Today’s post is brought to you by a very exhausted and depleted Kiwi.
The reason is as simple as it is obvious: we’re going through a heatwave. And it isn’t even remotely cute.
No, I don’t like summer. At all. It wasn’t always like that, mind.
As a kid, summer meant six weeks of holidays, playing outside until dark, pool days, being carefree and just enjoying life. As I grew older, I became less and less heat tolerant. My bedroom was under the rooftop, which didn’t exactly mean a lot of good and wholesome nights of sleep. In the year 2003, it got SO hot that I was about to melt, and that probably also fuelled my decision to fly to New Zealand in the summer of 2004, as they’d have winter then.
Little did I know or expect what the upcoming years had in store for all of us …namely, climate change.
Please don’t come for me now trumpeting, “But it’s SUMMER! It has ALWAYS been hot!” Yes, maybe. But not 37°C / 98.6°F at the end of June, let alone for several days straight. Back in the day, that kind of temperatures was the exception, not the rule, d’oh!
So yeah. Heat intolerance. Unfortunately also a maybe not that well known side effect of certain anti-depressants, especially SSRIs. I had been wondering why I became dizzy and dehydrated faster when it was hot, despite always having a bottle of water with me. Until a couple of years ago when I found a post about SSRIs and heat intolerance on instagram (see, social media can be a great tool for that kinda thing as well, fam).
And suddenly, it started to make sense.
Now throw in the more-likely-than-not diagnosis of POTS, and y’all will know how bloody hard it is to navigate summer. Not only do I sweat like a pig (no joke!), I also need to stay hydrated even more, and especially I need my electrolytes to counter the loss of those because of the sweating. Excessive sweating – even when it is not THAT hot – is yet another symptom of that motherfucker that is POTS. So don’t ever come for me and tell me I’d have to endure summer, because it’s always been hot and what-have-you. I dare you walk in my shoes for a while, when you dehydrate faster than you can keep it up, feel dizzy as heck, are close to faint because of that, sweat like nobody’s business, and all that jazz. See how long you will last. Trust me, that shit ain’t fun …at all.
The good news is that in the course of the years, I have adopted some skills to keep the worst at bay, but I am always glad when summer aka Hell on Earth is over.
So no, not everyone out there has to love summer because of all the sunshine, heat etc. (There was only one summer in recent years that I did enjoy, and that was “Top Gun: Maverick”- summer, kthxbye.) For some of us, especially those who are suffering from chronic illnesses, are on certain meds or whatever, summer is no fun at all anymore. It’s not just done with sitting in the shade somewhere, or hanging out at a lake or the pool to stay cool (rhyme not intended), as even that can be counterproductive.
It’s a full time job of avoiding triggers that can – and likely will – cause flares, (pre-)syncopes, dizziness, and all that. It’s about having fans running, staying inside in dark rooms during the worst heat, using cooling pads, and drinking. Lots and lots of hydration.
So whenever I say that I fucking HATE summer, this is why. It’s not about being Negative Nancy here, it’s just because my stupid body doesn’t function properly anymore.
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pic: Mood Weather Report (an older app that once was on Facebook)
Ocean Soul 