Shivers

[LilyMistri2]

Hiya all,

Hope you are well!

I have been shivering for about a month. I went to see my doc and he saw my ESR was up to 77! Pretty high considering I’m usually down at 35-45. My dad had a chest infection and bad cold/flu in early jan and I was around him. I feel like my cold and cough are from him and my lupus has been fighting it since then and now it’s defeated and coming all out now. And ideas as to how to treat these shivers and cold? Any home made remedies? Everything I read about says it boosts the immune system. We want to calm our lupus immune system down not boost it! Not able to go to shop and get a lensip and last time I had paracetamol I threw it up.

Thank you!

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi LilyMistri2 ,

I think the best advice is to stay hydrated, warm and get plenty of rest. Some people find that a bit of Vitamin C from fresh oranges/juice can be helpful for fighting off a cold. You are right to be cautious about some other remedies. Things like echinacea have been shown to trigger lupus flares and so are generally best avoided.

Are you currently on any immunosuppressant medication? If you are concerned that you are unable to fight off the cold or it may end in an infection then please speak to your doctor. They may want you to temporarily stop any immunosuppressant medications you may be taking until it clears up.

[LilyMistri2 in reply to Paul_Howard]

Thanks Paul. Yes I’m on azathioprine. In fact the other day when I saw my consultant he wanted to change me to the stronger mycophenalate. That’s before I realised I had a cold/flu. He also offered to up my steroid. Now that I know what the shivers are about I’ll get on with the home remedies and paracetamol. The lemsip that I went to get today turns out isn’t good for raised blood pressure. Thanks Paul.