How Are You Coping With The Heat (uk)?

[Libby3781]

Hi all,

I hope you are all doing ok? I’m just wondering how are you currently coping with the heat?
Obviously, in the UK we aren’t used to having such heat last for as long as it is.

Is the heat effecting you’re blood sugars?? If so, what effect is it having?

What are you doing to be able to cope?

1. I’m making sure I’m drinking plenty.
2. Keeping a fan on in my bedroom overnight.
3. I also have a spray bottle I fill with cold water, so I can spray my face & neck during the night to keep me cool.

Please share any hints & tips you have to be able to cope in the heat? Thanks in advance

 

[steveis36]

Oooh never knew the heat could effect my bgs
Im drinking loads of water more for my ibs and to stay hydrated but to be honest even though the warm weather is nice im looking forward to a MASSIVE DOWN PORE

 

[Rachox]

Hi all,

I hope you are all doing ok? I’m just wondering how are you currently coping with the heat?
Obviously, in the UK we aren’t used to having such heat last for as long as it is.

Is the heat effecting you’re blood sugars?? If so, what effect is it having?

What are you doing to be able to cope?

1. I’m making sure I’m drinking plenty.
2. Keeping a fan on in my bedroom overnight.
3. I also have a spray bottle I fill with cold water, so I can spray my face & neck during the night to keep me cool.

Please share any hints & tips you have to be able to cope in the heat? Thanks in advance

I never thought I’d say this but I’m actually enjoying it! This time last year I was newly diagnosed, 2 months in, and much much heavier. I have been way over weight since the birth of my first kid, he’s now 22 and for a long time have hated hot weather. Having lost a chunk of weight I’m tolerating the heat well this year. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a fan in my bedroom but I have been keeping up my daily walks even in the heat. My bloods sugars last summer did go up when I was stressed by the heat, but so far this summer they have been stable and within normal limits.

 

[Deleted Account]

I refuse to complain about the heat.
It makes working from home a little difficult (my laptop overheated the other day).
But keeping the windows open and the curtains closed certainly helps.
I gave up with fans because they just move the hot air around.

As for diabetes - the biggest problem is that it is too hot to exercise apart from walking.

 

[porl69]

I do not complain about the heat.....6 months time it will be freezing cold
Not noticed any significant change in my BGs. Been sorting the garden out after work so there is my exercise sorted

 

[db89]

It has been too hot for me but then just as @porl69 doesn't complain about the heat I don't complain when the cold rolls in.
Seen a tendency for dipping BGs at times but nothing sustained or totally unpredictable for now. We've been able to ditch work attire for summer clothes (within reason) in our office so that was a perk.

 

[Libby3781]

I’m not complaining about the heat.....I love the sun and hot weather.

I’m just interested in how people are coping/reacting?

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @Libby3781
Just to be contrary it is winter Down Under and I am coping well except for a viral infection/sinus etc.
But come November onwards we get 35 degrees + here in Adelaide. Insulin doses get cut back 20% or so. The house gets closed up, fans going and as I explained on another site we do the clothes washing and hang it up inside on a rack and blow air through it = clothes dryer and evaporative cooling.
A parked cars here in summer can reach 50 degrees C + inside. If I have to be out in 35+ degree day my spare insulin goes in two cooler bags with ice and my insulin pump is insulated too.
Aussie sun cancer slogan: Slip (on a shirt), Slop (on some sunscreen). Slap (on a hat), Seek (shade/shelter). Slide (on sunglasses) and i add Sip (on lots of water). And to be a jokster Watch out for SSSSSSnakes. ( they are so busy keeping cool) !!

 

[Robbity]

How many of you are old enough to remember summer 1976?

I can't cope with the heat now as well as I used to be able to as I've got a nice insulating layer of fat on me which I certainly didn't have then - but I can still manage heat much better than I can now manage cold... And humidity is far worse than dry heat IMO.

I've had a couple of weeks when the heat and a minor bug definitely affected my glucose levels for the worse, but I seem to be back to normal now!

Robbity

 

[JohnEGreen]

I cope with the heat very poorly it does affect my diabetes but MG is severely affected by high temperatures as well so very hot days I do not enjoy as much as I used to I remember 1976 very well hot days where no problem for me then.

 

[LooperCat]

I can’t tell you how much I hate hot weather, makes me feel really unwell, even when my glucose levels are stable. I used to get loads of hypos when it wasn’t under good control, but for the first year ever, (since getting a near normal HbA1c and dropping carbs) I’m having the opposite problem. Dribbling insulin in half a unit at a time to try and keep on top of it.

So I’m mostly staying inside with the curtains drawn when the sun is shining in that window, and opening windows on the shady side of the house. Moving it all around as the sun goes through the sky. Blackout blinds down upstairs to stop it turning into a greenhouse - our house is completely south facing! Ceiling fan over my bed means that at least I can sleep (best sixty quid I’ve ever spent on my home!), although I’m getting ‘Nam flashbacks

Husband loves it, that’ll be his Portuguese ancestry. I’m blaming my Welsh/English heritage...

 

[Rachox]

How many of you are old enough to remember summer 1976?

Robbity

I remember it well, I was at school sitting in scorching classrooms , but come the holidays I spent everyday on the beach!

 

[jayney27]

I love the current weather, I am a sunshine and warmth kinda person, however this year being lighter I must say its much easier to continue to work and sleep without feeling flustered.
I am still taking my daily lunchtime walk at work, drinking lots more water than normal but otherwise no major changes. Don't know if its solely due to weight loss but a few people have stated how hot they feel but I don't, I know I tolerate the heat but can't say i'm feeling too hot, I feel OK.
I remember '76 @Robbity I was on a school camp, we had all been packed off by our parents with long sleeve clothing, covered shoes and or wellingtons, our teachers had to go to the local town and buy us sun screen, hats and flip flops.

 

[slip]

As a 6 yr old I don't remember the summer of '76 that well - well not specifics, but I do remember wondering what all the fuss was about, to me it was nothing unusual....................having just moved from 5 years living in the Mediterranean.

Love the heat and the sun so long as you're undressed for it! Working in it though is another matter!

I've dropped my basal, in theory, to stop the hypos.....that's working well........

 

[Tannith]

I have lost my appetite and the weight is falling off me.

 

[zand]

I have lost my appetite and am putting on weight grrrr.

 

[Guzzler]

I remember '76 very well. Today is the first day that I havn't coped with this weather. I was fine until about half an hour after I got to a garden centre but I feel dog rough now and my bg is is screaming at me.

 

[Grateful]

Heat? Just moved to Kent from northeastern USA and find the weather here delightful so far, although admittedly I am in the countryside not in a city. Yes it gets into the upper 20s during the day, but the nights are crisp and sleep is easy even though I am in a small bungalow. In America I had to run air-conditioning night and day for most of July and August (and much of June and parts of May and September).

The impression I get is that here in the UK it must be much harder when you really hit the extremes (temperatures above 30) because very few people have air-conditioning at home: it makes no sense because you'd run it for only a few days per year. My daughter lives in a modern apartment block in London (with no air conditioning) and has been marooned at home for the past couple of days with a viral infection. Ironically, in her work life, she is given an air-conditioned office so she is very much looking forward to going back to work....

 

[LooperCat]

Heat? Just moved to Kent from northeastern USA and find the weather here delightful so far, although admittedly I am in the countryside not in a city. Yes it gets into the upper 20s during the day, but the nights are crisp and sleep is easy even though I am in a small bungalow. In America I had to run air-conditioning night and day for most of July and August (and much of June and parts of May and September).

The impression I get is that here in the UK it must be much harder when you really hit the extremes (temperatures above 30) because very few people have air-conditioning at home: it makes no sense because you'd run it for only a few days per year. My daughter lives in a modern apartment block in London (with no air conditioning) and has been marooned at home for the past couple of days with a viral infection. Ironically, in her work life, she is given an air-conditioned office so she is very much looking forward to going back to work....

You just wait until you’ve acclimatised to our usual dank weather - you’ll be wilting like an unwatered flower in no time

 

[Brunneria]

I was doing fine with the heat (which was a pleasant surprise) but i got glutened 2 days ago. My bad.
And since then, all the old misery is back.
The sweats, the flushes, the apathy, the feeling of being smothered, the swollen ankles...

Am counting the minutes til that gluten is out of my system and i can function again.
I had forgotten what it was like!

I’m hoping the worst will be over within a week.
Just in time for the weather to break.