Posted by bluedog on December 9, 2002, at 23:06:21
In reply to Re: Gardening can be really physical!! » bluedog, posted by IsoM on December 9, 2002, at 14:48:42
> Gardening can be hard work alright! I'm pretty strong for my age (53) but I do have joint pain & I'm not that big a woman (only 120 lb) so when heavy work needs doing, I've got to call in some strong young guy to lift huge rocks, & dig in compacted soil. But there's nothing like working up a sweat with a cool breeze blowing. Because all SSRIs have made me much warmer, I need to work in the coolest part of the day in warm weather. Bluedog, have you found any of your meds have increased your body heat?
Hi Iso
Good to hear from you! I am still trying to get either a Yahoo or Hotmail email account up and running. I have tried and I've tried again everyday this week and no matter what I do I can't seem to get it to work for me!! Has anyone else had such difficulty setting up one of these accounts? Anyway, I'm going to get my brother to come over this weekend to give me a hand. He is an electronic technician and is a true computer "Wizz". Hopefully I'll have it up and running by next week :).
Regarding the ssri's. I have heard that the ssri's can affect the temperature regulatory systems in your body. I have a very close friend who also happens to be a qualified and registered psychiatric nurse. She herself went through a bout of depression and was on Zoloft for 4 years. She tells me that she had the opposite problem to you and she had difficulty keeping herself warm while she was on the Zoloft. However she was on the maximum therapeutic dose recommended for this medication!!!
Personally I have not had any problems on my current medications (20mg generic Prozac and 2.5mg Diazepam twice per day). However with my previous medication (Effexor XR) I definitely suffered from excessive sweating...usually at night. I used to suffer from horrible night sweats when on the Effexor and I would wake up with the bed literally soaked in a pool of sweat such as that I used to swap sides {and put my poor dog on the wet patch... LOL :) :) } You have probably guessed at this stage that I share my bed with a dog (or two..though the female seems to prefer her own space and will only join us on the really cold nights). Anyway because I used to get drenched in sweat I would go from overheating to suffering from chills from the wet sheets. Thank god the Prozac does not have this effect on me!!!!
NOW, having aired my above views I actually have another possible theory (or HYPOTHESIS as Larry prefers to say) about why you get so hot when gardening in the heat of the day and it does not have as much to do with the medications that you take but they may still contribute to your problem. My theory goes as follows:
I believe that the difference between you and me (disregarding any age and gender differences) actually relates to the CLIMATE in which you live. I have read articles that state that the metabolism between persons who live in hot climates actually differs to the metabolism of persons who live in cooler climates (I don't know how far north in Canada you live but you may live in an outright cold climate...The Yukon for instance????? or perhaps you live further inland away from the moderating effect of the sea on the climate????). The human body is an amazing adaptive organism and people living in colder climates literally have "thicker blood" and a more sluggish metabolism.(Don't ask me about the science on this matter)
I have personally experienced this difference from both sides of the coin. I currently have a very close friend who comes from a northern European country (where it snows and and the lakes freeze over in winter) staying in my beautiful city for a 6 month period. She arrived in the middle of our winter and while us locals were shivering and rugging up in thick wooly jumpers (sweaters) she was practically running around in summer dresses and wanting to go to the beach for a swim. However now that the weather is starting to warm up slightly she is suffering enormously from what she terms "stifling" heat and we all love to tease her about this. It's not even really that warm yet. Here's a sample of the current temperature in my city with a forecast for the coming days:
Current Temperature 30°C
Forecast Maximum 34°C
Hot. Windy.Relative Humidity is 18%
Barometer is at Q1018.7
Visibility is at 10+ kmForecast Min Max
Wed 19 37
Thu 18 29
Fri 14 26I have other friends who have migrated to Australia permanently and within a couple of years they also start feeling the cold during our winters and also enjoy the very pleasant summer temperatures that we get as their systems slowly adapt to the local climate, their metabolism changes and their blood "thins out"
From my own personal experience I lived 2 years in a Northern European country during my 20's and I was constantly suffering from cold (even the summers were more like our autumns in this country) What's more my SAD symptons were absolutely shocking and I hated the really short winter days where it didn't get light until 9.00am and it was already dark by 4.00pm and the sky was also so much lower in general.
So my thoughts on this matter is that the combination of the ssri you take PLUS actually living in a cooler climate creates the conditions in your body that make you overheat when you do your gardening in the hotter part of the day. I think that because in Canada you have shorter summers than in Australia that your body has less time to adapt to the higher summer temperature each season. I'd hazard a guess that you adapt more quickly to the winter cold...am I right???
Do you think that we should trouble Larry to perhaps give us a more scientific explanation for my hypothesis?
warm regards {no pun intented :)}
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021203/msgs/131184.html