Teeth Chattering And Body Shakes – My Sepsis Symptoms

Yes thats right, Teeth Chattering And Body Shakes – My Sepsis Symptoms!

Now that I know so much about Sepsis, I look back and see that the signs for my own sepsis symptoms are soooooooooo obvious. But I didn’t know that then.

I’ve spoken already about how Sepsis affected my colour vision in these posts – Psychedelic Red and The Room Turned Grey.

Sweating Versus Freezing

One of the other ‘sets’ of symptoms – which I will NEVER forget – was the swopping between profusely sweating and being freezing cold. So one minute I would have sweat an entire double bed – which I must point out I have NEVER done before. Then the next minute I would be so cold that my body shook.

A few people have asked me if I had to tell them what signs to look out for, these would definitely be part of the list. Now I also know that some of these symptoms are what you would experience if you had pneumonia – which I had. But its not just these symptoms in themselves. Its the total extremity of them that tells me in hindsight when the Sepsis started.

You know I’ve had colds and the flu before, or gastro bugs when you have a temperature. You feel terrible and you have some form of ‘the sweats’ or ‘the shivers’. I also see my young children when they have a temperature. When their temperature gets into the 39’s, they both can tell you they have ‘the shivers’. Plus you can see the goosebumps on their skin or sometimes they shiver. And now, post sepsis – this freaks me the hell out!!!!!!!

But when I think back to how extremely unlike me it was, I can see that it wasn’t ‘just’ a few chills. I had had ‘the chills’ over the previous two days but on my downhill slope, the two days I couldn’t move from bed, these escalated. My whole body was in what I now know to be uncontrollable full body ‘rigors’. I couldn’t stop them. My teeth literally chattered together – like one of those wind up teeth chomping toys. My body shook, almost like it was in convulsions. At the same time I felt freezing!

Being Wrapped Up Like An Onion

I remember at one point thinking how bizarre it was that I could be drenched in sweat. Like so much so that it poured of the palms of my hand and the soles of my feet. Yet here I was in bed with a pair of fleecey winter pyjamas, a vest, wooly socks and a fluffly dressing gown with the hood pulled up around me. AND I WAS STILL COLD – not just cold – FREEZING!!!!!!!!! I wish I had of thought to have taken my temperature at these points to see if it had plummeted!

Post sepsis, these symptoms alone mixed with a temperature would be among my ALERT / WARNING signs. I check the children now ALL the time if they have a sore throat to make sure its not getting worse.

I really will NEVER forget the feeling of this. Teeth chattering, body shaking and the image of me wrapped up like an onion and dressed like I was trying to survive the Artic! Maybe I was!

 #shaking #teethchattering #hypothermia #mysepsisjourney #sepsisvitality