Took a bath, now I'm paying for it

[Libby]

I haven't been around the forum in quite a while, but I hope you guys don't mind me popping back in to complain to people who understand.  😂

The temperature is in the single digits, my bathroom remodel just finished up a few days ago, so I decided that a bath in my new tub would be the perfect way to warm up.  LOL.  Silly girl.  

The bath itself was great.  But then it was over and I had to stand up.  Heart rate went through the roof, b/p dropped low enough for my vision to start to go white.  I couldn't think straight enough to run cold water over my legs so I just pushed through the symptoms and stumbled into my bedroom to wait it out on my bed.  And while I'm doing that, my dog hops into the tub and grabs my razor for a chew toy (thankfully she didn't touch the blade, but I'm going to need a new handle.  sigh).   

It's been maybe 5 years since I last took a bath.  Somehow I forgot what a bad idea it is.  Now I'm curled up on my couch waiting for my brain to stop feeling so fuzzy and debating taking a midodrine so close to bedtime because blood is pooling in my legs like crazy.  Ugh!  Stupid NCS.  Stupid POTS.

But things will be better tomorrow.  

I hope all of you are doing well!  Staying warm, if you've been hit by this polar vortex, or enjoying your lack of blizzard conditions if you're in a less frigid part of the world.   

[Pistol]

Sorry @Libby - isn't that discouraging? It sounds like you were doing good for a while and - BAM - right back to it!!! I can understand that though, b/c I've done things like that. But yeah - baths are not a good idea. I avoid all water except for showers and I dread them. Lie still, do exercises with your legs, drink, salt and put on some compression stockings if you have them,  those tried and true things might help. Hope you feel better in the morning!!!!

[StayAtHomeMom]

If you decide to try again (we all seem to at some point) try getting up in stages and see if that helps. I miss that occasional bath as well. I have a hard time just taking a shower these last 2 years. I can't imagine trying to soak in a bath. That being said, I know I shouldn't but this past summer I spent some time in a hot tub and did well. Not sure if it has something to do with "sitting" in it and being able to easily get out, or if my meds were just working that well. Either way it was a nice treat. 

[toomanyproblems]

Personally, I can't take showers. I can't stand up that long or look up at all. I would fall or pass out. I just run cooler water for the bath than I used to. Then I just flop/slide gently over the side when I'm done and lie on the floor if I have to. I've done this for years. You just have to keep the temps right so as not to cause trouble. I keep a space heater running in the bathroom to keep the air temps right. I use one of those sprayers with a long hose attached to the shower head to rinse.

[bunny]

Awww... I can sympathize.  I love a long hot bath or long steamy shower, but my body does not!  

I was blessed with a major hotel room upgrade last week (cheapest room booked, upgraded to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with kitchen suite that had a giant whirlpool tub).  It's probably the first bath I've taken in ~2-3 years.  It was heavenly, BUT, I also was starting to feel iffy and immediately started running cold water. The recovery wasn't too bad this time from it.  

Like @toomanyproblems, a space heater in the bathroom is an essential for me, even in the summertime.  My normal body temperature is low to begin with, let a lone evaporation of water off my skin.  

One thing I've discovered recently is that if I keep an elbow against the wall when showering, I seem to be able to control my balance better.  Much better than just using my hand.  I'm not sure if this tip will help anyone else, but I put it out here for others to try.  

[Mrs r]

Arw bless you that new bath was just to tempting !i recently got a new bath board after months year struggling wash my hair i washed it twice mYSELF this week boy did i pay for it fatigue tremors pain heartrate bp .....but ive got clean hair😂28 going on 100 ...  

[Guest ScottS]

First off, I'm curious, how hot was the bath water? 

For my part, I've had similar experiences. Too hot a bath for too long or too hot a shower(*) just wipes me out in the same way it did you.

(*)Also for too long, though honestly who has enough capacity in their hot water heater or heaters to keep the shower temp as hot and for as long as that of the bath?

Questions (for you and for whoever else cares to chime in) : 1. How are you with variations (extremes) in temperature and humidity? For my part, I can take some dry heat but heat combined with humidity is almost as bad for me as too hot of a bath or shower. 2. How are you with cold? I am equally intolerant of extremes in cold as I am heat and humidity. Just the other day I was outside working (prepping for gardening come Spring). The temps were in the low 40s with no wind and it was sunny out. (I thought it was warm enough and I'd be fine.) My work involved some heavy lifting of bags full of various fertilizes: blood meal, bone meal and etc. and dumping the contents into 5 gallon buckets. (For ease of use. I garden organically. My garden pot is approximately 4/10ths of an acre and includes around 500 square feet of nutrient hungry red raspberries.) After approximately two hours outside a wave of inertia, followed by fatigue and then whole body aches came over me. I was too busy feeling bad to take my pulse or BP though I'm sure it was off. I came inside and drank a protein smoothie (thinking I needed the nutrition - a bowl of warm soup would have been a smarter choice). I then went upstairs and climbed in a little bit too warm bath and then, realizing my mistake, quickly got out and got in a much cooler shower. Still, that night I was a wreck. Whole body fibromyalgia kept me from having any kind of decent sleep. So the next day (that morning especially) I was still feeling wiped out.

[StayAtHomeMom]

2 hours ago, bunny said:

One thing I've discovered recently is that if I keep an elbow against the wall when showering, I seem to be able to control my balance better.  Much better than just using my hand.  I'm not sure if this tip will help anyone else, but I put it out here for others to try.  

I cheat. I usually won't take a shower unless my husband is home and make him shower with me. It helps ease my anxiety. If anything happens he is there. Sometimes he just sits in the bathroom. But he is there. 

[Derek1987]

If I take a bath to relax, I barely fill the tub. Like 1/10th. If i do more I don't feel well. Even heat from the vents kills me. Last night I went outside in the car to talk to my friend on the phone. I kept having to adjust the heat settings. My body is like your cold so I turn the temp up but it makes me feel bad. My friend put me on hold and then I felt the faint territory coming on. I hung up and got in the bed. I have a window unit in my bedroom I run while the house heat runs through the vents. Kills my utilities but I have no choice. Thankfully my wife doesn't have much of a problem with it. She likes to sleep cold. I'm dreading the summer coming up. 

[Guest ScottS]

8 hours ago, bunny said:

One thing I've discovered recently is that if I keep an elbow against the wall when showering, I seem to be able to control my balance better.  Much better than just using my hand.  I'm not sure if this tip will help anyone else, but I put it out here for others to try.  

Might I suggest a basic ($25-$30 online) shower chair as an alternative to leaning. Assuming you have the space, that is. I don't know what I'd do if I had to give up mine. Go back to sitting on the floor like I did when I was a kid, I suppose.

[bunny]

12 hours ago, StayAtHomeMom said:

I cheat. I usually won't take a shower unless my husband is home and make him shower with me. It helps ease my anxiety. If anything happens he is there. Sometimes he just sits in the bathroom. But he is there. 

I wish I had such an option - I have a girlfriend but we aren't married yet so there won't be any of that going on until then. 

14 hours ago, ScottS said:

Also for too long, though honestly who has enough capacity in their hot water heater or heaters to keep the shower temp as hot and for as long as that of the bath?

Questions (for you and for whoever else cares to chime in) : 1. How are you with variations (extremes) in temperature and humidity? For my part, I can take some dry heat but heat combined with humidity is almost as bad for me as too hot of a bath or shower. 2. How are you with cold? I am equally intolerant of extremes in cold as I am heat and humidity. 

I often travel for work and have become spoiled by the seemingly endless supply of steaming hot water at hotels, so I duplicated it at home.  I believe I have about 30 minutes' worth of hot water at home before it starts to cool off.  The Speakman Anystream showerheads are pure bliss. 

I can't handle high humidity, no matter the temperature.  I've been in buildings with failing aircons that were so humid that I had to go outside.  I never considered myself an outdoors person and instead prefer the confines of my climate controlled world.   Then this summer my job took me to Alaska.  I was spending every free moment outdoors!  I even went hiking, which was something I never would even think of doing. People who know me were wondering if I'd flipped my lid.  Nope, just a more agreeable climate.  

At the same time, I can't do cold.  My body temperature normally runs around 35.5C and drops a bit shortly after eating. This doesn't leave me with much of a buffer between functioning and hypothermia and I've gotten in trouble more than a few times.  

 

6 hours ago, ScottS said:

 Might I suggest a basic ($25-$30 online) shower chair as an alternative to leaning

Pride is a tough cookie to crack.  Occasionally I've had a hotel room with one and they are helpful.  At the same time, I try to live as normal of a life as possible and stubbornly try to tough it out as long as I can.  There were probably many tools which would be beneficial for me to use, but my pride gets in the way.  I have a feeling that will be addressed once I'm married.  

[StayAtHomeMom]

On 2/2/2019 at 3:11 AM, bunny said:

Pride is a tough cookie to crack.  

I have that problem. There is a pair of double crutches on amazon I have had my eye on for a while. They are a little expensive ($150) but they fold and adjust. I would love to have them for those bad days where walking is so hard but I worry about how I would look. I had stitches on my left hip last year after a procedure and it killed me to use any kind of assistance. I felt humiliated using an electric cart at Wal-Mart even though I knew I couldn't walk through the store.