It's that time of the year again. Time to write my blog on heat and dysautonomia. Thankfully Southern California has been behind the times for hot Summer weather. Every day I said a prayer of thanks for the unseasonably cool Summer and dreading the day when the temperature would rise above 80 degrees. That dreaded day has finally come, and it's brought along a friend named humidity just to rub it in.
Heat has become one of my biggest enemies. When the temperatures go up my POTS symptoms soar right along with it. Hello increased heart rate, dropping bp, head aches, fatigue, shortness of breath, the increase chance of fainting, and that all so wonderful polly juice experience of my blood feeling like it's bubbling just below my skin. At times I feel like the witch from The Wizard of Oz, screaming "I'm melting!". Just my face whispering from a puddle that once was my body.
I do have a few weapons to help me fight the heat. I love my Artic Heat ice vest, a bit ugly but very cool. I just pull it out of the freezer when I need to take short trips outdoors or when I can't seem to cool my house down (I don't have central AC so I depend on two room AC's). I drink lots of water, so much that if you poke a few holes in me I convert to a watering can. I take extra salt tablets because I'd have to eat 5 bags of potato chips to get the salt I need. I stay indoors like a hermit and shut my house up like a bat cave. If it gets really bad I take a cool shower imagining I'm taking a swim at a luxury hotel with a cabana boy waiting to hand me my towel, a girl can dream! The heat is also a good excuse to load up on chocolate ice cream and mango smoothies. And most important,I say a prayer that God keeps me safe on these difficult days. Preparing for a hot day is much like preparing for a trip abroad, if you forget one important detail ( a passport or salt tablets) and your day or your trip can go very wrong.
Inspired,
Michele
Isaiah 25:4-5
For Thou has been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, for the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall. Like heat in drought. Thou dost subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.
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I know exactly what you mean! The humid Alabama heat was killing me this summer and making all of my symptoms so much worse. Luckily, it finally seems to have cooled off a little!
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