To think there must be something wrong with me because I absolutely can not tolerate the UK heatwaves - anyone else?

[Saywhatnowhey]

I am 53 and in perimenopause so that is not helping at all but I have always been like this.

As soon as summer hits and these heatwaves come out of nowhere I feel dreadful. I have never been able to tolerate either cold or hot weather at all, even when I was younger. As a child I preferred winter over summer so I could cover and layer up.

Where I live in the UK it is often the most hot and humid weather during the summer months and it makes me feel so physically unwell. I have some existing health issues but none that are related to temperature intolerance so no idea why I get like this. It's only 9.30am and I have already had to sit down with my neck fan on. Just hanging out a few loads of washing and tidying up the kitchen has left my heart racing, my stomach churning (I do have IBS which gets worse in the summer) and I feel so nauseous (I always feel so sick in the heat). Other than pace and fan myself there doesn't seem to be a lot I can do to dampen down the ill feeling I get.

No one else I know is like this, everyone adores this heat and really looks forward to it, some saying the hotter the better but I just want to lay on my bed and lay with the fan on all day, I feel so lightheaded and weird.

I have mentioned this numerous times to my GP but my blood levels return ok so they don't have any suggestions.

Is it normal to feel so unwell during the summer months? Does anyone else get this?

I freeze during the winter, like to the bone frozen but I would rather take that over the summer because at least I can carry my trusty hot water bottle around with me and layer up. The sticky, humid UK summers make me want to rip my skin off. It really annoys me because I love warmth and sunshine - I could happily reside in September and October for the rest of my days, I am at my most comfortable in Autumn.

Tbh I don't think you need any underlying health conditions to be miserable in this heat..it pretty much affects everybody.
Even healthy people can get heat stroke, dehydration, joint pain, electrolyte imbalances, low blood pressure. Your body basically has to work twice as hard to keep you functioning!

I don't have any big health issues but I still find this heat makes me feel totally wiped out, not to mention my knees are aching like crazy.
Give me a nice crisp, sunny autumn day instead, please!😀

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BUm7zWWgS/

made me smile on the subject.

Totally agree. I worry so much about my poor cat in heat of 30 degrees plus. A couple of days ago (the hottest day so far at 35 degrees) she had heat exhaustion. Thankfully I managed to cool her down with damp towels and keeping a fan on her but it was so worrying. As for people who say 'Enjoy it while it lasts',what is there to enjoy?! I am quite happy with 24 degrees,but I just can't cope with it when it starts creeping up to the thirties.

I think it may be because we get no time to acclimatise, we go from 15 deg to 30 in the space of a week! I spent Monday and Tuesday hiding in the coolest room in the house with a fan, cool towel and at one point ice packs on my groin to try and cool down! It’s then too hot to sleep properly so you feel even worse through lack of sleep!

Something weird happened this week. I was able to tolerate the heat! For the first time in my life. I am putting it down to starting HRT 3 weeks ago. My body no longer prickled and I've been able to walk around without the fear of sweat.

I detest the heat. I don’t sweat I just turn beetroot. I’m moving to Yorkshire got to be cooler than Essex.

The problem in the UK is that nothing is built for the heat, you get no relief. Houses aren't air conditioned and trap heat, buses and the tube aren't air conditioned, many stores and schools get ridiculously hot.
It's not THAT hot in the UK, certainly not hotter than many places around the world in normal times. But in a country that isn't used ot these temperatures, certainly not in previous decades/centuries when a lot of the infrastructure was built, the heatwaves hit different.

It's raining, thank the lord. With my condition I can finally get back to normal.

Agree totally. Autumn is king.

Not looking forward to the 31-32c days. Two of those days are in my a/c office. Plus my car has it. It’s my chest that will struggle

It’s those days where it’s forecast to be 28/29c with thunderstorms. You can’t go out. Too hot to wear a waterproof. Can’t use a brolly just in case you get lightening.

My asthma has got worse since having Covid in March 2020 and July 2022. I was able to cope with the UK heatwaves before this.

I wonder if other posters had this problem too since getting Covid

Same, I work with people from all over the world and most of them moan about the heat here more than I do 😆

Heat is way worse. 125,000 heat-related deaths a year in Europe.