The recent heatwave has caused a lot of people to get sick or even die. Vertigo can be one of the side effects of the extreme heat.
So, OK, we're idiots. To escape the heat of Georgia, we decided to go to Alabama. That's North, right? Well, we had fun, kayaking in the 95 degree sun and 95% humidity, as well as laying in the sun by the pool while Mark recovered from his skin cancer episode.
Like I said, we're idiots.
After a couple of weeks of this, Mark woke up and went, whoa. I wrote before about vertigo and how I got it while in our old camper. Since then, Mark has decided to get it, too, and I had to cajole him into doing the Epley or Seamont maneuver. When the whole world feels like it is spinning around, the last thing you want to do is spin around. But it does work. And drink lots of fluids, too. For some reason, when you get vertigo, you become as hydrophobic as a rabies victim.
He is slowly getting better, but we kept thinking, what caused this? Vertigo is a problem with the inner ear, and dehydration can be one cause of this problem - or make it worse. At first, I was convinced he had CoVid and I got a few test kits (thank you, Obamacare, they were free!) and the came back negative for both of us. As best we can tell, it was likely heat exhaustion, which can take a while to recover from. Sitting in the hot sun, dehydrating, not drinking enough water - it can happen to anyone. If you are drinking any kind of alcoholic beverage, it dehydrates you further.
And therein lies the problem - many people go out in the hot sun and then get thirsty. What better way to quench your thirst at the beach than with a cold beer, or a wine spritzer, or a margarita? So many people do it. We had friends in Pompano Beach who would go out on their boat with suitcases of lite beer, iced down in a cooler the size of a child's coffin. They drank prodigious amounts of the stuff, all day long, in the hot sun, apparently without ill effect.
Apparently. The problem with alcoholic beverages is that your body wants to expel the poison that is alcohol, so the kidneys go to work filtering all that out - along with a lot of water - and after a beer or two, you have to go pee. So you go and now you are dehydrated and thirsty and you think, "Gee, I'll have another beer!" and the process repeats.
We met a guy at one campground who told us his theory of beer drinking: hold it in. He said that if you do that, eventually the urge to pee goes away and you don't become dehydrated. "Once you open the drain plug," he said, "you'll be peeing all night!" I am not sure this is sound medical advice. Sounds more like a sure-fire way to get a kidney stone. Maybe that is why people from dry climates get them - they are holding it in.
A better approach is to not try to hydrate with alcohol, but try water instead. Stay out of the sun (use sunscreen anyway), and don't stay out in the heat for more than a half-hour to an hour at a time. There is a reason hot weather feels so uncomfortable - it is your body telling you it is in distress. And exercising in the heat? Forgetaboutit!
Anyway, in the hills of Missouri (home of drivers worse than Massachusetts, and that's saying a lot!) the weather has cooled off. It was in the 60's last night and only slowly staring to rise in the morning. Mark is feeling better and his appetite has come back (he stopped eating for a day, as the dizziness made him want to power-vomit). Better yet, he isn't dizzy anymore. We were kind of fortunate in that during this episode, we were in a full-hookup KOA in Kentucky for a couple of days, and it poured rain the entire time, so it wasn't like we were missing out on too much. I got the oil changed on the truck.
RVing or vacation travel in general can be a crap-shoot. It can rain, it can be too hot, you can get sick, your car can break down, you can lose your wallet, you can get robbed. Shit happens, as they say, and some folks go running for the safety of home the moment it does. But of course, all the things that can happen to you at home can happen on the road, and the secret is to roll with the punches, to the extent possible. Anything short of a hospitalization (and actually, I went through that with a diverticulitis attack in Alexandria Bay, NY and we kept on going!) or wrecking your rig is really no reason to give up.
We're lucky. Some people get vertigo and never get rid of it. My heart goes out to them. Imagine being dizzy all the time, unable to read a book, use a computer, or drive a car - and being nauseous all the time. Forever. The first time I got vertigo and read this online, it scared the crap out of me. Suppose this is the new normal? Fortunately for me, a few applications of the Seamont maneuver and I was back in business - but not without suffering for a day, first.
Of course, vertigo is just another one of God's little life lessons. You realize, as you get older, than you take your body for granted - you assume good health is a norm. Once you get sick, it becomes abundantly clear that feeling well is a huge deal - the most important thing in life - and suddenly your life priorities become rearranged. Having "nice stuff" becomes secondary to having life security.
Our ancestors understood this well as they were probably sick most of the time. Why do you think a traditional greeting was, how are you today? or other inquiries as to your state of being. It was because, back then, being well was the exception, not the rule, and if you read the biographies of famous historical figures, you realize they were in pain, much of the time.
We are fortunate - or were - to grow up in a postwar era where we were all vaccinated - or were - and didn't suffer from things like polio (as FDR did) or other childhood diseases like chicken pox. Today, we have a host of new illnesses to suffer from and some of the "oldies" are making a comeback, thanks to a blithe ignorance of the realities of human health. People who live amazingly healthy lives, thanks to medical science and vaccinations are deciding that since they are so healthy, their kids don't need to be vaccinated. What a shame - the gift of heath, squandered because they read something on Facebook.
I digress. Or did I? If you are feeling good today, appreciate it. Because that feeling won't go on forever, and as you get older, you will experience more and more pain, staring with muscle aches and progressing to joint aches and arthritis. This is not a possibility but an eventual reality. And say "hello" to the crickets in your ears, known as tinnitus. Yea, you'll get that, too, particularly if you went to a lot of loud rock concerts or just listen to your iPods at high volume.
How are you today? Super! Thanks for asking!.
