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Sins, for niconicomuda

Heat exhaustion is quite literally your body getting too hot and Exhausting itself to cope. Heatstroke is your body Failing To Cope.

Heat Exhaustion signs include:

You get a headache that Will Not Go Away

You feel confused and dizzy (balance who? Idk her)

You don't feel hungry but you feel sick as well (this sucks and happens a lot in high heat so try and snack regularly)

Sweating and clammy skin like the kind that has people go "you're freezing!" because you've sweated so much you literally end up with a chill on your skin

Cramps. Feckin cramps. Arms. Legs. Stomach. They suck ass.

You have a heckin fast pulse or you're hyperventilating like you've just had a Scare

Your body temp is over 38°c (because you're literally boiling like a lobster in a pot)

You are Beyond Thirsty and no matter what you drink it Does Not Abate

If you end up experiencing any of these symptoms, or multiple, and you're in a hot/warm environment, then sit your ass down in the shade, get something to drink, and get a damp cloth on your head or a change of clothes that are cool.

Basically, stop what you're doing and give your body a chance to Not Keep Boiling

Heat exhaustion is NOT THE SAME as a heatstroke.

Heatstroke is So Much Worse™.

Heatstroke signs include:

Still feeling like utter shite 30 minutes after you sat your ass down, rested in a cool place, and rehydrated

Not actually sweating even though you really do feel like a lobster in a pot that has the heat up High

Your body temp is 40°c+ (which is bad btw, that's temp for causing your to pass out etc)

Hyperventilating/fast breathing or actual shortness of breath (I struggle with this because asthma so I'm always like "idk if I got this oops)

Feeling confused but in a like "I don't know what's going on, I can't think, I have no idea about anything, someone help me please I'm crossing into traffic and don't even realise" way

Having a fit/seizure because your body temp is so high your brain is Actually Getting Boiled In Your Skull 🙃 [upside down smiley emoji]

Passing out and not actually responding or waking up from a brief fainting spell (this is the Serious™ kind of passing out that has doctors going "oh shit, we need an IV STAT!" or whatever it is they say when Shit Is Going Down)

Heatstroke can be really dangerous if it isn't treated quickly so please don't ignore these signs. Right now, I'm in a cool environs, with hydration, and am avoiding moving and am gonna have a nap because I'm going very dizzy, can't focus properly, have a headache, and am only coherent here because I'm HyperFocusing on this post. I can't even understand words being said to me right now hence nap, hydration, and cool environs.

Some additional hot weather tips

If you have low blood sugar, but are having a hard time eating because you feel crappy from the heat, try sucking on some hard candy

If possible, after you get out of the sun/heat drink Gatorade or something similar to replenish what you've been loosing from sweating

When drinking water or Gatorade (no matter what you have it is important to stay hydrated!) it is important to drink slowly, even if you are very thirsty, because if you drink too fast the water might come back up

In hot weather, bandanas are very useful, even as a preventative measure, because you can pour some water from you bottle (or anything else) on them, and then put them on your head (as mentioned above) or neck. A few other areas help as well, like armpits, but I would personally recommend your neck.

It is not recommended to use a fan at or above 99°f or 35°c, because they can actually start to make the heat worse. (I know these are different temps, the recommendations come from different governments, 35°c is around 95°f, but this also depends on conditions like humidity, so just use your best judgement with this info)

Most importantly, if you think you are getting heat stroke call 911 or your equivalent, heat stroke kills several people each year, even in my area, where it normally only gets to 100°f for a few days each year

For fahrenheit users,

38°c = 100.4°f

40°c = 104°f

It's why it's so important to rest and keep hydrated when it's warm. I hope you eventually felt better and maintained your hydration levels with water and other fluids.

I had three days of feeling the after effects of heat exhaustion myself and felt like I had a cold, a constant headache, and random chills all at the same time as having a dry throat, not sweating properly, dizziness, and even muscle cramps from the rapid dehydration I experienced.

In general, to anyone who sees or reblogs this:

It's really important to take care of yourself, both immediately after you recognise you've got heat exhaustion, and in the long term. It can affect you for days after.

Please take care of yourselves aka TAKER:

Take breaks

Avoid too much sun

Keep hydrated

Eat regularly

STAY IN SHADE.

HYDRATE.

EAT IN EARLY HOURS AND LATE EVENING.

NAP WHEN YOU GOTTA.

There is a bunch of people who for a myriad of reasons (among them neurodivergence) struggle with drinking plain water, or have no access to safe water, and who cannot access any sort of isotonic drinks, because again, those are not a readily available thing in every country/place. So this entire "don't drink lemonade" thing ends up with a bunch of people not drinking enough at all.

Obviously alcohol is the exception (alcohol has the side effect of basically doing stuff to your kidneys that makes you less capable of retaining water in your body on the short term), and caffeine is a mild diuretic (= a thing that makes you pee more), do you need to be somewhat careful about caffeine intake, which applies to some forms of tea, coffee, coke, and energy drinks. Though usually it not big enough of a problem.

And, like, too much sugar intake is obviously not great, especially if you live in the US where instead of normal ass sugar they add the hellish shit called high fructose corn syrup to your drinks which is generally even worse on the body than normal sugar due to how the body takes in the sugar and such... But it is still better than not drinking enough. (Also: gatorade is in the end just a lemonade with some added electrolytes, and usually also comes either with about as much sugar as other lemonades or with artificial sweeteners that can create a bunch of other health problems for some people.)

So for the love of god: stop spreading the "only drinking water or gatorade counts" myth. Because that stuff is literally killing people.

If it is hot, you need to drink. Not alcohol. Alcohol is bad in the heat (it is also is bad without the heat, but worse in the heat). But otherwise: if it is liquid, it is good in terms of hydrating your body.

The problem, I think, with lemonade, is it probably depends on what you think of as lemonade. For me in the UK, lemonade is a fizzy pop that, whilst it may hydrate you, isn't all that healthy in the moment. Especially compared to sports drinks with electrolytes or water itself.

You're 100% correct tho that regardless of how much it may or may not hydrate you, if you have lemonade to drink then it's better to drink it than not to.

✨Electrolytes✨

Electrolytes are basically sugar and salts and you need them for approximately Yes of your bodily functions. In general you get them from water HOWEVER if you're sweating a lot you will lose them far, far faster than you will be able to replenish them by drinking plain water, and if you do try to regain them through plain water alone... well. You won't die but you won't have a hugely fun time (ask me how I know 🙃) and you WON'T be getting the electrolytes you need unless you drink so much water you'll end up literally sloshing and might give yourself water shock and you STILL won't be getting the electrolytes you need. Please. You can make oral rehydration salts with what you have in your kitchen, there's about a dozen posts going around of different Tasty Hydration Drinks throughout history, most pharmacies will stock flavoured tabs you can dissolve in water, and you can get sports drinks from supermarkets and petrol stations and gyms and those vending machines that seem to spawn in unexpected places.

OH ALSO YOU CAN GET ELECTROLYTES FROM FOOD

Even if you can't get/make a Proper Salty Drink but you can have juice and a bag of salty crisps? Congrats the salt on those crisps is going to the same place as it would if you drank it (although please note the WHO recommendeds about 3.5g of salt per litre of water when making up rehydration salts, so you want to be both eating plenty of salt and drinking plenty of water)