What Causes Increase In Body Temperature, Tiredness And Sleeplessness?

Posted on Fri, 10 Apr 2015

Question: I stopped the birth control pills at the end of Dec 2104. so XXXXXXX 2015 was the first month being off them. Ever since, I have been having what it seems like an increase in temperature, and I am tired and sometimes it is hard for me to sleep at night, throughout the whole night. I also have been nauseous at times. I have had all blood work done, about 10 times, as I thought something was wrong with me. My endo ordered blood and she said it was all normal except for my testosterone being elevated, and my ferritin was slightly lower, and I have high liver enzymes. what do I make of this? She said even though my hormones show normal, that they may not be normal for me right now as I was on the pill for 13 years straight no break. can you help?

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
hormone withdrawal

Detailed Answer:
Good day.
Noted your concern. I noted that most of your blood works were normal, so an infection probably is not responsible for the temperature. Have you had the thyroid blood works done?

Your endo has rightly said that , birth control pills can suppress your pituitary gland production of hormones which further reduces your ovary production of hormones including testosterone. It can take few months for them to return to baseline. Till then you may have increased feeling of temperature of body which may be due to reduced levels of estrogen (hot flushes ). This o's usually temporary and should normalise.

You did mention that testosterone was high. How high was it? Did you ever have irregular periods or increased hair growth over face or body?

Regards
Binu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (16 minutes later)

All blood work has come back normal. I had visited about 4 doctors since this started. My reg doc, a kidney doctor, an endo, a rheumy.. I am stumped about this feeling of hot in my body. my blood work shows my free test is at 4.1. normal says it should be between 0.0-2.2. I also have elevated liver enzymes. I also feel congested in my left nostril constantly all day and have red burning eyes. not sure if this has something to do with allergies or my hormones. can all hormone blood work come bback normal but still feel hot? My obgyn said my progesterone was a little on the low side, but the endo said it was fine. not sure who is right and why people cannot agree on something? my ferritin serum came back at 11, and normal is 15-50. can this be attributed to the way I am feeling? also, I am urinating a lot more than usual and drinking a lot more, and my hemoglobain a1c came back at 5.6%. isn't this the high side? Also, my LH Says 4.7 and my FSH says 3.1. are these normal for a 30 year old? Also, I haven't gotten my period yet. I missed Feb and I am supposed to get it now in March, but nothing yet. I don't know if I have increased hair growth, but I do have acne all over back and my hair is thinning on head. My Estradiol serum reads 205.
thanks!

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (17 hours later)

Brief Answer:
multiple issues

Detailed Answer:
Your free testosterone is certainly high and warrant further investigation as you have acne too. Your LH and FSH are normal. The progesterone value and timing is controversial.
As your doctor said, these hormone values may not be a true reflection since you had been taking birth control pills for a long time. Your periods may take time to resume since you are off longterm ocp. If it doesn't resume by next month, you need to be tested again. Your HbA1c is normal. .a value less than 5.7 is normal. Ferritin is low reflecting iron deficiency.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (3 minutes later)

what does the low ferritin mean if the red cells were normal? is this bad? I am getting really worried there is something more serious going on. I am causing myself to get nervous and anxiety. what are you making out of all this? can this be something autoimmune?
Also, I just got my period last night, so I am okay with that.
thank you.

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (5 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
nothing to worry.

Detailed Answer:
Good that your period is back. Ferritin is not too bad. Just below normal. It could be due to iron deficiency. What's your Haemoglobin levels?
Stop worrying . That won't help anyway.
Recheck your cbc few days after periods. If haemoglobin and redcells are normal despite a lowish ferritin , not to worry.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (3 minutes later)

my hemoglobin shows 12.8. can you tell me what it means if this was low? I am quite the worrier, and has made this ten times worse. i think i may get back on the birth control pill after my period ends.

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (5 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Need to investigate

Detailed Answer:
Your haemoglobin is mildly low and together with low ferritin, this may indicate iron deficiency. Not to worry. You may need iron tablets for few months.
Before starting on ocp again, you may need to discuss with your doctor about need of investigating for high levels of testosterone.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (23 minutes later)

the range on the blood work states this is normal range. the range is from 11.1 - 15.9 .. how is this low? am I looking at the right thing?

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Haemoglobin value cut off points

Detailed Answer:
It depends what race you are? For an XXXXXXX woman, haemoglobin over 11 is okay. But for a Caucasian woman, less than 13 is considered low.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (3 minutes later)

not according to all the blood work I have done, the range on all my blood paper work is either 11.1 or 11.5.. I never got flagged for this either and my doctors never said this was low.. so I am not sure where your numbers are coming from. any way, what other tests should I do? I have been under a lot of anxiety and stress since this all happened. can this play a part in this?
if I had something bad, would it have shown up in my blood work by now?? I have had my blood drawn about 7 times by all diff doctors by now.

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (15 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Not to worry.

Detailed Answer:
World health organisation has defined anemia as hemoglobin less than 14 in men and less than 12 in women. But some textbooks quote the values I mentioned.however your values are not so low.
If your blood tests are normal on several occasions, why do you worry . ?

You may be suffering from anxiety disorder a session with psychologist may help. Please relax. The only abnormality was with free testosterone. As i mentioned that need to be evaluated by an endocrinologist later..

Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar