chills (shivering), as well as its causes, accompanying symptoms, treatment and prevention of chills. So…

What is chills?

Chills- a feeling of coldness and chilliness caused by spasms of the skin vessels, which is also accompanied by trembling, and sometimes “goose bumps”. Trembling develops mainly in the muscles of the head (masticatory muscles), back, shoulder girdle and limbs.

Most often, the cause of chills is a disease of viral etiology, which is characterized by elevated or high body temperature. Mild chills can occur during stress, fear and other emotional outbursts, but they usually pass quickly. Therefore, in all cases, chills are a symptom that tells us that something is happening to the body.

Chills are one of the protective functions body - during muscle spasms the body forms a large number of energy, and accordingly heat, at which self-warming and normalization of body temperature occurs.

Treatment of chills is aimed at removing its cause, therefore, when the body’s functioning is normalized - when the disease or external unfavorable conditions in which the person is located are removed, the chills go away on their own.

Chills. ICD

ICD-10: R50.0;
ICD-9: 780.64.

Causes of chills

Conventionally, chills are divided into 2 types – chills with fever and chills without fever. Among the reasons for their development are:

Chills without fever are caused by:

• finding the body in unfavorable climatic conditions, in the cold, and freezing of the body;
• diseases of the endocrine system: , ;
• , fright;
• hormonal changes – pregnancy;
• overwork;
• metabolic disorders;
• injuries.

Chills with fever are caused by:

• infections: and other diseases accompanied by elevated and high body temperature;
• digestive system disorders: , ;
• circulatory disorders, internal bleeding;
• other diseases: , Raynaud's disease.

Symptoms of chills

Depending on the cause of the chills, the following symptoms may accompany them:

• blue lips, nails (due to hypothermia);
• , malaise;
• constrained body movements, lethargy;
• , disturbances of consciousness, hallucinations;

Diagnosis of chills

Diagnosis of chills includes:

• Anamnesis;

Treatment of chills

What to do if you have chills, if you feel cold? As noted above, treatment of chills is aimed at eliminating its root cause. Thus, the following methods of treating chills can be noted:

- Warm the body - dress well in warm clothes, wrap yourself in a blanket, drink hot tea, raspberries or milk with, if there is no elevated temperature, take a warm bath or steam your feet in a basin.

— If you are emotionally unbalanced, you need to take deep breaths, drink a glass of water, a sedative, such as tea with mint or sage;

- If, it is necessary to take a remedy for increased fever, when it normalizes, the chills will go away on their own;

- If chills are caused by poor condition of the blood vessels, as for example with, then hardening procedures have proven themselves to normalize their work;

— For various infectious diseases (flu, etc.), it is recommended to drink plenty of fluids, which will help quickly remove infections from the body and, accordingly, normalize its condition.

Important! Do not use if you have a chill alcoholic drinks! The use of medications is possible, but only after consultation with a doctor.

Preventing chills

During the cold season, dress well and avoid hypothermia;

Update: October 2018

Chills are popularly called a sensation when the whole body begins to feel cold, which causes trembling to appear in it. This condition is described with the words “chills” or “freezing”, and this is not at all the same as just trembling, not accompanied by a feeling of cold.

When chills are accompanied by fever, everything seems clear: you have a cold. But what could be the reason that chills appeared without fever? This is what we will look at here.

What determines the formation of chills?

The feeling of cold is “dictated” to a person by the thermoregulatory center - special nerve cells located in the hypothalamus. When he feels that the body has cooled down, he “turns on” the sensation of chills - a defensive reaction, which consists of:

• spasm of peripheral vessels (cutaneous, subcutaneous, localized in mucous membranes in contact with the external environment). Thus, by reducing the diameter of blood vessels, the body limits the evaporation of heat from the body;
• muscle tremors, which are needed in order to increase the amount of heat in the body. Trembling begins from the masticatory muscles, so the first sign of chills is described as “tooth not touching tooth”;
• reflexive desire to “curl up into a ball”;
• increased metabolism.

Based on the ability to maintain a constant temperature, the human body can be divided into 2 parts:

1. "Core" or "core". These are muscles and tissues that lie deeper than 2-2.5 cm from the surface of the skin, internal organs, and organs of the central nervous system. The task of the thermoregulatory center is to prevent the “core” from cooling below 35.5°C (the temperature of the “core” is judged by the readings of a thermometer in the armpit, under the tongue, in the rectum or external auditory canal).
2. "Shell". This is the skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles lying superficially (for example, on the face). The temperature of the “shell” partly depends on the temperature of the external environment. In addition, it is not the same everywhere: on the skin of the toes and hands it can be 25°C, on the chest, back and stomach covered with clothes - up to 35°C.

The thermoregulatory center scans the body temperature every second: even a change of 0.01 degrees does not escape it. He learns about temperature with the help of special nerve endings that record the temperature in the arteries that supply the brain with blood. And when the surrounding air becomes cold enough, the blood in the vessels of the “shell” also cools, and this is reflected in the temperature of the entire blood. Then the thermoregulatory center gives the “command” to constrict the vessels of the “shell”, activate muscle tremors and “turn on” non-contractile thermogenesis - energy production in brown adipose tissue (this is present in children and very rarely persists into adulthood).

There is the concept of a “set point” for thermoregulation. This is the level of body temperature to which the body will strive; When it is reached, thermoregulatory mechanisms are practically switched off and “rest”. If the actual body temperature is below this “set point”, heat production increases (through the work of muscles and brown fat) and heat transfer decreases (the vessels of the superficial tissues narrow). The “set point” can change in some brain diseases, and then the hypothalamus can trigger severe chills at normal body temperature, considering it low. Such diseases include brain tumors, craniopharyngomas, hemorrhages in the hypothalamus, Gaye-Wernicke disease, as well as neurosurgical operations.

The formation of the “setting point” is influenced by:

1. the amount of sodium and calcium in the hypothalamus, which depends on the concentration of these ions in the blood. The latter depends not only on how much calcium and sodium a person gets from food. What is important is how this balance will be affected by the endocrine organs and kidneys;
2. balance in the work of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. If it changes (including under the influence of drugs), either heat production or heat transfer begins to increase;
3. concentrations of norepinephrine and serotonin;
4. psychogenic factors, stress;
5. pyrogens are substances produced by pathogenic microbes that have entered the body.

Commands from the thermoregulatory center, which compared the actual blood temperature with the expected one, reach not only the nerves. They are partially carried out by hormones. These are thyroid hormones, which control metabolism, as well as adrenal hormones: adrenaline and norepinephrine, which control vascular tone. During pregnancy in the early stages, progesterone “connects” to them, which shifts the “set point” slightly upward to provide the embryo with the opportunity to develop.

Causes of chills without fever

Considering the mechanisms by which thermoregulation occurs, chills without fever may indicate the following diseases and conditions:

Hypothermia

This is the first reason to think about. If you are freezing indoors during an unheated season, or have spent a long time in cold air/cold water, then with the help of chills the body tries to raise body temperature to the “set point”.

Stress, fear

If you are very nervous or scared, this will upset the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems in favor of the latter. In this case, the hypothalamus “commands” to increase body temperature. This phenomenon is temporary; cough, not accompanied by any pain.

Alcohol intoxication

Ethyl alcohol, found in various drinks, causes dilation of the “shell” vessels, as a result, heat evaporates from the surface of the body and it cools. A decrease in temperature leads to the development of symptoms of chills.

Taking medications

If you are constantly taking Phenothiazine, Phenobarbital, Barboval, Sibazon (Relanium, Valium), Gidazepam, Reserpine, Droperidol or Haloperidol, as well as an anti-nausea drug “Motilium” (“Domrid”, “Motorix”, which are based on domperidone), keep in mind: they dilate blood vessels. As a result, the body cools down and chills occur.

Severe illness

When a person was seriously ill for a long time or seriously, the body threw all its strength into curing him. This depleted him and worsened the functioning of the adrenal glands (a similar effect is observed with stress). Decreased production of adrenal hormones leads to a decrease in body temperature and, accordingly, activates the symptoms of chills. The body temperature is below normal.

Diseases accompanied by intoxication

These are mainly infectious diseases:

• respiratory diseases;
• intestinal infections (what is called poisoning);
• pneumonia, especially atypical forms that occur with normal temperature;
• inflammation of the urinary tract;
• tuberculosis of any localization.

The fact that this disease is caused by one of the types of microbes can be assumed based on the fact that weakness suddenly appears, appetite disappears or decreases, and there may be slight dizziness and nausea (these are symptoms of intoxication).

The following symptoms will indicate the localization of the source of inflammation: with acute respiratory infections - a sore throat and runny nose, with pneumonia - cough, pain in the upper parts of the sternum, with inflammation of the urinary tract - lower back pain, difficulty or pain when urinating.

Food poisoning is usually accompanied by nausea, diarrhea (even once); it occurs after eating foods with cream, meat, dairy products, and dishes with mayonnaise.

Tuberculosis is characterized by weakness, night sweats, and cough. They may not last for too long. Gradually, if the tuberculosis process changes its localization, the cough may disappear. Then other symptoms appear: headaches (with tuberculous meningitis) or lower back pain (if it is kidney tuberculosis), bone pain (with a bone process). Intoxication remains the same.

Of course, a feeling of chills with signs of intoxication in the absence of an increase in temperature can also manifest other diseases. So, in men, these may be exacerbations of chronic diseases of the testicles, epididymis, and prostate. But in this case, unpleasant sensations in the organs of the scrotum or lower abdomen, problems with urination and erection will come to the fore.

In women, chills without fever, accompanied by intoxication, may accompany inflammation of the breast tissue (mastitis) and lactostasis in nursing women. Breast cancer also manifests itself. But in most cases, pain in the mammary gland comes to the fore.

Vegetative-vascular dystonia

This is an outdated diagnosis, which, however, is used to designate disorders of the autonomic nervous system without signs of damage to its structures. The diagnosis is usually made after the examination of a person presenting one or more of the following complaints excludes more “serious” diseases: hypertension, heart pathologies, diabetes, mental disorders.

The disease manifests itself:

• pain in the heart;
• feeling of palpitations or irregular heartbeats;
• chills;
• feeling of inner trembling;
• coldness of hands and feet;
• swelling;
• migrating pain in joints and muscles.

Increased blood pressure

Body chills without fever may be a sign of increased blood pressure. It is not a sign of illness if high pressure was measured while you were very nervous or had just worked out physically. But if chills are accompanied by pressure above 140/100 mm Hg. was noted at rest or during usual physical activity, you need to make an appointment with a therapist and begin to monitor this indicator. Before you see this doctor, stop drinking alcohol, strong black teas, coffee, and reduce your salt intake by half.

Hypothyroidism

This is the name of the condition when the thyroid gland begins to produce less hormones, which slows down metabolic processes in the body. This disease can develop in both women and men. Hypothyroidism can be a separate disease, but it can also be observed with inflammation of the thyroid gland (including autoimmune), as well as with its cancer.

In children, hypothyroidism is often congenital and life-threatening, causing a critical slowdown in the development of brain structures.

Manifestations of hypothyroidism can be noticed by the patient’s relatives only when hormones become too low. In children over 3 years of age and adults this is:

• lethargy;
• swelling of the face, while it acquires a yellowish tint;
• slowing down of thought processes and attention;
• the skin becomes dry;
• increased chilliness;
• frequent headaches;
• fast fatiguability;
• loss of appetite;
• nausea;
• flatulence;
• constipation;
• in women - menstrual irregularities, usually characterized by delays and scanty periods.

Raynaud's syndrome

This is the name of a disease in which in the cold or when nervous tension severe vasospasm is observed in the fingers or toes, in the chin, in the ear cartilage or in the tip of the nose. The attack is accompanied by successive changes: first, the affected tissues turn pale, then become violet-blue, then turn red.

Stomach diseases

Gastritis and stomach cancer can manifest as feelings of malaise, chills, profuse sweating, and dizziness. If diseases are accompanied by the production of large amounts of hydrochloric acid, pain is felt in the abdomen, heartburn is often felt, and there may be diarrhea.

Hypopituitarism

This is called a decrease in the pituitary gland's production of its hormones. Chills without fever will develop when the function of the pituitary gland in relation to the adrenal cortex is reduced. The adrenal cortex produces little hormones - weakness, bad mood, chills associated with a decrease in blood pressure appear.

In a similar way, insufficient production of hormones from the adrenal cortex manifests itself when it is not the pituitary gland that is affected, but the adrenal cortex. This condition is called hypocortisolism. It may be caused by tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, or amyloidosis of this part of the organ. Chronic hypocortisolism can become a complication of any operation or radiation therapy performed on organs of the retroperitoneal space (kidneys, pancreas). It can develop as a result of rare diseases such as adrenoleukodystrophy or adrenomyelodystrophy. In some cases, hypocortisolism develops for unknown reasons.

Atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels

At the initial stage, this disease is manifested by weakness, increased fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Periodically there are attacks of insomnia or drowsiness during the day, headaches, and noise in one or two ears.

Diabetes

In diabetes mellitus, there is damage to the blood vessels of the skin, which makes them unable to normal speed respond to changes in ambient temperature. In addition, the vessels that supply the brain, including the thermoregulation center, undergo changes. Diabetes can impair nutrition in the hands and feet. Each of these can provoke the development of frequent chills.

Shock

This is the name for a condition in which the diameter of the vessels no longer corresponds to the amount of blood in them: either there is too little blood, or the vessels become too wide.

Shock can develop as a result of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock). In this case, symptoms appear 5-120 minutes (less often, more) after an insect bite, taking some kind of drug, or eating some kind of food. Less commonly, anaphylactic shock occurs after heat/cold exposure or after intense physical activity.

Shock may be caused by strong pain. It occurs as a result of trauma, injury, inflammation of any organ or structure.

If you have felt a sore throat, cough, nausea - any symptom indicating microbial inflammation for some time, and then it begins to get worse, you begin to feel chilly, your pulse quickens, this may be an infectious-toxic shock requiring emergency medical attention.

In case of excessive vomiting or diarrhea, chills without fever may mean the development of hypovolemic shock - from the loss of a large amount of fluid. If you feel chills during heavy periods, against the background of pain in any part of the abdomen, or during diarrhea with blood, this may be hemorrhagic shock - shock from blood loss.

At the slightest suspicion of shock, especially in a child, you need to urgently call an ambulance. There is no question of inviting local doctors or visiting them at the clinic.

Causes of chills in children

Often, chills in children occur due to acute respiratory infections, poisoning, and urinary tract diseases.

IN adolescence Most often, vegetative-vascular dystonia “raises its head,” but the symptom can be caused by alcohol intoxication or taking drugs that dilate blood vessels. Teenage girls may shiver from freezing and stress. In some cases, there is no need to discount the possible pregnancy of a teenage girl.

This is the most common reasons sensations of cold and muscle tremors in children. In general, chills in a child can be caused by any of the reasons (except atherosclerosis) that are mentioned for adults.

Selected causes of chills in women

In addition to the above reasons, a feeling of chills in women can be a manifestation of:

• premenstrual period;
• migraine;
• increased sweating (hyperhidrosis), the causes of which can be diseases of the sweat glands, endocrine diseases, diseases of internal organs, and tuberculosis.

In all these cases, chills can occur at any time of the day. Appearing at night in women, it is more characteristic of hypothyroidism than of other conditions.

During pregnancy

Chills without fever during pregnancy can occur due to any of the reasons listed above. Thus, a pregnant woman may become nervous, develop ARVI, and worsen vegetative-vascular dystonia and diabetes mellitus. The development of any type of shock is also possible.

• appeared only in the first weeks of pregnancy;
• not accompanied by abdominal pain, a feeling of panic, cough, diarrhea;
• does not occur simultaneously with the release of blood from the genital tract (even if this is the day on which menstruation previously occurred).

The cause of chills during pregnancy can also be a spontaneous miscarriage. It is accompanied by cramping pain in the abdomen and bleeding from the vagina.

Another reason for the feeling of cold and trembling, characteristic only of pregnancy, is frozen pregnancy. In this case, chills are a sign of intoxication resulting from the absorption of tissues of the dead fetus into the blood. In addition to chills, the condition is often accompanied by nausea, weakness, and body aches.

In the second half of pregnancy, chills may be accompanied by an increase in blood pressure. This means that a complication called “preeclampsia” has developed and requires treatment.

During menopause

The next cause of chills, which is typical only for women, but not pregnant women, is hormonal changes during menopause. You can think about this if a woman is over 40 years old; in addition to chills, there are hot flashes, increased sweating, and insomnia. Bother similar symptoms They can wake you up during the day and at night.

During feeding

Causes of chills after childbirth:

1. the same as before pregnancy;
2. lactostasis: in this case, you can feel painful lumps in your breasts that need to be expressed to improve your condition.

Often, after childbirth, various endocrine diseases “raise their heads.” In most cases, this is hypothyroidism, which causes chills at night, or diabetes mellitus. If there was heavy bleeding in the postpartum period, constant freezing may indicate damage to the pituitary gland, leading to hypopituitarism.

Therefore, if a nursing mother is not frozen or nervous, no lumps or soreness are felt in her breasts, and her nipples are not injured, she needs to donate blood for glucose levels, TSH and free hormone T4. If there are no abnormalities in these tests, we recommend visiting an endocrinologist and neurologist for further examination.

Possible causes of chills depending on accompanying symptoms

If you have nausea and chills, it may be:

• gastritis;
• food poisoning;
• any of the diseases that cause intoxication, including tuberculosis;
• stomach cancer;
• hypothyroidism;
• any of the shocks;
• early dates pregnancy.

If the chills are constant, then this is most likely the manifestation of diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, and vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Headache and chills are typical for:

• overwork;
• prolonged fasting;
• lack of sleep;
• vegetative-vascular dystonia;
• stress;
• ARVI, pneumonia and other diseases with intoxication, including helminthic diseases;
• a brain tumor.

If there are aches and chills, this may indicate various diseases and conditions, such as:

• food poisoning;
• thyroid diseases;
• tumors of any location;
• most infectious diseases;
• diabetes;
• pneumonia;
• diseases of the urinary system (mainly pyelonephritis);
• fibromyalgia;
• panic attacks.

When a runny nose and chills are described, it is either ARVI (not the flu, which always occurs with a high temperature), or, which is less common, allergic reaction on pollen, particles of animal saliva remaining on their fur, drugs or household chemicals produced in the form of an aerosol.

If your condition can be described as “cold chills,” then most likely you have excessive sweating due to various reasons. It could also be endarteritis lower limbs when the nutrition of the legs is disrupted, and the whole body freezes.

What to do if you have chills

The first thing to do when you have a chill is to wrap yourself up and warm your hands in warm water. If symptoms resemble shock, call " Ambulance“, you don’t need to drink hot tea before this, so as not to aggravate your condition.

In all other cases, you can drink hot tea with raspberries or lingonberries, cover yourself with a blanket and warm your feet in warm water. A visit to the doctor is mandatory.

If chills are observed in a child under 3 years of age (and especially under one year), calling an ambulance and hospitalization are mandatory.

Pathological conditions in which chills and nausea occur simultaneously may indicate many disorders and diseases of various types. In this way, the human body signals disturbances in the digestive system, the functioning of internal organs, endocrine disorders, and even mental problems. The occurrence of such symptoms should be a reason to contact a specialist or call an ambulance.

Reasons and features

In medical practice, chills, nausea and vomiting are often observed during poisoning. In addition to the above symptoms, a person feels weakness, dizziness, increased body temperature, and signs of stomach upset appear. A severe degree of poisoning is accompanied by dehydration and requires immediate medical attention. In the absence of diarrhea, other causes of the pathological condition are considered.

Thus, chills and nausea accompany a panic attack, during which the pulse accelerates, blood rushes to the face, difficulty breathing and weakness are felt. In severe cases, a person loses control over himself and feels the fear of instant death. Despite the fact that thousands of people are susceptible to this condition, most of them do not attach much importance to it. Others, fearing a heart attack, panic and call emergency doctors.

A panic attack is characterized as a sudden, unaccountable fear that causes a characteristic reaction in the body. Most often attacks occur in at a young age in 2% of the population, which are regarded as “nerves” or “stress”, and can haunt people throughout their lives. This condition appears suddenly and lasts about an hour, during which there is increased heart rate and sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, chills, nausea, weakness and problems swallowing.

With repeated cases of panic or fear of its occurrence, a disease may develop - a panic attack, which more often manifests itself in females. Its causes are not fully understood, but it is believed that in this way the body intuitively activates its defense systems, preparing to ward off possible threat. An urgent need for a drug, hyperthyroidism, and an impending heart attack can also lead to a panic attack. If you experience any symptoms of a panic attack, you should consult a doctor.

This particular incident is described in the video.

Other causes of nausea and vomiting may include nervous disorders caused by traumatic brain injury, bruises, or swelling of the brain.

The following diseases can also provoke the above symptoms:

Migraine. Characterized by paroxysmal headache and nausea. The duration of symptoms depends on the severity of blood supply disorders in individual areas of the brain. The condition can last up to several days. Brain tumor. Characterized by severe, frequently recurring systematic headache and nausea. Meningitis. An infectious disease in which inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord. It is characterized by severe headache, chills, nausea, increased body temperature, as well as darkening of the skin in the form of spots. Borelliosis. It is characterized by weakness, dizziness and headache, and nausea and vomiting are often observed. This affects the joints and skin, nervous system, joints and blood vessels. Arterial hypertension. The main symptom of the pathology is periodic headache, which is often accompanied by chills, nausea and vomiting.

The combined manifestation of chills and nausea can cause the following diseases:

Pathologies of an infectious nature (scarlet fever, gastric meningitis, measles). Acute renal failure. Toxemia (poisoning of the body due to the breakdown of its own tissues). Inflammation of the respiratory tract (pharyngitis, sore throat, bronchitis). Hepatitis A in the preicteric stage. Cholangitis (inflammation of the bile ducts). Dyskinesia in the small intestine. Cholecystitis. Postoperative conditions after intervention in the respiratory and digestive systems.

The appearance of nausea and chills is a reason to contact a medical facility or call an ambulance, since self-diagnosis may be inaccurate, and self-medication is unacceptable. Certain diseases that cause chills and nausea can pose a threat to a person's life or health.

What to do?

Elimination of the symptoms of nausea and chills is associated with the treatment of a specific condition or disease that causes them. For this purpose, medical and folk remedies are used, as well as special diet and nutrition correction.

Medicines

Depending on the nature of nausea and chills, the doctor may prescribe the following medications to eliminate them:

Loperamide. Used to treat diarrhea of ​​various nature, including emotional. Eliminates the root cause of nausea and chills in gastrointestinal disorders. Contraindicated in cases of hypersensitivity, dysentery, diverticulosis and conditions associated with intestinal obstruction and inhibition of peristalsis, under the age of 6 years. Price 11-55 rub. Regidron. A product for restoring water and electrolyte balance, correcting acidosis and energy balance during severe physical activity. Eliminates nausea and vomiting during intoxication. Contraindicated in cases of hypersensitivity, liver and kidney diseases, diabetes mellitus, intestinal obstruction, unconsciousness of the patient and hypotension. Price 390-410 rub. Diprazine. An antihistamine that calms the nervous system, enhances the effect of local painkillers, lowers body temperature and eliminates nausea. Contraindicated in drinking alcohol, impaired kidney and liver function, driving a car or operating complex mechanisms that require increased attention. Price 780-1450 rub. Paracetamol. Intended for use for pain of various origins, chills, fever, infectious and inflammatory diseases. Contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity, alcoholism, anemia, severe liver or kidney dysfunction, in the first trimester of pregnancy. Price 6-75 rub. Balm “Star”. Helps relax muscles and normalize blood flow, eliminates symptoms of infectious respiratory diseases and psycho-emotional disorders, relieves headaches and chills, and eliminates the feeling of nausea. Contraindicated in case of individual intolerance to the drug. It is recommended to conduct a susceptibility test before use. Price 60-220 rub.

Traditional treatment

Application folk remedies can effectively relieve symptoms of chills and nausea. But before using them, be sure to consult with your doctor. The following are used for this purpose: traditional methods treatment:

Warm the body with warm clothes and periodically drink hot tea containing raspberries and lemon, which reduces the feeling of nausea. If there is no fever, it is recommended to take a warm bath or steam your feet in a basin. In a stressful situation or mental imbalance, it is recommended to drink a glass of water, breathe deeply and take tea containing lemon balm, mint, sage and chamomile. For severe headaches and chills (migraines), use a piece of cloth soaked in vinegar and olive oil, which is applied to the frontal part of the head. After a few minutes, the symptoms will begin to subside. St. John's wort decoction. Helps eliminate intestinal disorders and relieve headaches. Prepared by brewing 1 tbsp. l. dry herbs in a glass of boiling water, followed by infusion for 6 hours. Take 200 g after meals. Eating grapefruit, lemon or orange lowers body temperature, eliminating chills, and reduces the feeling of nausea.

Nutrition correction and diet

Taking medications for nausea and chills will help to stop the manifestation of unpleasant symptoms once. But if the cause of problems in the body is associated with intoxication or disease of the gastrointestinal tract, the following recommendations should be followed:

If you feel nauseous, stop eating heavy food for 2-3 hours. Severe nausea and chills associated with fever can be relieved by fresh lemon. The best liquid to drink for nausea is still water or juice. Food should be consumed in small portions and chewed thoroughly. It is advisable to eat light meals (low-fat soup, broth). Include milk porridge in your diet. Drink freshly squeezed fruit juices.

If symptoms of nausea occur, limit the consumption of the following foods:

Fatty, smoked and fried foods. Carbonated drinks, coffee, alcohol and energy drinks. Spicy foods. Conservation. Sweets.

If nausea is present for 3-5 days, this is reported to a gastroenterologist or therapist for diagnosis, identification of the cause of the disorder and prevention of possible unwanted complications (gastritis, ulcers).

Prevention

Preventive measures to prevent the occurrence of symptoms of nausea and chills are as follows:

Careful monitoring of diet to prevent the possibility of poisoning. Maintaining hygiene and sanitary standards to prevent infection various types infections and environmental influences that can weaken the body and lead to diseases. Regular examination by a doctor to identify possible pathological conditions and diseases, and their timely treatment. Timely consultation with a doctor at the first appearance of symptoms of nausea and chills. Active lifestyle, adherence to daily routine and absence bad habits.

The appearance of symptoms of nausea and chills indicates the presence of certain problems in the body. They may be a consequence of poisoning, certain mental states or diseases. To eliminate unpleasant sensations, it is necessary to find out their cause, and then begin treatment. For this purpose, contact a doctor who will diagnose and prescribe adequate therapy. Timely contact with a specialist increases the chances of eliminating the problem as quickly as possible and achieving a complete cure.

Note!

The presence of symptoms such as:

bad breath, abdominal pain, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, belching, increased gas production (flatulence)

If you have at least 2 of these symptoms, then this indicates a developing

gastritis or stomach ulcer.

These diseases are dangerous due to the development of serious complications (penetration, gastric bleeding, etc.), many of which can lead to

LETHAL

outcome. Treatment needs to start now.

Read the article about how a woman got rid of these symptoms by defeating their main cause. Read the material...

If a person develops severe chills and the body breaks down, this means that a spasm occurs in the blood vessels and muscles of the skin.

The patient gradually develops the following symptoms:

weakness and trembling throughout the body; increased sweating at night; nausea and vomiting; headache.

Chills without fever in women and men are accompanied by problems with the masticatory muscles. Most often, the reason for this condition lies in hypothermia, since in such a situation the temperature drops sharply and the person begins to shiver. This is how a protective reaction to cold manifests itself.

Why then does the temperature rise? This factor is caused by muscle spasm, which leads to an increase in the amount of heat in the body. If a person warms up quickly, the chills disappear naturally.

Chills are usually accompanied by fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, and normal body temperature changes to high. Chills without signs of fever are most often a symptom of the following pathological conditions:

hormonal imbalances; poor blood circulation; various injuries; neuroses; fright

Why do chills occur without fever?

It is important to know!

The cause of this pathological condition in women and men is a serious disruption in the functioning of any body system.

It is accompanied by weakness, general malaise, headache, nausea and even vomiting; the patient always wants to lie down to rest.

Chills without fever develop as a result of:

stressful situations; severe hypothermia; infectious disease; ARVI; pathologies of the endocrine system; sudden jumps in blood pressure.

If the cause of chills is hypothermia, at this moment the person experiences a sharp narrowing of the blood vessels. In this pathological situation, the patient’s condition is characterized by slow blood flow and the appearance of problems with metabolic processes.

The patient says that he feels cold, and the condition worsens at night, when the body sweats more. You can improve your well-being with the help of special warming procedures and drinking hot drinks.

Chills without fever during a cold, as mentioned above, are the body’s natural defense. What to do in this case? If a person is very cold, the following will help in this situation:

warm foot baths with added medicinal herbs; hot milk with butter And natural honey; herbal infusions of strawberries, raspberries and currants.

After any treatment procedures, the patient should immediately go to bed and try to sleep. The body rests best during sleep.

When the cause of chills is some infectious pathogen, the patient’s body will most likely develop symptoms characteristic of general intoxication:

nausea; vomit; headache; general weakness.

This condition is due to the fact that pathogenic microorganisms, penetrating the human body, begin to actively produce various toxins and poisons, which are the result of the vital activity of these bacteria. What to do in such a situation? Treatment of infectious diseases can only be prescribed by a doctor, so the patient must immediately contact a medical facility.

The reasons for the condition when there are chills, but no temperature, often lie in the fact that a person is constantly experiencing stress and nervous tension. Most often it is observed in women, since they experience it more deeply than men. IN similar situation the patient needs:

try to calm down; take a decoction of sedative herbs; drink tea with lemon or sour berry decoction (blackcurrant, blackberry).

People with disorders of the vegetative-vascular system (dystonia) typically experience chills at night, less often during the daytime. Impaired blood circulation leads to the fact that these patients are cold all the time. This is why their extremities are constantly cold.

The condition when there is chills, but no temperature, is explained by a violation of the tone in the blood vessels. Taking a contrast shower, going to the sauna and other hardening activities will help make the circulatory system normal at least for a while. Hot procedures must be replaced by cold ones.

In order to remove toxins caused by stress from the body as quickly as possible, it is recommended for women and men to use a decoction of lingonberry leaves. However, in order to avoid such poisoning and its symptoms, which are headache, nausea and vomiting, you need to try to distance yourself from stressful situations and strive for a normal emotional environment. Nervous exhaustion poses a serious threat to the functioning of all internal organs.

Severe chills, in which there is no temperature, can occur in people susceptible to surges in blood pressure. During a hypertensive crisis, the state of the blood vessels changes, and this entails circulatory disorders.

When blood pressure returns to normal levels, the chills disappear completely.

Treatment of chills

If the cause of chills without fever lies in hypothermia, the patient will be helped by:

breathing exercises; warm bath; taking a sedative; hot drink.

When the causes of chills are infections or colds, foot steaming and hot baths can be used as therapeutic measures. After such activities, the patient’s body must be rubbed with a terry towel and the person put to bed.

If the patient has symptoms such as headache, nausea and vomiting, he loses his appetite. In this case, the person should be given as much drink as possible, to which lemon, raspberry jam and honey should be added. In this way, you can get rid of intoxication from the body.

In addition, the patient is prescribed diuretics. With the help of diuretics, toxins are removed from the body faster, which means that the symptoms of intoxication (headache, nausea and vomiting) also disappear faster.

To treat chills without fever, you should not resort to drinking alcohol. Such actions will only lead to a worsening of the condition.

Chills can be caused by endocrine diseases, so the patient needs to undergo appropriate hormone tests. If there is a deficiency of thyroid hormones, the doctor will prescribe replacement therapy.

Drugs containing hormones are often prescribed to women during menopause, and these drugs are intended specifically to eliminate the symptoms of menopause, which include chills without fever.

Periodic vascular spasms are typical of Rhine disease. In such a situation, Botox injections will help get rid of the unpleasant symptom. Patients who are familiar with chills should avoid hypothermia.

If the condition is provoked by vegetative-vascular dystonia, treatment should be comprehensive, it will help strengthen the body from the inside. The patient must give up bad habits, since smoking and alcohol impair blood circulation. Adequate sleep is the key to good blood circulation.

A condition where there are chills but no temperature may indicate the presence of various diseases in the body, most of which are very serious. Therefore, the cause of the pathology needs to be found out as quickly as possible.

And in the video in this article you can learn how to correctly diagnose the flu and not miss the onset of the disease.

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Chills are popularly called a sensation when the whole body begins to feel cold, which causes trembling to appear in it. This condition is described with the words “chills” or “freezing”, and this is not at all the same as just trembling, not accompanied by a feeling of cold.

When chills are accompanied by fever, everything seems clear: you have a cold. But what could be the reason that chills appeared without fever? This is what we will look at here.

What determines the formation of chills?

The feeling of cold is “dictated” to a person by the thermoregulatory center - special nerve cells located in the hypothalamus. When he feels that the body has cooled down, he “turns on” the sensation of chills - a defensive reaction, which consists of:

spasm of peripheral vessels (cutaneous, subcutaneous, localized in mucous membranes in contact with the external environment). Thus, by reducing the diameter of blood vessels, the body limits the evaporation of heat from the body; muscle tremors, which are needed in order to increase the amount of heat in the body. Trembling begins from the masticatory muscles, so the first sign of chills is described as “tooth not touching tooth”; reflexive desire to “curl up into a ball”; increased metabolism.

Based on the ability to maintain a constant temperature, the human body can be divided into 2 parts:

"Core" or "core". These are muscles and tissues that lie deeper than 2-2.5 cm from the surface of the skin, internal organs, and organs of the central nervous system. The task of the thermoregulatory center is to prevent the “core” from cooling below 35.5°C (the temperature of the “core” is judged by the readings of a thermometer in the armpit, under the tongue, in the rectum or external auditory canal). "Shell". This is the skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles lying superficially (for example, on the face). The temperature of the “shell” partly depends on the temperature of the external environment. In addition, it is not the same everywhere: on the skin of the toes and hands it can be 25°C, on the chest, back and stomach covered with clothes - up to 35°C.

The thermoregulatory center scans the body temperature every second: even a change of 0.01 degrees does not escape it. He learns about temperature with the help of special nerve endings that record the temperature in the arteries that supply the brain with blood. And when the surrounding air becomes cold enough, the blood in the vessels of the “shell” also cools, and this is reflected in the temperature of the entire blood. Then the thermoregulatory center gives the “command” to constrict the vessels of the “shell”, activate muscle tremors and “turn on” non-contractile thermogenesis - energy production in brown adipose tissue (this is present in children and very rarely persists into adulthood).

There is the concept of a “set point” for thermoregulation. This is the level of body temperature to which the body will strive; When it is reached, thermoregulatory mechanisms are practically switched off and “rest”. If the actual body temperature is below this “set point”, heat production increases (through the work of muscles and brown fat) and heat transfer decreases (the vessels of the superficial tissues narrow). The “set point” can change in some brain diseases, and then the hypothalamus can trigger severe chills at normal body temperature, considering it low. Such diseases include brain tumors, craniopharyngomas, hemorrhages in the hypothalamus, Gaye-Wernicke disease, as well as neurosurgical operations.

The formation of the “setting point” is influenced by:

the amount of sodium and calcium in the hypothalamus, which depends on the concentration of these ions in the blood. The latter depends not only on how much calcium and sodium a person gets from food. What is important is how this balance will be affected by the endocrine organs and kidneys; balance in the work of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. If it changes (including under the influence of drugs), either heat production or heat transfer begins to increase; concentrations of norepinephrine and serotonin; psychogenic factors, stress; pyrogens are substances produced by pathogenic microbes that have entered the body.

Commands from the thermoregulatory center, which compared the actual blood temperature with the expected one, reach not only the nerves. They are partially carried out by hormones. These are thyroid hormones, which control metabolism, as well as adrenal hormones: adrenaline and norepinephrine, which control vascular tone. During pregnancy in the early stages, progesterone “connects” to them, which shifts the “set point” slightly upward to provide the embryo with the opportunity to develop.

Causes of chills without fever

Considering the mechanisms by which thermoregulation occurs, chills without fever may indicate the following diseases and conditions:

Hypothermia

This is the first reason to think about. If you are freezing indoors during an unheated season, or have spent a long time in cold air/cold water, then with the help of chills the body tries to raise body temperature to the “set point”.

Stress, fear

If you are very nervous or scared, this will upset the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems in favor of the latter. In this case, the hypothalamus “commands” to increase body temperature. This phenomenon is temporary; cough, not accompanied by any pain.

Alcohol intoxication

Ethyl alcohol, found in various drinks, causes dilation of the “shell” vessels, as a result, heat evaporates from the surface of the body and it cools. A decrease in temperature leads to the development of symptoms of chills.

Taking medications

If you are constantly taking Phenothiazine, Phenobarbital, Barboval, Sibazon (Relanium, Valium), Gidazepam, Reserpine, Droperidol or Haloperidol, as well as an anti-nausea drug “Motilium” (“Domrid”, “Motorix”, which are based on domperidone), keep in mind: they dilate blood vessels. As a result, the body cools down and chills occur.

Severe illness

When a person was seriously ill for a long time or seriously, the body threw all its strength into curing him. This depleted him and worsened the functioning of the adrenal glands (a similar effect is observed with stress). Decreased production of adrenal hormones leads to a decrease in body temperature and, accordingly, activates the symptoms of chills. The body temperature is below normal.

Diseases accompanied by intoxication

These are mainly infectious diseases:

respiratory diseases; intestinal infections (what is called poisoning); pneumonia, especially atypical forms that occur with normal temperature; inflammation of the urinary tract; tuberculosis of any localization.

The fact that this disease is caused by one of the types of microbes can be assumed based on the fact that weakness suddenly appears, appetite disappears or decreases, and there may be slight dizziness and nausea (these are symptoms of intoxication).

The following symptoms will indicate the localization of the source of inflammation: with acute respiratory infections - a sore throat and runny nose, with pneumonia - cough, pain in the upper parts of the sternum, with inflammation of the urinary tract - lower back pain, difficulty or pain when urinating.

Food poisoning is usually accompanied by nausea, diarrhea (even once); it occurs after eating foods with cream, meat, dairy products, and dishes with mayonnaise.

Tuberculosis is characterized by weakness, night sweats, and cough. They may not last for too long. Gradually, if the tuberculosis process changes its localization, the cough may disappear. Then other symptoms appear: headaches (with tuberculous meningitis) or lower back pain (if it is kidney tuberculosis), bone pain (with a bone process). Intoxication remains the same.

Of course, a feeling of chills with signs of intoxication in the absence of an increase in temperature can also manifest other diseases. So, in men, these may be exacerbations of chronic diseases of the testicles, epididymis, and prostate. But in this case, unpleasant sensations in the organs of the scrotum or lower abdomen, problems with urination and erection will come to the fore.

In women, chills without fever, accompanied by intoxication, may accompany inflammation of the breast tissue (mastitis) and lactostasis in nursing women. Breast cancer also manifests itself. But in most cases, pain in the mammary gland comes to the fore.

Vegetative-vascular dystonia

This is an outdated diagnosis, which, however, is used to designate disorders of the autonomic nervous system without signs of damage to its structures. The diagnosis is usually made after the examination of a person presenting one or more complaints from the following, more “serious” diseases are excluded: hypertension, heart pathologies, diabetes mellitus, mental disorders.

The disease manifests itself:

pain in the heart; feeling of palpitations or irregular heartbeats; chills; feeling of inner trembling; coldness of hands and feet; swelling; migrating pain in joints and muscles.

Increased blood pressure

Body chills without fever may be a sign of increased blood pressure. It is not a sign of illness if high blood pressure was measured while you are very nervous or have just worked out. But if chills are accompanied by pressure above 140/100 mm Hg. was noted at rest or during usual physical activity, you need to make an appointment with a therapist and begin to monitor this indicator. Before you see this doctor, stop drinking alcohol, strong black teas, coffee, and reduce your salt intake by half.

Hypothyroidism

This is the name of the condition when the thyroid gland begins to produce less hormones, which slows down metabolic processes in the body. This disease can develop in both women and men. Hypothyroidism can be a separate disease, but it can also be observed with inflammation of the thyroid gland (including autoimmune), as well as with its cancer.

In children, hypothyroidism is often congenital and life-threatening, causing a critical slowdown in the development of brain structures.

Manifestations of hypothyroidism can be noticed by the patient’s relatives only when hormones become too low. In children over 3 years of age and adults this is:

lethargy; swelling of the face, while it acquires a yellowish tint; slowing down of thought processes and attention; the skin becomes dry; increased chilliness; frequent headaches; fast fatiguability; loss of appetite; nausea; flatulence; constipation; in women - menstrual irregularities, usually characterized by delays and scanty periods.

Raynaud's syndrome

This is the name of a disease in which, in the cold or during nervous tension, a strong spasm of blood vessels is observed in the fingers or toes, in the chin, in the ear cartilages or in the tip of the nose. The attack is accompanied by successive changes: first, the affected tissues turn pale, then become violet-blue, then turn red.

Stomach diseases

Gastritis and stomach cancer can manifest as feelings of malaise, chills, profuse sweating, and dizziness. If the diseases are accompanied by the production of large amounts of hydrochloric acid, pain is felt in the abdomen, heartburn is often felt, and there may be diarrhea.

Hypopituitarism

This is called a decrease in the pituitary gland's production of its hormones. Chills without fever will develop when the function of the pituitary gland in relation to the adrenal cortex is reduced. The adrenal cortex produces little hormones - weakness, bad mood, chills associated with a decrease in blood pressure appear.

In a similar way, insufficient production of hormones from the adrenal cortex manifests itself when it is not the pituitary gland that is affected, but the adrenal cortex. This condition is called hypocortisolism. It may be caused by tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, or amyloidosis of this part of the organ. Chronic hypocortisolism can become a complication of any operation or radiation therapy performed on organs of the retroperitoneal space (kidneys, pancreas). It can develop as a result of rare diseases such as adrenoleukodystrophy or adrenomyelodystrophy. In some cases, hypocortisolism develops for unknown reasons.

Atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels

At the initial stage, this disease is manifested by weakness, increased fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Periodically there are attacks of insomnia or drowsiness during the day, headaches, and noise in one or two ears.

Diabetes

In diabetes mellitus, there is damage to the blood vessels of the skin, due to which they become unable to respond at normal speed to changes in ambient temperature. In addition, the vessels that supply the brain, including the thermoregulation center, undergo changes. Diabetes can impair nutrition in the hands and feet. Each of these can provoke the development of frequent chills.

Shock

This is the name for a condition in which the diameter of the vessels no longer corresponds to the amount of blood in them: either there is too little blood, or the vessels become too wide.

Shock can develop as a result of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock). In this case, symptoms appear 5-120 minutes (less often, more) after an insect bite, taking some kind of drug, or eating some kind of food. Less commonly, anaphylactic shock occurs after heat/cold exposure or after intense physical activity.

Shock can be caused by severe pain. It occurs as a result of trauma, injury, inflammation of any organ or structure.

If you have felt a sore throat, cough, nausea - any symptom indicating microbial inflammation for some time, and then it begins to get worse, you begin to feel chilly, your pulse quickens, this may be an infectious-toxic shock requiring emergency medical attention.

In case of excessive vomiting or diarrhea, chills without fever may mean the development of hypovolemic shock - from the loss of a large amount of fluid. If you feel chills during heavy periods, against the background of pain in any part of the abdomen, or during diarrhea with blood, this may be hemorrhagic shock - shock from blood loss.

At the slightest suspicion of shock, especially in a child, you need to urgently call an ambulance. There is no question of inviting local doctors or visiting them at the clinic.

Causes of chills in children

Often, chills in children occur due to acute respiratory infections, poisoning, and urinary tract diseases.

In adolescence, vegetative-vascular dystonia most often “raises its head,” but the symptom can be caused by alcohol intoxication or taking drugs that dilate blood vessels. Teenage girls may shiver from freezing and stress. In some cases, there is no need to discount the possible pregnancy of a teenage girl.

These are the most common causes of cold sensations and muscle tremors in children. In general, chills in a child can be caused by any of the reasons (except atherosclerosis) that are mentioned for adults.

Selected causes of chills in women

In addition to the above reasons, a feeling of chills in women can be a manifestation of:

premenstrual period; migraine; increased sweating (hyperhidrosis), the causes of which can be diseases of the sweat glands, endocrine diseases, diseases of internal organs, and tuberculosis.

In all these cases, chills can occur at any time of the day. Appearing at night in women, it is more characteristic of hypothyroidism than of other conditions.

During pregnancy

Chills without fever during pregnancy can occur due to any of the reasons listed above. Thus, a pregnant woman may become nervous, develop ARVI, and worsen vegetative-vascular dystonia and diabetes mellitus. The development of any type of shock is also possible.

appeared only in the first weeks of pregnancy; not accompanied by abdominal pain, a feeling of panic, cough, diarrhea; does not occur simultaneously with the release of blood from the genital tract (even if this is the day on which menstruation previously occurred).

The cause of chills during pregnancy can also be a spontaneous miscarriage. It is accompanied by cramping pain in the abdomen and bleeding from the vagina.

Another reason for the feeling of cold and trembling, characteristic only of pregnancy, is frozen pregnancy. In this case, chills are a sign of intoxication resulting from the absorption of tissues of the dead fetus into the blood. In addition to chills, the condition is often accompanied by nausea, weakness, and body aches.

In the second half of pregnancy, chills may be accompanied by an increase in blood pressure. This means that a complication called “preeclampsia” has developed and requires treatment.

During menopause

The next cause of chills, which is typical only for women, but not pregnant women, is hormonal changes during menopause. You can think about this if a woman is over 40 years old; in addition to chills, there are hot flashes, increased sweating, and insomnia. Such symptoms can bother you during the day and wake you up at night.

During feeding

Causes of chills after childbirth:

the same as before pregnancy; lactostasis: in this case, you can feel painful lumps in your breasts that need to be expressed to improve your condition.

Often, after childbirth, various endocrine diseases “raise their heads.” In most cases, this is hypothyroidism, which causes chills at night, or diabetes mellitus. If there was heavy bleeding in the postpartum period, constant freezing may indicate damage to the pituitary gland, leading to hypopituitarism.

Therefore, if a nursing mother is not frozen or nervous, no lumps or soreness are felt in her breasts, and her nipples are not injured, she needs to donate blood for glucose levels, TSH and free hormone T4. If there are no abnormalities in these tests, we recommend visiting an endocrinologist and neurologist for further examination.

Possible causes of chills depending on accompanying symptoms

If you have nausea and chills, it may be:

gastritis; food poisoning; any of the diseases that cause intoxication, including tuberculosis; stomach cancer; hypothyroidism; any of the shocks; early stages of pregnancy.

If the chills are constant, then this is most likely the manifestation of diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, and vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Headache and chills are typical for:

overwork; prolonged fasting; lack of sleep; vegetative-vascular dystonia; stress; ARVI, pneumonia and other diseases with intoxication, including helminthic diseases; a brain tumor.

If there are aches and chills, this may indicate various diseases and conditions, such as:

food poisoning; thyroid diseases; tumors of any location; most infectious diseases; diabetes; pneumonia; diseases of the urinary system (mainly pyelonephritis); fibromyalgia; panic attacks.

When a runny nose and chills are described, it is either an acute respiratory viral infection (not the flu, which always occurs with a high temperature), or, what is less common, an allergic reaction to pollen, particles of animal saliva remaining on their fur, drugs or household chemicals produced in the form of an aerosol.

If your condition can be described as “cold chills,” then most likely you have excessive sweating due to various reasons. It can also be endarteritis of the lower extremities, when the nutrition of the legs is disrupted, and this causes the whole body to freeze.

What to do if you have chills

The first thing to do when you have a chill is to wrap yourself up and warm your hands in warm water. If the symptoms resemble shock, you need to call an ambulance; you do not need to drink hot tea before this, so as not to aggravate your condition.

In all other cases, you can drink hot tea with raspberries or lingonberries, cover yourself with a blanket and warm your feet in warm water. A visit to the doctor is mandatory.

If chills are observed in a child under 3 years of age (and especially under one year), calling an ambulance and hospitalization are mandatory.

Chills without fever are a fairly common symptom of some diseases. Of course, more often it is accompanied by an increase in body temperature and the appearance of muscle tremors and spasms.

Constant chills may be a reaction of the human body to increased thermogenesis. In addition to fever, trembling and spasms, it is characterized by pallor skin, the formation of “goose bumps”, a feeling of cold, lack of sweating, etc.

It should be noted that chills without fever are a consequence of long-term or occur during an acute febrile reaction to any processes (infectious, autoimmune, allergic and others). The most common and well-known causes of a febrile state in humans are malaria, sepsis, inflammatory processes in organs with the formation of pus, acute phase of lupus erythematosus, etc.

The main ones can be mechanical injuries of the body, vegetative-vascular dystonia, neurotic diseases, hypertension or high blood pressure, infections and viruses, hypothermia, fever and others. Also, very often, a constant feeling of cold occurs when the thyroid gland and endocrine system are disrupted. This is due to the fact that the thyroid gland is capable of secreting a certain group of hormones that take part in the process of thermoregulation. human body. Accordingly, when this function decreases, the patient develops this symptom.

The presence of infectious diseases also causes chills in a person. In this case, when a harmful virus penetrates, special substances are produced. The body begins to secrete pyrogens, which can destroy the virus on its own. But at the same time there is an increase in blood temperature and, as a result, the whole body. In the process of equalizing these indicators, a person feels trembling and chills.

The appearance of trembling, which is characterized by chills without fever, is associated with a sharp narrowing of the walls of the blood vessels of the skin, as a result of which blood flow significantly slows down. This is what leads to chilliness and cessation of sweating. It should be noted that in addition to trembling, tinnitus, nausea and chills throughout the body may appear.

Very often, chills without fever or chills are a symptom of nervous overexcitation or occur during severe fright. In this case, it performs the function of protecting the body from environmental influences. Therefore, in diseases of the nervous system, such phenomena can occur quite often.
To get rid of unpleasant symptoms, it is advisable to start treatment on time. As a rule, when elevated temperature it is necessary to give the victim an antipyretic; in no case should he be subjected to cooling procedures, which may aggravate the situation.

Of course, when you have a chill, it is advisable to drink a large amount of liquid (mostly acidic) and ensure yourself peace. The best option is various herbal decoctions, berry fruit drinks, solution lemon juice or acid. If not high temperature, then you can take a hot bath and drink herbal tea with honey or raspberry jam. After the procedure, provide warmth (wool socks, blanket).

To withdraw harmful substances from the body, brew lingonberry leaves, as this remedy has a diuretic effect. Never drink alcoholic beverages, which cause vasodilation and increase blood pressure. As a rule, after this the patient’s general well-being worsens, muscle weakness and dizziness appear.