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!

My son suffers from adhd

Really struggles with heat

and applying suncream…. Basically his worst nightmare

Just a somewhat hopeful bump as we move into the hot days again

(Again, I hope the sun lovers are having a lovely time!!)

Well, good luck to my fellow sufferers in the next few days. I've stocked up on water and got the air conditioner ready to run. Having said that, I'm going to try and delay using it, with the theory that maybe hiding from the heat makes it worse?

Yesterday I purposefully spent the evening getting too hot (and having several really horrible meltdowns, haven't done that for a long time). This morning I'm out for a long walk in the sunshine and it's deeply unpleasant, I feel really panicky and unwell, but I'm trying to push through.

If I CAN reprogramme myself or succeed in any small way I'll report back for others looking this up in future.

I use a neck fan you charge up and a cool spray. I have a cool shower as soon as I get into the house to cool my core down. I wrap an ice pack around one leg and the opposite arm for bed to keep my blood running cool for sleep. You can get gel cool pads to wear around your wrist, that works the same way as running wrists under a tap.

I don't want to be a sub worshiper though.

Yy to cold showers! Or running wrists under the cold tap.

I have turned some cooling towels into wrist bands too which you can keep damping down.

I have several of those "chillow" cooling pillow pads which you can get from Amazon - I can highly recommend them for a bit but once they've warmed up they're useless, so you need a few to rotate them.

My final tip is freezing grapes, they're wonderfully cooling and not quite as flavourless as ice or high-calorie as ice cream!

I agree.

Also,

Natural fabrics - cotton is best for staying cool. - Also Lower necklines, looser sleeves, cotton skirts are cooler than trousers or even shorts. Cotton underwear.

Cool showers when at home. At home, celing fans to keep you cool. Quite cheap to run and they really help. Also create an airflow in your home if you can - cross ventilation helps.

I hate the heat but live in a hot country. (Winters are good). The most effective cooling method is a swim at the beach. 20/30 minutes will get rid of that warm skin feeling and keep your skin cool for at about 3 hours after. I realise this is pretty niche advice if you don’t live near a beach.

Keep icy cold water in your fridge and use your ice cube trays. Carry a thermos full of cold water.

Cool wet cloth washer on the back of your neck at home. Calms the vagus? nerve or something.

Sit under a lovely leafy tree in the park. Trees are natures air conditioners.

I hate the heat obviously. I don’t have autism but I have sensory issues. Heat, too much light, rough clothes/seams (that sort of stuff) makes me uncomfortable and stressed.

Oh wow I'd love to live near a beach @Morestrangerthings! I guess that's not far off a cold shower of course.

It's interesting that you live in a hot country but still haven't quite adapted!

Are you eating enough salt as well? You need to keep your blood pressure up. More water than you think as well. In lots of hot countries it's common to be able to buy salty soft drinks.

I was a bit like this but it's an occupational hazard for me as I have to travel and live in hot countries for work. In most hot countries people do not 'enjoy' the heat- they hide from it. Take your walk very early or very late, stay in the shade, have several cool showers a day. Have you tried a gel sunscreen? Much less cloying.

On very hot days do not feel bad if you cannot accomplish much. It's normal! Baking in the sun like brits do is not.

UV tops etc for swimming as well. Keeps the sun off and avoids sticky cream.

@MerryMaidens oh that's interesting, I have low blood pressure (well, low-ish? My last checkup was 102/51 and that was when I was pretty anxious at the doctors which may have affected it).

I do add salt to things but will try increasing that in the next few days and see if that helps - thank you!

My youngest has always struggled in hot weather and it's normal for her to have a breakdown at the end of a hot day. Now she's a teenager and trying to keep up with her peers, I think she's possibly going to make herself worse.

Im autistic and feel the same.

Various things - sheets in plastic bag in the freezer.
Air con as exposed to air fan. Cool pillow things. Keep very hydrated but also take on salt and sugar.
clothes on is better than naked. Audio books.

keep cool all the time - curtains closed 24/7 not open then shut. Decompress in the evenings. Take your activity level from black labs - in the summer they lie on cool floors and don’t move !!

Autism, sun burn easily, get hives from heat or even hot showers.

I have air conditioning. I keep the curtains drawn.

When I have to go out for any length of time in the summer heat and sun, I wear a high spf or even spf clothing. I wear big hats. Sometimes I carry an umbrella. Anything to avoid feeling so sick.

Solidarity to fellow sufferers! ❤️

I made it to 2pm earlier drinking cold water and frozen snacks. Then although I felt very "calm" throughout, my heart rate kept rising and just started racing when I wasn't doing anything. I began to find it slightly hard to breathe, feeling like there was no oxygen in the air. It kept going on so I had to sit very still in front of the air con for about 40 minutes and do lots of deep breathing for a long time to feel better.

That MUST have been anxiety, right? But without me consciously feeling anxious or thinking anxious thoughts, it was a very strange experience.

@WhoWants2Know it's a nightmare isn't it - do try to remind her to drink a lot! I got heatstroke a few times badly as a teenager because I was terrible at remembering to drink.

Do you actually feel unpleasantly overhot, OP?

unwell, frustrated, and physically uncomfortable. I get sick and cry a lot
none of those = "I feel too hot"

it'd be nice to have a tan and freckles again
when did things change, what all was going on in your life when you went from someone who tolerated hot weather better to how you are now?

I used to be an always too hot person, became a person who over-feels the cold, but I had to learn to tolerate hot weather before so have lots of tricks. Just not sure you're saying you actually feel too hot.

That's a very thoughtful question, thank you for being kind and asking. I think it's both feeling hot and the sensations I've described but I also know I struggle to describe things very easily.

I know I was very freckly as a young child and I also burned incredibly easily. I know I refused sunscreen or appropriate clothes which drove my mum half-mad.

I think I stopped going outside as much when I hit puberty; I developed very fast, and just didn't fit in with the boys anymore. I became very self-conscious and wore big baggy jumpers everywhere, had heat stroke a few times as a teenager (probably not helped by the clothes) and once ended up in hospital from it.

Thinking about it, as an adult I enjoy things like hot showers and intensive exercise but only when the air is cold and I can cool back down again.

When the air temperature shoots up, it's like I just lose the ability to regulate everything and have massive meltdowns which last for ages.

(Apologies, by the way, to anyone annoyed me with obsessing endlessly over this.)

could you try cold showers maybe? meant to help with all sorts of things.

I have a small spray bottle, which I use to spray myself with cold water when I feel the need to cool down.

I feel instant relief, its so simple yet I find it most effective, especially during heatwaves 34°C and over.

I have not used it yet this year so I think my tolerance for heat is improving.

Search £ stores or online shops for spray bottles as this may help.

It sounds like stress rather than anxiety, it could be a sensory overload thing.

Oh... just realised my response before deleted itself as I hadn't sent it when I went to bed last night I was going to say that I have ADHD with sensory issues and suffer similarly. I've learned to cope a bit better since I moved somewhere that gets to 30-33 in summer so just struggling through the 3 hot days isn't an potion.

The stress/overload that you feel may be because it's so constant. If I can keep my house at a comfortable temperature, then I only have to experience heat when I leave it. When I do leave it, I try to stick to places which are indoor/temperature controlled, or if outdoor, near trees, water or higher ground (up hills etc) I also avoid the hottest parts of the day - being outside in the evening is nice. Sleep in the afternoon if possible, or just hibernate in my cold house :D

To keep the house comfortable, you need something solid to block the sun on the side it's strongest, preferably wooden or metal blinds/shutters on the outside of the windows, but you can also use cardboard on the insides of the windows as a makeshift solution. Also, keep the windows and doors closed as soon as the air temperature starts to climb in the morning. This keeps hot air out. You can open them all again when it's cold in the evening (sometimes not until after midnight, which is where the early mornings/afternoon siesta/evening routine works well). When we lived in a rooftop apartment where it was over 30 degrees inside, I used to get this stress feeling, need to sit in cool baths etc. But now that we can often keep it cooler inside I don't have this feeling any more and can cope with a little bit of heat when we go outside to do things.

Lots of autistic people are hypermobile/EDS and it often comes with difficulty with regulating body temperature. So when I get too cold/hot I cant increase/decrease my internal temperature very easily. Also look up POTs. One of my kids is the same. Nothing can be done about it medically.

OP I suffer like you with the heat. And no I don't think trying to push through to conform is a good idea.

You have already been hospitalised once.

The English obsession with being outside in the sun is bizarre. The phrase - only mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun- is a very old one!

How you feel in the heat is valid and real. I think you should adapt your environment around you to suit your body and constitution.

So, floaty clothes, in the shade, big hat, water spray (,it's like making your own personal cloud) wet hair.

In fact I think a water spray is the only thing that gets me through most summers. It instantly cools the air around you and your skin.

Good luck with today. And definitely do NOT go for a walk in the heat

Wow that's really interesting!
I just can't cool down. I've always felt like there's something in my brain that does temperature regulation is broken. Maybe it is!
What does EDS and POS mean?

I don't know what has already been suggested- no time to rtft!

A couple of thoughts- it's hard to adjust in the uk because the weather is so variable. I lived in the tropics for a couple of years, and you adjust- the chemistry of your blood changes, it's thinner. In the uk, as soon as that starts it gets cold again!!

What helps me is being cool and covered-
Long thin clothes.
Avoid sunscreen and hats- that makes me hot and sweaty.

Use thin scarves- dip in water and wear them around the neck or over the head and shoulders for really speedy cooling/heat protection. Wet your hair.

Drink drink drink.

Basically keep yourself slightly damp inside and out!

Talcum powder in your creases- under arm, elbows and knees, inner thigh.

I (and my kids) get prickly heat and sun rash, and queasy sick headachey vomitous if it's too hot, and all the above help. You can cope with it, honestly!

From childhood right into my 30s I hated the heat, sun burn and heat rash used to plague me. Now I'm much older my body has done a weird U turn and I can't stand the cold, and can't get enough heat, but it's nothing I've done, and I agree your biology is your biology.... although I wonder if hormones play apart.
Sorry OP, I can't really help, I don't why I've become far more heat tolerant...I mean don't get me wrong you wouldn't catch me out for a run in the midday sun, that's an early morning activity, but I don't feel sick or get the headaches I used to in my 20s and 30s nor do I get heat rash and I can still burn, but nothing like as easily as when I was younger. By far my worst summer was when I was preggars with DD, and I really struggled with the heat and horrible swollen ankles, after I had her, it was like a switch got flicked and I haven't had an issue with heat since. but the cold, urgh it causes me horrible physical pain in my extremities.
I totally feel for you though, and I'll keep fingers crossed it cools down a bit for all those struggling with the high temps, after all I can put on a jumper, it's harder to cool down I think, than warm up.