Children’s and adults’ cold symptoms frequently get worse in the evening or at night. Inflammatory mediators and regular variations in daily temperature are partly to blame for this. What to anticipate and how to handle severe cold symptoms at night?
As a cold progresses, nighttime symptoms often worsen. At this point, mood may worsen and body temperature may rise significantly. This is particularly distressing for young children and makes parents worry about their health. It’s unnecessary. Usually. It’s fightable.
Colds are the most common upper respiratory infections. Virus. Main symptoms are runny nose, sore throat, mild cough, and fever. Rhinovirus infection causes colds, but over 200 microbes can cause it. Nighttime symptoms of the common cold are often worse. What causes and treats it?
Why does a cold deteriorate at night?
Evening cold symptoms worsen. Even without a fever, we can expect a rise in body temperature, a decline in health, chills, malaise, night sweats, and aches and pains. Having a cold makes your runny nose worse in the morning, but we use tissues more in the evening. Many things could cause this.
Daily fluctuations in hormones and temperature
One of the main theories contends that changes in the levels of substances that control the body’s response to infection, such as cortisol, and natural diurnal fluctuations in body temperature are to blame for the worsening of cold symptoms in the evening.
Body temperature varies throughout the day whether or not we are infected (the standard value of 36.6°C is just an average temperature). The morning (between 3 and 5 am) is when our body temperature is at its lowest, and the afternoon and evening are when it is at its highest (between 15 and 17). It can also raise the temperature if the cold is present.
In their study, Mexican doctors from the 4th Hospital of Gynecology and Obstetrics found that evening infections raised temperatures. They measured the temperature and immune response compounds of 35 patients with acute infection fever. Nighttime temperatures were higher than morning temperatures. Thus, symptoms won’t worsen at night.
Inflammatory mediators, such as cortisol, change daily. Stress hormones fight infections. Inhibits inflammation. Its concentration is highest in the morning and lowest at night. With a cold, the natural drop in cortisol at night activates other immune defence mechanisms, causing weakness and fever.
Why else does a cold get worse in the evening?
Deterioration of well-being with a cold in the evening may also have other causes, e.g.:
- drinking too little fluid during the day
- overheating of the body
- lying position
- lack of rest
- focusing on oneself
Maryam's Blog 