Has anyone successfully tackled heat sensitivity here?

[helpwithheatsensitivity]

It's that lovely time of year when the sun shines bright, and it brings joy to most people! It makes me so happy to see my parents and friends so happy, and I love the beauty of sunshine and bright long days. If you're reading this and feeling happy, that's absolutely wonderful!
Unfortunately, hot weather also tends to have a negative effect on me and it has always been this way for me. It makes me feel unwell, frustrated, and physically uncomfortable. I get sick and cry a lot.
Doctors have never been able to help with this. Unlike most people, I just don't seem to adapt easily to high temperatures, possibly due to a natural sensitivity to heat? (I also have a diagnosis of autism and sensory processing disorder, which could be related to my experience.)
Getting to the point of the thread, I wonder if anyone has encountered a similar situation and found a solution.

Are there any treatments or dietary changes that could help? Should I gradually expose myself to higher temperatures and endure the challenges that come with it?

I genuinely want to be a sun-lover, especially since temperatures are due to increase over the decades to come! And it'd be nice to have a tan and freckles again!

Don't know what happened to the formatting there, apologies.

What is your weight like if you are honest about it

I'm recovering from anorexia and have a bmi of 18.5 (I'm tackling this, honest)

Did it make you feel like this before your ED

Yes my whole life long. I've always been skinny TBH.

Like I said, I don't want to be like this so I'd love to hear from someone who had it and beat it.

I also know how angry people get about those who complain of hot weather, I spent ages writing and rewriting the OP 😁 I'm sorry if this has annoyed anyone

I find heat very difficult to tolerate. 20 degrees is lovely but much more than that and I start feeling irritable and sluggish.

I tolerate it by staying in the shade and wearing a hat! During the heatwave last summer, I found it too hot even sitting in the shade so I spent most of my time in my kitchen diner which is north facing with small windows and always cool. Nights were difficult but we bought a small air conditioning unit which we used intermittently to cool the room down.

Aside from finding ways to tolerate the heat- you have mentioned getting a tan. I know we all look and feel better with a bit of a tan but the skin cancer experts say there is no such thing as a safe tan and that is worth bearing in mind. Despite spending most of my time in the shade, I do still pick up some colour when I’m walking the dog etc. I would never sit in direct hot sun though or ‘sunbathe’. Melanoma is a right bastard.

If you’re biologically not equipped to deal with heat, then you’re not, and there’s not a lot that will change it! Welcome to the world of human diversity!

You can adapt, by making sure you don’t go out in the direct sun without a hat: making sure you drink a lot: ideally have a nice cool sheltered dwelling where you can hole up during the heat of the day in the afternoon. Also the best clothing is loose, natural fabrics in light colours. Take your ‘fashion’ tips from those who live in hot countries.

I'm the same OP, recently lost 3 stone, still hate it. Anything above 20 degrees and I hate it.

Oh I have an air conditioner, fans, stay in the shade, drink lots of water etc etc - I've learned to live with it mostly and to deal with occasional meltdowns too. I just feel a bit sad that I'm so strange and think it'd be nice to be able to enjoy it!

"If you’re biologically not equipped to deal with heat, then you’re not, and there’s not a lot that will change it!" ... sadly think this might be true, but you often read someone on here saying "I used to be like this until this happened", so I thought I'd ask.

Thank you so much to everyone who's replied, and solidarity to others who find it tricky.

To everyone else, hope you're enjoying the lovely spring! ☀️ my dad is full of such joy and happiness, it's lovely to see.

I get really panicked when I am too hot, have always hated it. The heatwave was almost unbearable last year, wanted to rip my own skin off. We have had air conditioning put in in one room and even having done this has alleviated some of my anxiety about future heatwaves. We all have different thermostats and comfort levels, roll on Autumn I say!

I’m the same. I hate sun and hot weather, my ideal temperature is less than 18 degrees.
What’s worse is the sound of fans and air conditioning units, cannot abide the noise the make. I’d rather die of heat than listen to a fan. I end up just staying in my cool dark room as that’s where I happiest during the summer months

Stay in the shade, sun hat, sunglasses, thin cotton floaty long sleeved shirts and wide cotton trousers, factor 50 spray.

I also take anti-histamines if I have to go on a sunny holiday as it helps with the prickly heat rash.

@WatermelonPink oh I hate them too, they add a low level stress feeling don't they? I live in noise reducing headphones all year round, the Sony ones are brilliant, but even these don't remove the hum.

If I'm honest, I read your title and thought - yeah, I did to a certain extent - used to burn really easily and get prickly heat, now I tolerate the sun really well. But that’s not really what you’re asking. I’d second the person who said this sounds like you’re not biologically set up to deal with heat and there’s not likely to be much you can do to change that fact, really… I’d just try and minimise exposure, and make it as tolerable as possible for yourself with good sunglasses/hats/air con/etc too.

@YouveGotAFastCar how did you do that though, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm definitely not suited for the summer. Hate the heat and being in hot, direct sun for more than a few minutes makes me feel ill. Can also have photosensitivity skin reaction. 18C is about the maximum I'm happy with.
I live in Scotland, so it's usually not a problem.
There must be a genetic link, because my daughter is the same.

Wow. Just wow. 🙄

I think it’s about being acclimatised to warmer weather. Right now, for me, it’s hardly even warm. It’s taken me years of living in England to begin to understand that there are people who genuinely hate even warmish weather, forget about actual heat. If you had grown up in a hot climate you might feel differently?

The op asks what she can do about feeling uncomfortable in heat

you don’t think relevant to ask weight. As in… if obese, losing weight would be the likely first bit of advice you’d give

🙄

but nope, given your sensitivities around weight, you do the mumsnet (shudder) “wow just wow”

let me guess, you’re one for “no is a complete sentence” and “go for a spa weekend Op”

" If you had grown up in a hot climate you might feel differently?" Possibly! Unfortunately I can't re-grow-up 😁

I wonder if the thing that lets normal people acclimatise could be broken inside me? But like I said I'd love to be wrong and hear from others who've fixed this.

@GiveupHQ I didn't hear the weight question as offensive myself because I know it's relevant (and also weight is something I obsess about 😬) but looking back it was worded a bit bluntly and may come across as rude? I get this sort of stuff wrong all the time myself too, tone is so hard online.

“Looking back”

so when you first read and responded was taken in the spirit in which it was meant.

only afterwards and a sensitive poster raising it… do you think blunt!

go with your first and your personal response as was correct

No I'm really glad @MrsSucculent replied.

I feel disgustingly overweight all the time and in total honesty your comment has made me think of nothing else except losing weight again since you wrote it - so even if I didn't think it was a rude thing to enquire about as such, I'm glad that someone's made me consciously think it over again.

My ED isn't on you of course. I think I'll do the sensible thing and log off for a bit and go and distract myself.

I'll check back though if anyone else has any other tips for stopping heat sensitivity - thank you in advance for anyone who does.

I grew up in the tropics and also lived for 14 years in Spain. I don't like heat and can't take direct sun but warmth and shade is fine.

As I say, you didn’t remotely think this until raised by another poster. Go with wheat you first thought as that was my intention… info gathering to give advice if you were to say… morbidly obese. You are not. So weight not relevant

I've always struggled in the same way. I'm 99% sure I'm autistic and I'm also going through perimenopause. The only way I can cope with this time if year is to dress in light layers and stay as still as possible during the hot afternoons.