Check your thermometers!

[Jaz]

I wasn't feeling well this morning so I decided to take my temperature. The battery in our thermometer had died. My dh went to the drugstore. They don't carry that kind. He went to a battery store. They have to special order them! I ordered several batteries from Amazon but they won't arrive until the end of the month. 

I sent my dh to buy a new thermometer. All stores we checked are low or out of stock both in store and online! I even tried places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond and hardware stores. Looking online for stores with "low supply", dh tried a local drugstore. A woman was standing in the aisle holding the last one! Another store with low supply according to the website, had one left. My dh bought it in case our original thermometer at home is broken. 

I don't have a fever. I'm feeling fine now. I'm thankful we have a working thermometer and more batteries on the way.

BTW, check reviews on store brand thermometers. Those may be in stock. Apparently, many of them don't work!

[Pawz4me]

I told some friends today (online, not in person!) that I'm missing mercury thermometers. I don't like being dependent on a battery right now.

[Pippen]

I still have a red alcohol glass thermometer that I use whenever I'm in doubt. 

[ScoutTN]

Ours is missing and I've been 6 or 7 places looking for one. 

[Bambam]

I have several digital ones, but I have never found one to give consistent readings. I'm wondering if I can use my Thermopen from the kitchen. It's accurate. 

 

[Katy]

1 minute ago, Patty Joanna said:

And I remember a recent article about 98.6* NOT being "normal" for everyone.  So it might be a good idea to get a baseline temp from everyone in your family.  I run cool; my baseline is 97.something.  :::need to follow my own advice:::

 

 

This.  And keep in mind that any women in the family will have a cooler temperature before they ovulate, and a higher one for several days after.  

[SquirrellyMama]

A few months ago I bought everyone in the family their own thermometer. Glad I had the idea to do it before supplies ran out.

 

[MEmama]

Great PSA!
But I’m kicking myself over not thinking about this already...we only have one ancient digital under the tongue kind of thermometer. Assuming it’s even possible to still purchase one anywhere, what modern kind are actually best? 

[Carol in Cal.]

I can tell if my temperature is elevated by moving my eyes far from side to side.  If that hurts I have a fever.  If it doesn't I don't.  I have no idea why.

 

[TrixieB]

Regarding thermometers:

I opened up one of our digital thermometers (can't find the other, sigh, story of my life) and got the battery size.  Just ordered a cheap pack of batteries from eBay.  Even if they're not long-lasting, a ten pack was $2.

And while I was on the site, I bought a couple of digital thermometers - one for us, and one for an elderly family member who I bet doesn't have one.  They're unbranded; I'm guessing dollar-store quality but it's better than nothing.

Edited March 15, 2020 by TrixieB

[plansrme]

I went on a hunt a few days ago to find one to send to my grad student daughter, as I knew she didn't have one.  I scoured my Walgreen's and found two lying around in the most unlikely of places--one was with shampoo, and the other with socks or somesuch.  I mailed one off to California and am sending one back with another daughter who had one that she claims did not work. I tried them both out on myself and compared them to my glass alcohol (I presume) thermometer, to see if they were consistent with each other, and they were all within .2.  I'm really surprised that so many people apparently did not already have thermometers.  It's like toilet paper--did this many of us really not already have at least two weeks' of TP stockpiled???

[Jaz]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Great PSA!
But I’m kicking myself over not thinking about this already...we only have one ancient digital under the tongue kind of thermometer. Assuming it’s even possible to still purchase one anywhere, what modern kind are actually best? 

 

Thanks, I think your best bet is to check reviews on the one you find rather than looking for the best. They are still out there. 

Would meat thermometers work? Ours broke yesterday or I would check it.

[klmama]

LOL!  I was just wondering about candy thermometers.  

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, MEmama said:

Great PSA!
But I’m kicking myself over not thinking about this already...we only have one ancient digital under the tongue kind of thermometer. Assuming it’s even possible to still purchase one anywhere, what modern kind are actually best? 

I've been using Vicks ones for years, and not had a problem with them yet. Had a few others but never liked them like the Vicks ones. They are fast, and seem accurate. 

[Shoeless]

They make mercury -free glass thermometers.  We have this one: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/geratherm-mercury-free-oral-thermometer/ID=prod396857-product  It has some terrible reviews, but mine works fine. I have to wonder if people don't know how to read a glass thermometer, and that's why everyone said "The line never went down!" 

We actually have 2 of the non-mercury glass type and a digital thermometer. The digital one seems kind of flaky. 

[Hadley]

I realized that we didn’t have one this weekend.  We live in a very urban area, and there were no thermometers to be found.  My wonderful mother is now sending one that she easily found in her teenie-tiny small Texas town drugstore.  Makes me appreciate both mothers and the convenience of small towns.

[Jaz]

On 3/15/2020 at 5:13 AM, Hadley said:

I realized that we didn’t have one this weekend.  We live in a very urban area, and there were no thermometers to be found.  My wonderful mother is now sending one that she easily found in her teenie-tiny small Texas town drugstore.  Makes me appreciate both mothers and the convenience of small towns.

 

I'm so glad you found one. Yay for moms and small towns!

[KungFuPanda]

I still have a mercury thermometer.  Does this make me old????

[Kareni]

13 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I still have a mercury thermometer.  Does this make me old????

If so, then I'm old, too. More power to us!

Regards,

Kareni