Can Dehydration Cause a Fever?

Fever makes you dehydrated

A fever raises your body temperature, and your body cools itself by sweating. You also breathe faster and lose water that way. On top of that, when you are sick you drink less and may be vomiting or have diarrhea. So a fever almost always pulls fluid out of you.

Dehydration can make you overheat

Your body uses water to cool itself. When you are very low on fluid, you cannot sweat enough, and your temperature can climb. This is heat exhaustion or, in bad cases, heat stroke: a hot day in August on a Jersey Shore beach, a long run in Central Park, a job on a roof. It looks like a fever, but it is overheating, and it is an emergency.

The warning signs

A fever with any of these means get help now, not a drip: a temperature over 103°F in an adult, confusion or trouble staying awake, very little urine for 8 hours, a fast heartbeat with fast breathing, a stiff neck, or a fever in a baby under 3 months. Call 911 or go to the emergency room.

What helps at home

For an ordinary fever, the plan is simple. Rest. Sip fluids all day, water, broth, an electrolyte drink. Keep the room cool. A fever reducer from the pharmacy if you are uncomfortable. Eat if you can.

Where a drip fits

The gap we fill: you have had a cold or flu, the fever has broken or is mild, but you are behind on fluids and cannot catch up by drinking, or you are an older adult who has not been drinking enough. A licensed nurse comes to your home anywhere in New York and New Jersey, checks your blood pressure, pulse and temperature first, and gives a liter of fluids with electrolytes under a provider's order. If the nurse's checks show something worse, we tell you to go to the ER. We will not put a drip in someone who needs a hospital.

Behind on fluids after a cold or flu? Book a Hydration drip at zenivspa.com. In an emergency, call 911.

All treatments are medical services. Every guest is screened, and every treatment is provided only under the clearance, prescription or standing protocol of a licensed medical provider. Compounded peptides are not FDA-approved unless stated. Nothing on this page is a diagnosis or a promise of results.