Questions Your Doctor May Ask - and Why!
During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Shivering.
These may include a physical examination or other medical tests.
Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing
your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information
you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
- How long have you had the shivering?
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
- Is the body motion truly "shivering"?
Why: Shivering refers to the shaking of the skin usually related to cold, the perception of cold or a fever. Other types of body motion that are not really "shivering" include tremor, trembling, twitches, spasms and seizures.
- Have you been exposed to extreme cold weather or cold water?
Why: may help when considering the cause of a low body temperature and consequent shivering. Shivering is usually related to the cold, or the perception of cold.
- If the shivering is associated with a fever, what is the pattern of the fever and shivering?
Why: may help determine the cause of the shivering e.g. intermittent fever of malaria, Epstein-Barr virus and ascending cholangitis; continuous fever is common with viral infections such as influenza; remittent fever where temperature returns towards normal for a variable period but is always elevated may occur with pelvic abscess, wound infection and cancer; undulant fever where bouts of fever for several days are followed by several days of normal temperature occur with brucellosis infection and lymphomas.
- Travel history?
Why: Overseas travelers or visitors may have special or even exotic infections.
- Past medical history?
Why: e.g. AIDS, Rheumatic fever, pneumonia, immunodeficiency, cancer.
- Recent surgery?
Why: may suggest post-operative complication e.g. wound infection, aspiration pneumonia, lung collapse, urinary catheter related urinary tract infection, intra-abdominal abscess.
- Medications?
Why: drugs can cause fever, presumably due to hypersensitivity e.g. allopurinol, antihistamines, barbiturates, cephalosporins, cimetidine, methyl dopa, penicillins, isoniazid, phenytoin, procainamide, salicylates, sulphonamides; some drugs can suppress the immune system and increase risk of infections e.g. cancer chemotherapy agents.
- Sexual history?
Why: may help to determine risk of HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, pelvic inflammatory disease e.g. AIDS patients pose a special risk for infections including opportunistic infections.
Questions your doctor may ask about related symptoms:
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse
your condition. These may include:
- Frequency and burning of urine?
Why: would suggest pyelonephritis, abscess around the kidney or abscess in the prostate.
- Cough?
Why: may suggest pneumonia, lung abscess, bronchiectasis or tuberculosis.
- Bone pain or bone swelling?
Why: may suggest osteomyelitis.
- Pain and location of the pain?
Why: can help determine focus of infection.
- Body discharge?
Why: e.g. vaginal, penile, anal, tooth, ear, nasal.
- Body rash?
Why: may help determine cause of shivering.
- Symptoms of hypothermia?
Why: e.g. mild hypothermia (32-35 degrees Celsius) causes shivering and initially a feeling of intense cold. As the core temperature falls, severe hypothermia (below 32 degrees Celsius) initially causes impairment of judgement (including awareness of cold) and later leads to altered consciousness and coma.
» Next page: Symptom combinations for Shivering
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