I went to work on Wednesday, and have to admit to feeling uncomfortably hot that day, but kept a bottle of water by my side and took frequent sips. I was dressed reasonably cool in a cotton short sleeve blouse and denim skirt and sandals. I waited at the bus stop to go home for around 10 -15 minutes, in the hot sun. I wore sun glasses but there was no shade. The bus when it turned up, felt like a green house inside. I walked around the town and did some shopping before ringing my husband from Wilkinsons to pick me up. I purposely chose that store as it's air conditioned and I could sit down and sip my bottle of water.
During the evening I felt pretty up beat. I sat outside in the shade for a short period of time and then cooked the evening meal. I went to bed before midnight with a mug of tea but couldn't drink much of it. This is usually a good indication with me if my stomach is playing up as I love my cup of tea.
I awoke early the next day with a splitting headache and extreme nausea. I rang in sick for work. I spent the majority of the day retching, nursing a sore head [that I couldn't take pain killers for because of the nausea], and extreme drowsiness. It was quite scary -- my husband was at work and my son was out for the day.
When I got up to go to the bathroom I felt giddy.
I rested as much as I could, took sips of water and put a cold compress on my head. There was nothing else I could do.
I realised by now it was heat exhaustion. I developed this back in 1976 during that extremely hot summer, but then I was out in the sun most of the time. This time I wasn't. The following day I still felt slightly head achy but able to eat a little.
Today, I am still off my food a bit and developed a sore neck for some reason when out shopping this afternoon.
What scares me is why I developed heat exhaustion this time when I wasn't doing anything particularly wrong? I kept as cool as I could, sipped water, kept in the shade when I could.
I am worried in case it happens again.
Maybe I am one of those people who is more prone to temperature rise and fall as I once fainted after being in the snow as a child.
Next time it's a hot day maybe I need to avoid hot drinks, drink double the amount of water, carry around a portable fan and if possible, avoid the bus altogether!
4 comments:
Hope you're feeling better! Heat exhaustion is bad stuff, do be careful.
Definitely drink lots more water i the hot weather, and avoid caffeinated drinks as they dehydrate you even more. I've had heatstroke and it is horrible.
Hope you are feeling better now.
Oh that sounds awful - you poor thing. Hope you're feeling much better now - and drinking lots!
Thanks for your concern, everyone. :)
I'm wondering if the caffeinated drinks might have contributed to the problem that day. I drank a mug of normal coffee before I left work. I normally drink decaff at home.
I am still a little 'out of sorts' but SO much better than I was.
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