How Many of you MSers and non-MSers Can Still take a Tub Bath

[Sarahsmom46]

How many can still take baths or sit in a hot tub without getting heat intolerance symptoms from the hot water?

I learned about my intolerance to hot water 3 years ago.  Around our forum it is referred to as "Julie and her hot tub experience".  Quix is quick to mention it when the subject of hot tubs or hot baths come up.

Well, you think I'd learned my lesson back then but no, I had to test it - not in a hot tub though. After a long tay of moving into my new place I decided to indulge in a tub bath. So, in I went.  After getting out I got pain in my legs, weak, tingling buzzing from my toes to my abdomen that went on for 2 days.  I was miserable, Fortunately it all calmed down.  So, no more testing the waters. I am done messing around with very upset nerves. Not worth it.

Giving up tub baths (no fun if the water is not hot) is just another thing that I can live wihout having MS, but it is irritaing.

Anyway, that got me to thinking and I was wondering how many of us have had to do the same.

Just curious to see how many of us have intolerance to hot water.  

Hope you all have a nice evening.

Julie

[meg321]

I rarely take baths, I always take showers and I have to use cooler water now,  I so loved hot water before.  Reading this makes  me want to just try a hot shower.  

Its such a chore now, no pleasure in it.  I also take quick showers, especially if I am at home doing nothing special.  I was wondering if maybe the intolerance to hot water might change on and off.    I also have the dizziness and balance issues and it is very difficult in the shower, but it seems our bodies learn how to adjust to it,

I know one year when some friends stayed over, the girls were up early and it was gorgeous outside so they all got in the hot tub.  As usual I sat on the edge but as the water cooled I could get into it.  I think it was 98 degrees, so I knew when it got low i could go in.

meg

[anon07072023]

I only take about 5 minute baths to shave my legs really quick.  Just in that 5 minutes my feet go numb & tingling and I start to get severe cramps in my feet.  I've never been a soaker kind of person. Something about sitting around naked just doesn't fit me.  :-)
-Kelly

[COBOB]

A couple of years before my diagnosis, I pulled a short (54")  tub out of the master bath and replaces it with a 48" shower with seats in it.  I was figuring that I was pushing 50 and might need it down the road.  Well, looks like that road was shorter than I thought.  At the same time, we took out the door and made the bathroom "en suite" with a 48" archway.  Accidental good planning.  Always said I'd rather be lucky than good  

This summer, we have to replace some entry stairs with decks.  I guess those will be designed to accommodate ramps in the future.  Might as well have a "master plan" for it and hope I never need it.  Any future renovations will include 36" doors and wider travel paths.

I wonder what the market will be for an "accessible horse property?"

Bob

[RedFlame]

I still take warm showers using a shower bench.  This allows me to take everything very slow, I even dry off in the chair.  

I took baths all my life before all of this happened and I became so weak.  

Red

[shermay]

The problem I have with a shower is that when the water is cascading over me, I have wobbling / dizziness issues, my feet keep slipping all over the place.

The last time I showered, I did another famous slide, and I ended up with a right egg on my head:/

I can't close me eyes - for example - to wash my hair in the shower, otherwise I'll fall over.

So for me, it's a quick in and out of the bath, and not too hot. I drain the bath /tub and crawl out.

I then wash my hair after either in the sink, or under the shower attachment.

[HoustonDogLove]

I still take hot baths I haven't noticed any issues yet. And like Double vision I do like the way the warm water makes my hands feel a little more like hands.
When I was first diagnosed I told the doctor I must have cooked my brain too many times in a hot bath. lol

[Ojibajo]

I haven't noticed any warm/bath shower issues yet. We only have a stand up shower at our house so I can't take a bath at home anyway. :)

[doublevision1]

Lately I have enjoyed very warm, long soaks in my bathtub with no problem.  Afterwards I just get a very mild buzzing Lhermittes sensation down my back, not bothersome at all.  In fact the bath is about the best relief I can get from the constant paresthesias pain in my hand.  Immersed in warm water temporarily provides a different and less uncomfortable sensation than I normally otherwise have in that hand.

[RazCarver]

I haven't dared try a relaxing tub soak in years. The last time I did I still remember the panic and fear. I was having a nice soak to relax and my back started to spasm. I couldn't get out. if I moved wrong my back would spasm harder and I couldn't get my legs to work right.

I started getting cold and my significant other was bedridden and couldn't help other then call 911. I wasn't going to have that even if I had to stay in the tub forever. somehow I managed to roll and fall out. finally managed to collapse into bed. Had a hard time for the rest of the night. That was a long time ago and I put it up to working full time and caregiving full time.

Now I have trouble just getting in and out of the shower. I know I need to get handrail and a tub seat, but hate the thought. and when my showers are hot they make me wobbly, ok more wobbly. :-) If it wasn't for tearless shampoo I don't know what I'd do because I can't close my eyes and remain standing. can I chalk that up to getting older at almost 51? ha.

I don't know, I'm in limbo. neuro says my signs and symptoms are MS, but the definitive diagnosis is still just on the table.

Raz

[supermum_ms]

i have a thing going on with water, showers are bad enough but even luke warm baths exhaust me. My entire body goes floppy, it wouldn't be an issue if i was just really really relaxed, i do feel nice and relaxed whilst in the tub, my bathroom has a spa big enough for me to float in, its not extra big i'm just extra small lol The problem really lies with getting out, its just not relaxing trying to climb out of it and then once i'm out, all my internal wiring seems to have gone on the fritz.

I thought it was just me when it first started happening, i did speak to mum about this weird feeling of my muscles being jello and she didn't get it, it was only reading about other peoples experiences on here, that it started making sense with everything else that was going on too.

I think whilst i'm suspended and fully supported by the water, there isn't gravity that my body is constantly fighting agianst normally, my muscles are not needed so they are in a dormant state. I dont feel anything but light and dreamy whilst in the water, the getting out brings on the need for muscle action, my energy level is always lower than what it was before getting in. I'm not only tired but heavy, my tremors are noticably there and a lot of the time i'm not thinking clearly so my brain is heavy too (lol) talking is problematic so I dont talk or cant i'm not ready to acknowledge that yet.

The temperature of the water makes a big difference but i've found the same thing sort of happens when i'm at our holiday place in the cold river water, though then the current is acting as gravity and even though i always wear a life jacket and i'm fully suspended, i'm still weakened by the experience. If i'm in a soft warm water pocket of river water, i feel just as light and dreamy as bath water but again I have no muscle strenght to pull me onto the backboard of the boat, dead fish is just about right lol!

So with my weird logic, I think a couple of things are going on, the temperature of the water fries my brain signals and the return of gravity zaps the energy out of my muscles quicker than normal. Count me in with the intolerance group, hmmmm thinking about it, that old bath test would of got me a dx for sure ROFL!

Cheers...........JJ

[Phoenix177]

the hot bath,...yep tried it. I barely could get out of the tub. my right leg felt very heavy, tingling with electric shocks.....my right fore arm underarm went numb again and the top felt electric shocks,......vertigo, ....my right eye both hurt and was dim/darker,.....took almost a week for all sx to go....that was about a year ago

I still take hot showers....ok they're not as hot as they used to be but they are quick,...when I'm having symptoms colder showers


I'm not dx'd with ms, was dx'd with fibro in '04 but my pcp and I now doubt it.....Fibro loves the heat, hates the cold.......I learned during my SSD hearing that the neuro I saw wrote in his option I'm either in the early stages of MS (not enough evidence yet) or its in my head........

[HVAC]

I still take hot baths. They just started effecting me recently. It goes away.

[JemmAus]

Can't stand baths - always feel like i'm lying in my own filth. Maybe that's because the only ones I ever took were after a hard day's horse riding in muddy fields?

I'm a shower girl. But it has to be luke warm, or I go wobbly.

[Sarahsmom46]

You guys were taling about who would help you if you got stuck in a hot tup/spaa - When I had my hot tub experience, before my diagnosis, a nice lady in the pool area relaxing and reading a book saw my predicament and came t o help.  I was so happy to get the help until I looked up and saw that she dropped her towel and was completely in the buff.  I think I was so scared at the thought of not being able to get out by myself, that I couldn't care less what she was wearing or in this case not wearing.  

Julie

[addicted2harleys]

Oh, Lulu! I LOVE Zion!   Absolutely beautiful country.  Wish I would have known about your cabin hideaway the couple times I have been out there!  :)

Thanks for sharing and the buffalo part made me smile...too cool

Addi

[addicted2harleys]

HA HA HA HA Johnniebear!  Thank you the much needed chuckle!  ;)

Excluding Mr. Winkee, I would have the same issues with attempting the bath...and I am afraid of what the heat would do to me.  Yes, I remember your incident and it is what I think of when it comes to hot tubs or baths.  

My showers I cannot take cooler.  I have tried and I just shiver through.  I cannot stand being cold, especially in the bathroom.  So, I take them warm and end up using my walker or wheelchair when I get out until the jelly legs feel less wobbly.  I get a nauseous type feeling, too.  And I always experience increased fatigue with showers.  

Addi

[Guitar_grrrl]

I have taken occasional tub baths in water that wasn't very hot.  It was just to warm up after being outside in cold, rainy weather.  Now, I just stick to quick, warm showers.  I get really itchy and unsteady after a shower, but once in my clothes, and things settle down, I'm fine.

[Lulu54]

JB - that makes me think of this one....... a couple years ago we were on vacation in Utah - lovely cabin on a Buffalo ranch outside of Zion Naitonal Park.  One of the selling points was a huge claw-foot champagne bubble tub - beautiful and very inviting.  I had a long soak and when I went to get out I couldn't get my footing.  No matter how hard I tried, my feet would not stay under me to push me out.  I drained the tub and still couldn't get up - DH and I alternated between laughing hysterically at my predicament and brainstorming how we were going to get me out of there- short of calling 911.  That was before my MS dx.

We were back there two years ago and stayed at the same place- it was so nice the first time,  I wanted to return.  I couldn't resist and did the fancy tub  even though this was after Julie's hot tub experience - but this time without the water as hot and I didn't stay in as long.  It was perfect- and then we discovered when we looked out the front door there were buffalo by the porch - they had wandered out of their fenced in area and were happily grazing wherever that wanted.  


If you're looking for a great place to stay, check out zmr.com - I would very much recommend it and the tub.

[johnniebear]

Nope- I have a whirlpool in our bathroom,  I won't even try because of ankle & back problems and  then after last summer the heat just kicked my butt - throw in the MS.

Just not a good idea- I would get my  rather large A#$ stuck  in the tub, unable to get out & my wife would have to call 911.  Then I know a few of those guys in town,  I could see them laughing after they get a  good peek at my  MR. Winkee..

Naaa,  not really, if I need help I could careless who helps me.

Johnniebear

[Lulu54]

My morning showers are usually pretty warm, but don't last long.  I often notice I'm a bit wobbly when I'm done and blow drying my hair on top of that can make me a bit wonky.  Most noticeable to me is the bouncey vision problem.  Fortunately it returns to my normal in a short bit of time.

The hottub is pretty much off limits for me.  I told your story to our swim group two weeks ago when a bunch of them wanted to sit in the spa after exercising.  Not all of them listened.  Last week one woman told me she should have listened and it took her until Thursday to completely recover.  It is a mistake she said she won't repeat but it sure felt good at the time.

I don't do baths anymore because getting out of the tub is very awkward and perhaps even dangerous for me.  I miss those long soaks.

Lulu

[jujuminx]

Oh, I still take hot showers and hot baths, just don't stay in too long. I couldn't do when I was in middle of relapse but now it's fine.  LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE them!!

I am having a nice afternoon, thank you Julie.

Julie

[MonkeyMom4]

I truly miss a long nice HOT bath. I haven't been able to soak in a tub for about a year now.

My body turns to a rubbery lead when I take a hot bath, and yes it takes a couple days to recover.

I probably won't try it again anytime soon but if I do, I'll make sure my hubby is around just in case.

Limbolander
-Kelly