Can Anxiety cause a Fever?

A rise in body temperature can be caused by stress and anxiety. When faced with danger, whether emotional or physical our body releases a bunch of hormones, basically preparing us to fight or flee. So can anxiety cause a fever? Some science suggests it can.

What’s happening in the body with anxiety fever?

This is a very high level broad overview of what happens.

Firstly the brain, the part that deals with our emotions, (Amygdala) tells another part of the brain, (hypothalamus) there is some sort of distress. Then the Hypothalamus sends signals to the body through our automatic nervous system, (ANS). Then the ANS sends signal to the adrenal glands which in turn produces what we know as adrenaline.

Adrenaline in this case is responsible for a few things like increasing your heartrate and blood pressure. Which in turn makes us breath faster to get more oxygen, (so our senses are sharper). At the same time it also sets off a string of events that end up sending energy to different parts of our body like our muscles.

Can anxiety cause a fever?

A 2015 study showed some patients developed temperatures as high as 41°C during episodes of extreme stress. So no wonder you can feel like you are burning up. However, you can also experience being hot with as little as 1 or 2 degrees increase in body temperature.

Can anxiety cause a fever and shivers?

It’s also normal to feel really cold during or after an anxiety episode. The blood vessels constrict therefore the blood flow is restricted to the skin, the body wants to heat up because the outer temp is dropping and blood flow is being directed to other organs including our muscles.

I guess the upside of an anxiety fever is it typically lasts for a short time meaning once our brain realises we are not in any more danger it sends signals to the automatic nervous system which tells the body to calm down. Once the threat is perceived as gone you should be back to normal in as little as 20 minutes.

Addressing your stress and anxiety can help reduce temperature changes. Nonetheless, anxiety-caused temperature changes typically aren’t harmful, so don’t worry too much if you experience hot and cold sensations during an anxiety episode. Often these symptoms will go away as you deal your stress and anxiety issues.

Can anxiety cause a fever? So yes, it can cause a change in body temperature. But that change is generally not harmful. However if you are concerned you should seek medical advice. There could be another reason for your change in temperature.