Fever: Let it ride or treat?

As I have been lying here in bed with a roller coaster fever (currently on the low side) all weekend, it made me wonder what you all think. My husband - aka my hero - has done an incredible job taking care of me; from bringing me a new box of Kleenex, to making me food, to taking care of the cats. He also asked if I wanted to take a Tylenol to reduce my fever, to which I declined as always, no matter how miserable/hot/chilly/achy I am.

I know there is debate on whether you should reduce a fever or ride it out, but here's what I feel for me personally. I let it ride. A fever is the body's defense against whatever virus you're fighting and I almost feel like I get better faster if I don't treat the fever and let it do its job. However, in the case of a bacterial infection that requires antibiotics, that's a whole different scenario. But, when it is a viral thing, hell yeah I let the fever burn off whatever cooties are ailing me. I have a limit though - once it hits around 103, my eyeballs feel like they're on fire, and just the sheets brushing against my skin hurts, THEN I take something to reduce the fever.

I am the same with my kids as well. I have them ride it out unless it gets too high or they are too uncomfortable to sleep. Here's the thing, I used to give them something to reduce the fever at the first sign of one. The problem was they would feel better since the fever would be (temporarily) gone, overdo it, and then relapse. Every. Single. Time. My husband is one who takes something immediately and ends up relapsing for days because he overdoes it.

So what about you? Do you ride out the fever or take something to reduce it?