Fever

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FEVER

A fever is not a disease; it is your body's natural defence mechanism against invading organisms. Normal body tempreature is 98.6*F. But women don't necessarily have a fever until it reaches 100.4*F. Besides the above-average tempreature, typical symptoms of fever include chills, sweating, headache, dry mouth, muscle aches, fatigue and sleepiness.

The optimal strategy

Step into a tepid bath

If you feel hot and sweaty, taking a luke warm bath will help your body cool off at the right pace.

Combine baths witha a fever reducer

Aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen will all help reduce a fever.

Chugalug

Drinking fluids is important when treating a fever especially if you're sweating and perspiring-in order to prevent dehydration. Aim for six to eight glasses of liquids a day. Drink water, but drink orange juice and other fruit juices high in vitamin C too. Vitamin C may help boost your immune system by preventing the formation of free radicals in your body-substances that weaken immune function.

Reach for a sports drink, not a diet soda

You can also drink sports drinks and regular soft drinks. when you have a fever your body's metabolism is speeded up, and you burn extra calories. Skip the diet sodas until your fever breaks; your body needs calories.

Take your tempreature in the afternoon

Your body tempreature varies throughout the day; it's lowest in the morning and highest in the afternoon. So if you stay in bed the first day of your fever and take your tempreature the next morning, your reading will be down, and you may think it's okay to go to work. But your tempreature will be up again later in the day.

Take your temp under your arm

If you have a cold or flu and breathe through your mouth because of a stuffy nose, a tempreature taken by mouth may be inaccurate. To get your accurate body-core tempreature, place the thermometer under your armpit for three minutes, then add one degree to the reading shown.

Call in sick

Because a fever uses up energy, it can be very taxing on the body.

Ask for help

When women run a fever, they should ease off on the household responsibilities. It's okay to ask your spouse or family to pitch in with dinner, or a friend to take care of the kids so you can take care of yourself.