Pots Heat Intolerance

[spinner]

JKN, i never liked the heat, but i could endure it before. Now that SC humidity is a blast furnace.

Being in Ohio---im thankful every day because i know what thats like. I think of like a giant sauna.

I know it will get hotter here soon. Its been up around 80 several times, but it is NOTHING like Columbia SC.

To be honest I cannot wait until October 1 or so. I get seriously excited when it turns cold. Its like

winning the lottery, those fall days when it goes down in the low 50's. My energy level spikes.

I'm in SC too, and here in the Midlands (central SC) we've had heat indexes of well over 100 the past few days. I checked this morning and the heat index was 111 and it definitely feels like it.

I developed hyperhidrosis seemingly overnight as a teenager and I still sweat much more than the average woman. I used to love hot weather and days at the beach, but it is pretty hard for me to be out in it these days. If I go out to water the garden for 30 minutes, I feel like my head is stuffed full of cotton for the next few hours :/ My cardio said that this is because the blood vessels dilate. My pulse also goes way up, easily into the 120s just standing or sitting outside in the summer.

[sue1234]

I'm like you, Kalamazoo. My hands and feet swell as I get hot...I guess all the pooling is happening. I can see almost all of my vasculature system in my hands, even down my fingers! I hope I don't get varicose veins in my hands/lower arms, that would just be unsightly.

Do your veins hurt as much as mine do? When they swell it throbs so bad. I cant do dishes or use my hands for very long

No, my hands don't really hurt. They seem to just get "heavy"(not too heavy, as it is just little hands!) By the way, I get the cotton head feeling also. My eyes also seem to get blurrier, kind of like they quit focusing.

[brethor9]

kalamazoo; you are totally not alone yes the veins in my hands sting and swell and it can happen at anytime...the pain does wake me up and my hands are very swollen in the mornings, also when I do any activity and if I get in higher altitudes....I assume it is over dilation maybe?? I also get that horrible stuffed head feeling and high heart rate as soon as I get into any kind of heat....can't even have a hot bath anymore or cook near a really hot oven but now I wonder with the recent EDS diagnosis how much of the vascular issues are related to it ...it's all a toss up! either way it all ***** big time!

Bren

[sue1234]

Thinking about the "cotton-head" feeling, people with MS have that, too, when exposed to heat. In the OLD days, that's how they used to diagnose it. I don't think we all have MS, but, what does POTS have in common with MS??? Is it autoimmune, etc.? I think one day when they get more of a handle on the true cause of MS, it might clue us in on what might be contributing to POTS.

[diabeticgonewild]

Using a tactical armor plate carrier vest, file with ice packs (or phase change packs-which is usually lighter and is cooler) works. Also, the vest costs much less than a typical cooling vest and probably is more durable. Here is the one that I received in the mail today. http://www.amazon.com/Tactical-CA-302B-Adjustable-Carrier-Airsoft/dp/B00BJ6AXIS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371333899&sr=8-1&keywords=lancer+tactical+vest

Here is where I found the idea:

(I think the guy has a Tacprogear vest, which comes in various sizes, and seems more lightweight than the one I received. Search for Tacprogear on amazon, although the vests are more costly.)

[kitt]

I live in the deep south, and have had severe heat intolerance since I was dx with CFS several decades ago.

Regardless of my activities I did not sweat. On my best days I could horseback ride for hours and be as dry as a bone. Never ever sweated and never wore deodorant...ever.

Once I was dx with pots, that fact very slowly changed.

Hyperadrenergic pots comes on gradually, and now I have difficulty controlling my body temperature, and now have extreme 'sweats' when I least expect them.

It's getting a bit better with Methyldopa, (as is my sleep). but sweating and ability to control body temp has gone completely haywire.

Hyper pots is very difficult and the sweats, inability to control body temp, and insomnia are all a part of excessive sympathetic excess, and high norepinephrne (NE).

Best,

K

[Freaked]

I'm suspecting that I have hyper pots too, kitt. I've always had hyperhidrosis (enormously excessive sweating; attractive I know) which muddies the water a bit, but my pots symps started with a flu and this strange spell of 'wired' insomnia. I could tell something wasn't right. Sometimes now I'll have surges and crashes, where I'll pour sweat, feel roasted and very awake, then I'll crash (occasionally announced by a collapse), become freezing and feel faint, feverish and achey. Horrible. I had a test for an adrenal tumour and apparently my catelcholamines were normal that day, but I was loaded on benzos as usual and also had one of my most remarkably stable days, so I don't know.

[AndreaBari]

Does anyone not *feel* the heat? I am not sweating, at all. I don't feel hot outside. But then I'll start to get nauseous and dizzy. And then, when I'm back inside where it is cooler, my body goes on a roller coaster of symptoms. I swear I feel worse a few hours after I come back inside.

[cupcakemomma5]

For me it's not the heat, it's the humidity. I actually decided to take a walk (5 minutes on a good day) to the park with my kids, pack a water, had my compression hose on..etc. Was there sitting in the shade and my hr was in the 112 sitting! I was terrified when I stood up it spiked to 140-168. It hasn't spiked like that in a while. I made it back home walked upstairs to my bed, put a cool compress on my neck and next thing I know I am picking carpet lint out my mouth...passed out!

My meds haven't changed, nothing....Just the humidity.

Wondering if this is common, our potsie bodies not being able to adapt to the weather...

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks