Sleepie's Summer Support Thread
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 97,596
Congrats on seven months sober! 
The heat here in Ohio is hard to take also. I asked my brother to put in my two window a/c units yesterday cause it got so bad. It helps keep the house a bit more tolerable. Going outside is horrible.
The heat here in Ohio is hard to take also. I asked my brother to put in my two window a/c units yesterday cause it got so bad. It helps keep the house a bit more tolerable. Going outside is horrible.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 10,660
Originally Posted by sleepie 
What do you do Hawkeye, do you take cover in AC? This is no way to live, hopping in the shower several times or sitting around in wet clothes in front of a fan. I am sober only because I am afraid of kindling. It is the only reason I have not drank. God knows I have been pushed beyond what I can take.
from cold / hot hot / cold not easy anyway.
Oddly I have found doing limited"sweaty activities" like gym or hot yoga and then showering after
have helped my system, which was compromised from heat collapse when younger, get adapted somewhat.
I'm careful but I started doing that last year and it has helped
me get from parking lot to building, carrying stuff in from car, etc.
which used to really make me sick.
I know you've endured a lot and I'm also afraid of kindling and the really bad reaction last time I relapsed,
so I've got your back there and understand that fear as well.
Use it to keep you sober momentum, even though things suck right now.
Like trach says, Fall is coming and you are closer to a year than a Day 1 now.
You've really made such a strong effort with being sober despite everything.
Some days lately when I wake up my sober date is all that keeps me going, and it is the thing I accomplish for that day.
My sober date is close to yours--I will have seven months in just three more days.
You aren't alone. We are here for you.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 40
Originally Posted by sleepie
For all those who once drank their way through many a summer... and for those who are sent into hiding at the first hint of heat.
Was ill yesterday from the heat, still shaky and weak today.
I want this to be my "cool" place.
This is my first summer in years that I am sober and also not even a benzo.
Was ill yesterday from the heat, still shaky and weak today.
I want this to be my "cool" place.
This is my first summer in years that I am sober and also not even a benzo.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,614
I am close to 7 months but won't actually be til the 21st.
Hawk what you said really caught my eye because I had a bout of heat illness 4 entire years ago and have been even more sensitive to the heat since then. Would you mind telling me what happened when you were a kid? I mean everything I read said recovery from heat sickness in a day or 2 but I have never felt the same and just go into a panic at the thought of it happening again, since it can kill you. Everyone else is like "Summertime!" And I am like... "Possible death time for several months".
Hawk what you said really caught my eye because I had a bout of heat illness 4 entire years ago and have been even more sensitive to the heat since then. Would you mind telling me what happened when you were a kid? I mean everything I read said recovery from heat sickness in a day or 2 but I have never felt the same and just go into a panic at the thought of it happening again, since it can kill you. Everyone else is like "Summertime!" And I am like... "Possible death time for several months".
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 10,660
I often got overheated as a kid as I worked for riding lessons in a barn
because we couldn't afford to pay for them, so I'd clean stalls and carry feed bags,
groom horses, walk out to pastures to bring horses in, ride for hours, clean tack,
etc. all in very hot humid conditions and I rode in shows sometimes 3 or 4 horses
in a single jumping class and would often get sick and dizzy.
Event riding, fox hunting, cross country things plus track and trail running
were other high-intensity sports I did in the heat and would often throw up
or have to lie down and cool off with ice, or jumping in a pond or horse trough.
Worst time was a Summer in Lexington KY training with a famous person
as a working student and had seven horses to care for--
cleaning stalls, sweeping barn, cleaning tack, etc. in screaming hot weather.
Horses even had fans on their stalls but we didn't.
And we had to dress in boots and breeches to look good for rich clients.
I wanted to participate, and had to be tough as nails since I took care of other
people's horses, but in the end I went home two weeks early as I was seriously
ill due to heat with headaches, rashes, nausea, etc. and I'm sure I was dehydrated much of that time.
The finishing point for me was years later planting twelve large pine trees and their giant root balls
some 20 years ago on my own in Summer. Passed out at some point and wasn't I the same after that--
couldn't tolerate hours of heat any longer without feeling sick and dizzy.
That's how it was until last year when I started training in my garage gym with
no AC and working out hard. Rivers of sweat would come off me and I'd drink
ice water and sit in front of fan after workouts, but gradually I adapted again
and now I can work my tail off in the heat pulling weeds, digging, etc. and
feel OK with adequate water and frequent showers / cooling off periods.
I also do a hot yoga class weekly and that is another place I am adapted and
I actually stand over the heaters to sweat more for that 11/2 hours.
I drink ice water, shower, and cool off after class and it seems to also
have helped me get better in terms of tolerating heat for periods of time.
Hope this helps.
because we couldn't afford to pay for them, so I'd clean stalls and carry feed bags,
groom horses, walk out to pastures to bring horses in, ride for hours, clean tack,
etc. all in very hot humid conditions and I rode in shows sometimes 3 or 4 horses
in a single jumping class and would often get sick and dizzy.
Event riding, fox hunting, cross country things plus track and trail running
were other high-intensity sports I did in the heat and would often throw up
or have to lie down and cool off with ice, or jumping in a pond or horse trough.
Worst time was a Summer in Lexington KY training with a famous person
as a working student and had seven horses to care for--
cleaning stalls, sweeping barn, cleaning tack, etc. in screaming hot weather.
Horses even had fans on their stalls but we didn't.
And we had to dress in boots and breeches to look good for rich clients.
I wanted to participate, and had to be tough as nails since I took care of other
people's horses, but in the end I went home two weeks early as I was seriously
ill due to heat with headaches, rashes, nausea, etc. and I'm sure I was dehydrated much of that time.
The finishing point for me was years later planting twelve large pine trees and their giant root balls
some 20 years ago on my own in Summer. Passed out at some point and wasn't I the same after that--
couldn't tolerate hours of heat any longer without feeling sick and dizzy.
That's how it was until last year when I started training in my garage gym with
no AC and working out hard. Rivers of sweat would come off me and I'd drink
ice water and sit in front of fan after workouts, but gradually I adapted again
and now I can work my tail off in the heat pulling weeds, digging, etc. and
feel OK with adequate water and frequent showers / cooling off periods.
I also do a hot yoga class weekly and that is another place I am adapted and
I actually stand over the heaters to sweat more for that 11/2 hours.
I drink ice water, shower, and cool off after class and it seems to also
have helped me get better in terms of tolerating heat for periods of time.
Hope this helps.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,614
Oh wow... a few days in the high 90's around the corner... and we are talking without even including the humidity- in a couple days we are predicted to have hot humid weather with a heat index of 110-115
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