According to the American College of Rheumatology, low-grade fever is one of many common rheumatoid arthritis symptoms you may experience. The CDC considers an adult to have a fever when the person has a measured temperature of at least 100° F (37.8° C) or greater, with symptoms of feverishness or chills. In general, according to the Mayo Clinic, an elevated body temperature in and of itself is not considered serious until it reaches 103° F (39.4°). Some people with RA have low-grade fevers frequently, while others may feel slightly feverish yet do not attribute it to rheumatoid arthritis. If your fever is related to an autoimmune disease, treating the autoimmune disease will improve your fever symptoms.
Why Body Temperature Rises
“There are different reasons we have a fever,” explains Daniel Torres, MD, a rheumatologist with West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois. “The most common reason is we have an infection.” Some rheumatoid arthritis medications can weaken your body’s immune system, making you more susceptible to tuberculosis, other bacterial infections, or fungal infections. Dr. Torres says it’s customary to first screen for infections before checking to see if a fever is the result of joint inflammation. “In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the body recognizes the inflamed joint as a foreign object or an infection, so the immune system becomes hyperactive and fights it,” he explains. A group of molecules called cytokines are produced by the body to help protect against infection. With rheumatoid arthritis, your body thinks it’s under attack and begins to make increased amounts of certain cytokines, resulting in inflammation. The same group of cytokines that causes this inflammation also includes a molecule identified as interleukin 1 (IL-1). IL-1 is known as the “fever molecule,” which explains why fever may accompany inflammation.
When you feel feverish, Torres recommends resting and placing a cold compress on your forehead for a natural remedy.If you’re out in public, you can downplay flushed cheeks by staying hydrated and not pushing yourself.Rheumatoid arthritis fevers should be treated with fever medication like any other fever. “Take an over-the-counter, anti-inflammatory medication that treats fever, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen," Torres recommends.
RA Fever: Kelly’s Story
Kelly Young, creator of Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior and founder of the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2006 and experienced frequent low-grade fevers on a regular basis for many years. Young’s RA symptoms have not responded to non-steroid treatment and, when she has a fever caused by RA, it doesn’t respond to normal fever medication either. “I do what most rheumatoid patients do with fever — the same thing we do with pain: We build up a tolerance so we usually ignore it,” she says. Young routinely takes a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, for pain, but her fever is not diminished even if she takes four ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin). “I’m not sure treating it is possible as a symptom,” she says. “If you respond to disease treatments, then a lot of flares can be reduced, but I have never responded to a non-steroid treatment.” Even when she uses ice packs for rheumatoid arthritis pain in her neck, the fever lingers. For people whose symptoms are not responsive to treatment, the same fever that would be reduced by NSAIDs if you had a virus is not reduced when it’s caused by RA inflammation, she says. Young’s personal experience with fever, and similar stories she’s heard from people who visit her site, RAWarrior.com, have led her to believe that rheumatoid arthritis fever should be tracked and used as a form of objective measure of inflammation. “It’s an important symptom that often is not monitored,” she notes. Fever is a hot button issue within the RA community, she adds, “Anytime I blog about fever, the post gets lots of comments.”
When to Ask Your Doctor About Low-Grade Fever
Although low-grade fever is a common rheumatoid arthritis symptom, you may want to talk to your doctor if rheumatoid arthritis fevers do not respond to over-the-counter medications or natural remedies like cold compresses, because it could be something more serious like an infection.
