Have you been away at all this winter? It had been a while since I’d travelled, especially to anywhere hot, so it felt a bit strange, but comfortably familiar.
We recently visited the beaches of Mexico - our first family vacation! - and had such a great time. The sun and warm temperatures were consistent throughout our stay, and we relaxed a ton. Baby AB had a lot of fun with us, even though she knew she was out of her element and showed it in her clinginess. She had just gained firm footing with her walking and explored barefoot every day around the resort.
Part of AB’s clinginess involved nursing around the clock. I think she was also teething, which led her to awaken numerous times overnight to nurse back to sleep, as well as additional times throughout the day. Overall, my nursing time went up almost two-fold.
Knowing this, I was cautious not to dehydrate. But I wasn’t doing a good enough job. What I ended up with was something a lot scarier than sore nipples and broken sleep.
The Leadup
We spent the most time at the beach on our last full day. We walked by the water for a good 45 minutes in the morning, and mornings in Mexico are warmer than summer mornings here in Ontario. Also having been by the water, we didn’t notice how hot the sun was until we walked back to the chairs up by the resort. I wasn’t wearing a hat, either, but did have sunscreen on. Thankfully, AB had both.
From the moment we sat down at the beach after our walk, I felt parched. I drank about a cup or two of water, but we didn’t start rehydrating again until almost an hour later, at which time I was really dry. We had coconut water straight from the nut and packed it in for AB’s nap, for which she needed to be nursed to fall asleep.
Her nap turned out to be pretty short, so we decided to get back outside to the pool, leaving mealtime until later. I didn’t feel that great, thinking I was coming down with something having been up most nights with AB. While swimming - in the sun, I might add - I started to feel cold and decided to get out of the water to warm up in the sun. Bad idea.
While sunbathing, I had an urge to go down the water slide, which I hadn’t done yet and wanted to sneak in before going home. Man, was it fun and with a beautiful view! But, on the walk to and from the slide, I noticed my chest still felt tight around my diaphragm (something that started the day before) and my blood pressure felt low. I had to slow my pace down to make it there and back with peace of mind.
Quickly after, I needed food. I rushed us to a table at the poolside restaurant and had trouble waiting for the food to arrive before I felt like I needed to rest and get out of the heat. I felt like poop and my day was done. It was only 5pm.
Back at the room, AB ate and I packed up our stuff. I was running on what little adrenaline I had left. I put AB to bed on the boob, as usual, and forced myself awake to eat dinner, but found I had no appetite. I sat at the dining table with two blankets wrapped around me, shivering like crazy. I knew I was having heat exhaustion and potentially heat stroke.
Within the hour I had mustered eating some yogurt and a bit of rice, plus some more water. Still shivering like mad, I could barely get up and move to the couch. I sat there for another half hour trying to get the energy to go to bed. I knew I was in rough shape, but still thought I would pull an overnight recovery.
SIDE NOTE: I’ve had mild heat exhaustion (or stroke) before, but never this intense and not for a long while, so I wasn’t sure how bad it was in the moment. I failed to realize the severity of it.
That night, I was up feeding AB three or four times before morning, drinking water every time. I really had to pee upon waking, so I woke AB and took her to the washroom with me (something she does regularly now). I then drew the curtains in the bedroom where we slept, and realized how bright the sun was on my eyes. Everything turned yellow and I knew something was wrong.
SECOND SIDE NOTE: Because I had never had heat stroke so badly before, I had no clue what was happening to me in the moment. Naturally, as a mild hypochondriac, I thought I was dying.
The Main Event
I made my way to the door that partitioned our room from the main room where my partner slept on the couch, and asked him to come help me because I couldn’t see. I vaguely remember making my way to the floor against the open door and saying I can’t hear, but I’m not sure whether that happened before or after I lost consciousness.
LOST CONSCIOUSNESS!!!
Everything went from bright yellow to black in an instant. That’s something I’ve never experienced before, even when I fell on my back and was in excruciating pain (though I was close), and my recollection is fuzzy, but here’s what I do remember…
Waking up to AB crying and screaming while I’m hitting my head against the door coming in and out of consciousness, my partner asking me what I’m doing. (Apparently my eyes were open and he thought I was either playing with AB or potentially having a seizure).
Me saying, “What happened? I can’t hear.”
Passing out again.
Waking up to AB still crying and screaming while my partner is cradling my head to protect it from hitting the door again.
Me saying, “What the F*%#? That was so weird.”, and him laying me down on a cushion on the floor.
Once I was horizontal, I stopped losing consciousness. I was alert enough to know I needed medical attention, so we called the on-site team and got help right away. My blood pressure was 70/50…super freaking low…and instantly I knew I was in a pretty severe state of heat stroke, which was confirmed upon assessment.
Doc put me on a remedy of electrolyte beverages and had me put my legs up the wall to move fluids through my body. He checked me again after two and three hours, and thankfully by then I had become stable at 110/70 (my typical resting rate).
That day I had 7 electrolyte beverages before we arrived home and managed to stay out of the sun and heat for the most part as I recovered. Oh yeah, we also flew home that night.
Contributing Factors
The whole week leading up to this event was great. Until the last day, I felt wonderful, albeit a little tired due to the long nights with AB. Looking back, though, there were a number of contributing factors that led to my swift trip to blackout town:
My body moved from a place of cold (Ontario) to a place of great warmth (Mexico) in one day and was forced to auto-adapt for a week.
I had suffered a GI bug the week before we went away, which likely left me even more dehydrated than I thought.
I have been sub-clinically dehydrated for months. It all started (or was at least noticeable) immediately following labour and surgery with my Cesarean birth. Thank you meds.
I drank one small cup of regular coffee every morning with breakfast, something I hadn’t had regularly in a long while.
I wasn’t replenishing my electrolytes throughout our stay in Mexico.
I wasn’t eating regular meals like I did at home. Much like summers here, in the warm sun I didn’t have the appetite.
I was nursing almost twice as much in Mexico than I had been in Ontario. MAJOR FACTOR.
I was playing catch up with my hydration and knew I wasn’t hydrating enough with just water and coconut water throughout the day, but didn’t notice any warning signs until the last day, so I didn’t act on it as quickly throughout the week.
I drank filtered water all week, as I do at home, which can lack certain minerals needed to stay hydrated (funny, eh?!).
I got a little too much sun on my shoulders and arms a few days in a row, with the last day being the most offensive. Not a bad burn, but a little bit each day that culminated in a general redness.
Stress. ANOTHER MAJOR FACTOR. Being on vacation was a breeze, but getting us there and being the one who packed everything, arranged all the travel, maneuvered us through a foreign airport which only I had ever been through before, and taking care of a little one who didn’t want to leave my side, left me burned out.
WARNING SIGNS
I noticed a few symptoms that I thought pertinent to share here, in case you ever feel the same way and can repair yourself before getting to the state I was in at my worst.
tension in my diaphragm upon breathing and standing
noticeably parched in my mouth, consistently
soreness and sensitivity to light in my eyes
muscular fatigue without having stressed my skeletal muscles
not chilled, but feeling cold while in the sun (it’s a different feeling than with a flu-induced fever)
a bad headache that ran down my neck and intensified when I bent forward or twisted my head
the day before I passed out, I was urinating more than would be justified by how much I was drinking
What I’m Doing Now to Replenish & Rehydrate
After some assessment of my diet and some assistance from my ND, I’m now recalibrating my mineral and electrolyte stores in many ways. Here’s a list of things I’m trying and things I’ll be integrating as I build upon my personal protocol:
Drinking Ocean Sourced Aussie Trace Minerals 2-3x/day (20-40 drops at each dose) with reverse osmosis (RO) water to flood my cells with a vast array of bioavailable minerals and electrolytes.
In the morning, I’m drinking the above mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 tsp chlorella powder, and some coconut water to balance the flavours and add more minerals and electrolytes.
Taking tissue salts (3 different kinds, 4x/day) to help with rehydrating at the cellular level.
Eating adequate amounts of protein and healthy fats at each meal and snack, plus adding a greater variety of fresh fruit throughout my day (fruit has plenty of electrolytes, among other nourishing and protective qualities).
Integrating more clean organ meats, specifically grass fed/finished beef liver and heart, plus a desiccated organ supplement (I’m starting with Perfect Supplements’ Perfect Multi-Organs with liver, spleen, pancreas, kidney, heart, and thymus).
Taking digestive enzymes with all main meals to ensure all the goodness I’m supplementing with is being digested and assimilated.
Integrating meditation and deep breathing again (my body and mind miss it!).
Getting outside every day and moving my body with walks, yoga, Essentrics (obviously), and playtime with AB. Pumping fluids throughout my body - yeah!
Things I’m still working on that I know have an effect on hydration:
Sleeping more…way more. I’m trying to go to bed with AB 3 nights a week to start. Ideally, I’d go to bed with her 5-7 nights a week, but a girl needs some alone time before bed to do work, read, shower, or spend time with my partner and the dogs.
Decreasing my stress load:
Being away from technology as much as possible, or at least setting aside time frames where I’m sitting at my desk or am on my phone working instead of being on them sporadically throughout the day and into the night.
Being super present with AB. This lights me up and when I get lost in other things when we’re in the same room, my mom guilt turns on and I can’t focus on what I’m doing or enjoy my time with her, and I know she feels the same way.
Setting less deadlines for myself with my work.
Saying no a lot.
And the research and integration continues, because I know deep down that my dehydration really set off at childbirth. Not to mention I had just grown a fetus, which depleted a lot of my mineral stores. A lot happened to my body during childbirth, including taking copious amounts of medications for surgery and labour, not drinking much (if anything) during labour for almost 24 hours, and beginning around-the-clock breastfeeding. The more I learn, the more I’ll pass on…don’t you worry!
MY BEST ADVICE
Dehydration seems like a really simple concept - you need good quality water, minerals, electrolytes, and a body that can process and utilize all the good things you put into it. Plus, no offending factors that can dehydrate you, like medications or too many diuretics. But, when you layer on a lack of sleep, an increased donation of fluids and minerals to baby, a sudden change in environment, and an already existing dehydrated state from a recent gut infection, it gets much more complicated.
How do you know how much hydration is enough for you? Ideally, you never want to feel thirsty, lightheaded, constantly tired, weakened, and, for a lack of a better word, shrivelled.
There are many signs that can point to dehydration that aren’t as obvious, though, including being tired, feeling like your body just isn’t functioning at its peak (sluggish, muscle weakness, etc.), and increased body odour. (That last one is also one I was experiencing off and on during our trip).
I didn’t realize I wasn’t hydrating enough nor was I adding the proper nutrients to my body. After all my knowledge of health, I still wasn’t able to put the pieces together to know that electrolytes were what I needed. All it took was to get me out of my element to forget how to properly take care of myself. There were a lot of contributing factors to my incident and it was hard to grasp what was happening when I had been so focused on taking care of a little one all week. It was so easy to throw her on the boob when she got fussy, because I was tired of her getting cranky every time I put her down to eat a meal at the table.
In situations like this, prevention is always the best medicine.
I wasn’t paying attention to all the cues at ND check ups or from my intuition that told me I should be hydrating more often and differently. I left myself at a disadvantage and there was (almost) no way I was avoiding what happened by the time we arrived in Mexico.
As a nutritionist, I would have known how to help myself. But, as a mom, I feel like I’m relearning a lot of what I already know and in a completely different light. The context is very different, what with nursing, added stress, lack of sleep, and regular neglect of self care.
My best advice for other mothers out there is to become body aware.
Listen closely to your intuition when hints from the Universe and not so subtle ones from your MD, ND, or health practitioner tell you it’s time to take care of yourself. Not only that, act on them and learn to do so in a way that feels right to you. (This includes educating yourself on how becoming and being a mom affects your health.) Get to know your version of healthy and match it as best you can on a daily basis. Learning about and integrating healthy lifestyle practices can really help you feel comfortable in your own body when things go awry - once you know what you need to be doing to feel good now and in the long run, there’s no going back.
Have you experienced this or something like it before? Please leave a comment below, or reach out to me.