What Exactly Does Getting Overheated Do To You?

[kitchmill]

Yesterday I was on the beach with my family. It was a really hot day, but there was a cool breeze and I was trying to stay hydrated. We weren't planning to stay long so I thought it would be ok - really just wanted the kids to have a good time before we had to leave my parents' beach house. Anyway, I was feeling the heat the whole time, but I actually got to the point of saying, "That's it, I have to leave RIGHT NOW." A few times when I tried standing up, I got lightheaded. My husband was fine with keeping the kids there for a bit longer while I walked back to the house immediately (about 3 blocks) but I was honestly afraid that I wasn't going to make it!

Made it back to the house, drank a ton of water and took a cold shower. Since then, I've been having severe stomach cramps. I kept trying to go to the bathroom, but I was totally constipated (love that IBS!). Before I went to bed last night, I put a heating pad on my stomach because the cramps hurt so bad. Finally, at 4:30 this morning, the cramps woke me up. In and out of the bathroom several times with constipation and finally diarrhea, not to mention horrible sweating. I think I finally feel better now, 4 hours later!

So, is any of this related to being overheated yesterday? Or just a total coincidence that it came on right afterwards? Is there anything else that you get after being overheated?

I've always had a low tolerance to heat, but I guess I'll have to really limit my time on the beach this summer. It seems like yesterday was a million times worse than normal.

[Ernie]

Hi,

I went to the beach Saturday and it was 95F and there was a wind. It was too warm for me as I can only tolerate up to 78F. I had to lie down on the ground to get my strenght back. I went back home after an hour but felt crappy for the rest of the week-end. I was weak, shaky, hungry all the time, dizzy, nauseated.

This morning I feel I am better.

Lesson learned. I am not to go in that temperature again!

[delphicdragon]

Same thing happens to me. Usually I get the reaction like that after a hot, hot bath, or sitting in too cold a room with an A/C blowing down my neck (yes, I react to both hot AND cold). It may be that our bodies don't like the changes in temp.

If you drank ice water that might trigger the stomach issues. That triggers a similar reaction in my Mom, who doesn't have POTS.

I'm not sure where you are Kitchmill, but yesterday was hellish with the heat and humidity here in CT. It may be the humidity that's more of a problem for us than the heat.

Sara

[kitchmill]

Same thing happens to me. Usually I get the reaction like that after a hot, hot bath, or sitting in too cold a room with an A/C blowing down my neck (yes, I react to both hot AND cold). It may be that our bodies don't like the changes in temp.

If you drank ice water that might trigger the stomach issues. That triggers a similar reaction in my Mom, who doesn't have POTS.

I'm not sure where you are Kitchmill, but yesterday was hellish with the heat and humidity here in CT. It may be the humidity that's more of a problem for us than the heat.

Sara

I live in PA, but we were at the NJ shore... humidity was also a problem here too yesterday, and will be all summer! I was actually lucky to be at the beach with the ocean breeze, instead of at home where it was about 5 degrees hotter with no cool breeze.

And I did drink ice water, but I drank the water before the ice had time to make the water cold! The cubes were still practically whole when I finished.

[dsdmom]

When I was younger and had no dysautonomia symptoms (mine is acquired) heat would really do a number on my stomach - I often would get diarrhea from being in a too hot environment. So not sure if it's entirely related to dys or if it's just something that can happen to anybody! Of course, I'm sure it would do the same thing to me now, I just try to stay out of it!

LIke some of you, I went to the beach this weekend (in MA) and was there for about an hour each day - around 10am. Sunday was worse than Saturday but I really had to get out of there....I don't even remember what it's like to want to sit in the sun. Do you?

[Maxine]

The sun is especially draining for me. I can usually tolerate temperatures around 80 for short periods if the sun isn't out.

SHORT PERIODS is the key, as the only temperatures I can tolerate for longer periods is around 68-70 degrees-------IF the sun isn't out. If the sun is out the length of time I can handle those temperatures gets shorter. If the sun is out and it's 60, I may be able to actually enjoy some sunshine.

For me it's like a switch is turned off. I'm ok one minute, then I can't move. It's just difficult to put one foot in front of the other. I also feel like I'm not able to breathe, and the air is heavy. The heat just makes everything worse for me. I feel like a computer server shutting down when it gets overheated.

Yesterday we had a family gathering celebrating 5 birthdays, and it was 92 degrees outside. My dad has a very nice built inn pool, and I wasn't able to swim. It's even too hot to swim, as I can't even have the sun shining on top of my head even if I'm in the water---------- .

Maxine :0)

[taylortotmom]

I think stomach symptoms are quite common when getting too hot whether or not someone has dysautonomia. I live in Florida and I am already dreading the summer. It has been up to 100 already. In fact, I can't go outside to get the mail- I- and my two kids are essentially homebound.

We go swimming at night- the water is too hot during the day. Symptom-wise, it takes just seconds of me being outside before I get brutally ill. Seriously, if I am out in the heat- I pay almost immediately. I am praying my husband gets transfered soon- seriously, I love Florida but I just cannot handle the heat

Carmen

[MightyMouse]

I have trouble walking, standing, and then if I get *really* overheated, I throw up.

[LindaJoy]

How about leg pain? Anyone get leg pain when in the heat too long?

Linda

[stampingamy]

Drains all my energy and makes my muscles weak and me feel really cranky. We are unusually hot and humid for NE Ohio. Like most of you I am okay until it hits 75 then I have to be careful. I agree with DelphicDragon. Our bodies don't handle changes in temperature - especially drastic. Oh, like I was saying, it is unusually hot and humid here. One of the lucky things about moving from Winston-Salem, NC to the Cleveland area was less heat and humidity. We usually only have 2-3 dreadful weeks where just getting to and from the car is draining. I have been more proactive with the early onset of heat and reduced my activities, but I find I still have little energy and am feeling yucky.

At these times it is hard to not get down with all this POTS junk. At least I am not alone.

Stay cool,

Amy

[MightyMouse]

me too with feeling completely drained... I should have also said that regardless of what happens to me "in the moment" I feel terrible for up to several days. It provokes bigger problems with my slow motility and food just sits after I eat. I was outside for 15 minutes yesterday, and paid for it all night last night and all day today. I'm still having trouble eating.

Nina

[HoudiniCat]

And how about the brain fog kicking in??? I can?t even think straight in this heat. I feel like I?m walking around drunk all day. Since this heatwave started in the NE on Saturday, I haven?t felt right. In the past, if the intense heat came on more slowly (July, August) I think my body had more of a chance to get used to it and symptoms weren?t so bad. But going from 79 to 99 with 100% humidity in one day ? I?m wiped out.

Try to keep cool everyone!

[Megan]

Any and all POTS triggers that get me will inevitably cause brain fog...my least favorite symptom! In the heat, I'm usually okay...it's a few hours later that I feel entirely drained, so I have to make sure I don't overdo it even if I feel fine.

Meg

[flop]

My comfort temperature range is 18-20 centigrade (65-68 Fahrenheit).

I am lucky that the UK is much cooler than most of the USA but it is still too hot for me here. Recently it has been about 25 c (77 f) in my bedroom and 28 c (82 f) in my living room/kitchen. I have a portable air-conditioning unit that will cool my bedroom by about 2 c to make it bearable but it is not powerful enough to have any effect in the main room (top floor flat with flat roof and the main room has a wall that is entirely window).

Homes and most work-places in the UK don't have a/c, it is only in the last 5 years that cars with a/c have become common rather than it being an expensive luxury add-on.

I just don't function in the heat, my brain stops working (brain-fog), I sweat in odd places, I get palpitations, I go dizzy, and pretty quickly I loose the ability to stand and walk without fainting. If I get overheated I will often get the stomach cramps and diarrhoea that has been posted about. I get the cramps and diarrhoea in response to anything that would cause me to have excess adrenaline including stress, I think that my body must produce extra adrenaline as a response to the stress of the heat and it is that adrenaline that triggers the GI problems.

Flop

[Mary P]

I know how you all feel. I can't tolerate the heat, and where I live, the humidity as well. For these past 4 1/2 days the temps here have been 40-42 celcius and for me that's like living in a furnace. I won't go outdoors at all but stay inside with the AC running, where I feel safe. One blast of such heat makes me nauteous.

Mary P

[blueroses79]

Don't know if I'm the only one, but humidity is a much bigger problem for me than heat. I actually like heat, so long as the humidity's not too high. But humidity above 80% gives me all-day OI, even in the winter. I get a lot of blood pooling in my hands and feet, too. It feels like I'm overheating if I so much as move. (This leads to me going out ridiculously under-bundled in the snow, even!) I describe it as feeling exactly as if I have a fever, when, I presume, BP is low, and standing makes me feel hot and dizzy.

Now if only my cardiologist believed in all-day OI....