Temperatures

I have had so many people warn me about getting overheated, including a Dr. friend, but I don't really know much about the aspect of MS.  All I knowis I  have like hot flashes and I hate it and it makes me feel bad, sometimes even sickish.  It can get vey hot here in the summer too.  Even now I wear tank tops all the time.

If anyone has any information or where I can fnd it, i looked in the health pages but maynbe i looked in the wrong place.

Thanks

hugs, meg

[Jason732]

Hey Meg,
I've got issues with heat intolerance, but it usually only happens when I exert myself or when it's hotter than about 85° F outside.

Here's a link to an article that talks about MS and heat intolerance: http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/a/heat_intoleranc.htm

The problem that I experience is that when I get hot, some of my symptoms start coming back and it just wipes me out. I get exhausted in no time at all and I have to cool down before I'm able to do much of anything.

Hope this helps!

Jason

[meg321]

Yes, sounds like me, that is not good at all !!  I will go look it up.


hugs, meg

[meg321]

Tou know what, that probably explains why I hot showers wie me out. I have to shower a long time before I plan to go out.   Geez, i wondered why that happens.  Learn somethimng new everyday.

thanks, meg

[Jason732]

Oi, vey! Hot showers are _definitely_ out for me! If I take a hot shower I have to cool down for anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour before I feel better. That was one of the hardest adjustments I had to make early on because I was a hot-water enthusiast! Hot showers used to help ease back, leg and hip pain (I used to work on my feet for 8 to 12 hours a day) and hot tubs were so fun just to relax in after work with a with a beer and some friends while we watched re-runs of Cheers. Now, I take cool showers and I shudder at the thought of getting in a hot tub or going to the sauna at the gym.

There ways to handle it, like doing most of your outdoor activity early in the morning or later in the evening, using the A/C in your house and car and finding parks with alot of shade, parking your car in a garage or other covered parking and so on. I live in Utah where it gets up to about 100° F every day in the summer, if not worse, so I really have to watch it. You'll find ways to work with it, I'm sure. It just takes some time and you'll have it down-pat.

[Lulu54]

This was one of the questions that my neuro asked me on my first exam with him -  "what do you do if you're outside and get too hot?"  
I said "I don't ever let myself get too hot."

to which he asked
"What do you think you would do it you got too hot?"


and I answered
"I would go inside."

He was obviously looking for an answer that I couldn't figure out what he needed  because then he asked

"What if you couldn't go inside?"

and I said " I would find a shady spot and lay down."

he gave me that look like obviously we were getting no where with this and he moved on to the next question.

The next weekend we went to visit friends in South Carolina and we went for a walk at a state park in 92 degree heat over rugged terrain.  About 10 minutes into the walk I finally understood what his question meant and when I got home I faxed him this answer -

"when I got overheated my right leg stopped working, the hotter I got, the problems grew worse.  By the time I got back to the car I could barely  start the car fast enough to turn on the a/c.  I could not feel my right foot, and didn't know that I had the gas pedal floored and really made a  racket when I started the car."

It took me several hours to recover from that spell of heat.

Lulu

PS the hot flashes is a totally different post - like when do we women know what's a hot flash and what is really a hot flash :-)

[GrannyJo6]

You can get cooling clothing that can help. I got a neck scarf that is filled with gel beads. You soak it in cold water for 5 minutes and it plumps up. You sort of squeeze a little of the excess water off and tie it around your neck. Really helps. Mine is a Bleu Bandeau brand that I got on a trip to Yellowstone, I think! They have a website as well.

[Lulu54]

GJ, I forgot about that too.  I had a neighbor who made me one of those a few years back.  She sewed the tube length of fabric and filled it with those gel beads that you can buy in the garden supply store that are  meant to help retain fluid in the soil.  The beads worked great.  I kept mine in the freezer and pulled it out when i wanted a quick chill.  I used it for several years, just about 5 years or so ago.  I believe I had the MS then, I was just not putting it togehter yet.  

They also sell cooling clothes - the cooling vest looks like a good idea.  

Lu

[meg321]

Wow, i am just starting to put this together, i suffered from heat before but this is so much worse now. I toally loved HOT showers and my hot tub satring at me on the deck.  What a bummer!!

I have used those little neck bands for years, i have them everywhere, Also used to wet towels and roll up ice in them and put them around my neck.  This year is going to be bad at work, i have no a/c in my office and I have always suffered in the summer. This year will be so much worse i think.

I could probably use that cooling vest.

I am so amazed at things I keep finding out with this disease.

hugs and thanks mucho, meg

[Eyesnlegs]

My family always thought I was just weird all these years as I need to keep cool and get very agitated as well as tired, return of symptoms etc. when I am hot.

It is a revelation to find out why and to know that others feel this way too.

Can I ask if anyone has problems with the cold too? I find that when I am tired I sometimes get very chilled and my whole body feels cold although my family say my skin does not feel cold.  I need to wrap up warm then and it takes a very long time to go away (sometimes an hour or two), with my feet and hands being the last to recover as you migt imagine. I have to be careful as if I wrap up too much it swings the opposite way and I start getting too hot with all that comes with that.

Wow I guess I must have a wonky thermostat - anyone else have that?

Pat

[goofysmom1]

I experience the same things you do with regards to the heat AND the cold.  I have often said that my thermostat is broken....

Hugs,
Chrisy
undx'd

[meg321]

Well, i can get real chilly too, but i think its when I am getting something similair to hot flashes.  But its not near as bad as beong hot.

Where do you find the cooling vests?

thanks, m

[Lulu54]

Meg,
If you google cooling vest for ms you will find product reviews and websites that sell them.  - Lu