Can heated blankets or personal heaters make you feel fluish/feverish?

March 19, 2020 1:27 PM

I'm thinking I'm seeing a correlation to feeling flushed or feverish with using electric personal heating sources. I'm curious if that is my imagination or if there is some reality behind the feeling, as having your body half hot and half cold does seem pretty it might be pretty strange on the body.
posted by Vaike to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

I always feel groggy if I've been too warm. If someone's house is heated much above what I like, I get brain fog and feel hung-over. Your skin flushes when your body is trying to cool itself - extra bloodflow to the skin increases radiated heat, lowering your core temperature.
posted by pipeski at 2:02 PM on March 19, 2020

I have a heated mattress pad and I've noticed this. I think it's because, since stuff like this isn't heating your whole body, you may not get the normal bodily warning signs of "this is getting too hot" before you actually get too hot.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:30 PM on March 19, 2020

I'd say so. I thought I had a fever on the way to work the other day because I forgot to turn the heat in my car down after defrosting it.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 5:07 PM on March 19, 2020

I don't have any heating blankets but one thing I've noticed is that I feel colder at the end of the day, especially if I'm really worn out. At some point during the night my body is recharged, I'm too hot, and I have to adjust covers accordingly.
posted by mareli at 6:03 AM on March 20, 2020

Could dehydration be part of the cause?
posted by umbú at 1:40 PM on March 20, 2020