question: For a week I have had a very achey back (thoracic, not lower), sweats and chills, and sometimes diarrhea, but really no other symptoms. The back ache is definitely not due to a back problem - it feels more like a flu back ache or that I have gotten with intestinal bugs. Tried ibuprophen, heating pads, and even my last resort whiskey shots, but they didn t help. Then I remembered that aspirin has helped with kidney problems in the past, and it worked well on the back ache, but still had the sweats and chills. Temp ranged from 97.2 to 99.7, so I thought maybe sweats chills and flushing were hot flashes (53 yr old female), but they were pretty constant, about every 10 minutes all day long. Last 2 days symptoms seemed to be better and got my appetite back, but today I woke up with intense back ache again and aspirin is not helping. Could this be a virus?