Fevers

Infection, fever, cold hands and feet

by Gemita - 2022-10-22 07:47:52

What an interesting topic you have given us Jane to discuss over the weekend.  Some years ago I learnt that a life threatening infection, septicaemia was the cause of my husband’s sudden loss of appetite.  I knew he was ill because he had never refused to eat before.  I was told when we get a serious infection like this, our body diverts its attention from many bodily functions to enable it to fight the source of the infection.  It may shut down some functions, like digestion to conserve energy. 

There is no doubt in the presence of an infection that autonomic nervous system dysfunction can occur and things like body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, digestion, urine output, speech, cognitive function, levels of consciousness can all be affected during an infection.   Our autonomic nervous system/immune system may go into overdrive and work against us sometimes and we may need to get help to restore fluids to help our organs work again, to receive oxygen, if levels are low, or to receive antibiotics to fight the infection.

But getting back to your present infection, it is unlikely that it will affect your pacemaker unless the infection were widespread (systemic).  An infection though may affect our pacing/medication requirements if the infection causes heart rate and heart rhythm changes.  When I had a Covid infection I needed extra meds to help control my arrhythmias.  There have been reports of cases of  untreated UTI/pneumonia infections spreading throughout the blood stream and infecting pacing systems but these cases are rare.  We need to seek help with symptoms of infection if they last longer than expected or we notice new or worsening palpitations during any infection.

I do not believe the pacemaker would know if we had an infection, but any pacemaker stored ECGs could certainly reveal unusual activity caused by an infection or by hypothermia for instance as well as electrolyte disturbances which would be picked up by our doctors in any event.  An ECG can tell our doctors quite a lot about our general health, not just about the health of our hearts and of our pacemaker functions.  Having said all the above, cold hands and feet are often worsened by meds - especially beta blockers

Part of aging

by Lavender - 2022-10-23 08:52:28

I usually run hot. I don't wear a jacket much because I am very warm bodied. But at times my feet and hands get ultra cold and hard to get them warmed up. I attribute it to aging and circulation.  Yes if I get a fever, they're ice cold. Nothing to do with the pacemaker though. I bought some nice thick angora sox!

As far as extreme heat- yes my cardiologist said I am more sensitive to hot weather with the pacemaker so I hydrate more, wear a wide brim sunhat and stay in shade or AC!