I was staying at motel and spent time in a hot tub about 104 deg. I was sick for the next three days. Dizzy, sweats, nausea, fatique. Herx? My joints were hurting and it felt good at the time. Are hot tubs a No NO?
Posted by massman (Member # 18116) on :
Probably got too hot too quick. I have done that before.
Posted by METALLlC BLUE (Member # 6628) on :
Doesn't sound like a Herxheimer reaction. It sounds like a stress reaction. It's commonly seen in Lyme patients who use a hot tub.
The body has an extremely tough time regulating homeostasis when infected with Lyme Disease. Entering a hot tub often worsens that instability.
Short duration use of hot tubs and slow adjustment to entering it seem to be ok for some people, so if you use one, I'd go no longer than a few minutes, maybe 5 max. The sicker you feel before getting in one, the shorter the time of staying in one.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Far too hot. Heat can be a terrible thing for a lyme patient, causing set backs that can last from days to months.
I made that mistake many times before I really figured it out.
A warm bath, never hot. Hot tubs also have lots of chemicals that adds to the toxic load.
As for a sauna, low heat FIR (far infrared) are best.
. . . Many patients have symptoms intensify or reappear with physical and emotional stress, if sleep deprived, after exercise, in a hot bath . . . . -
Posted by bncrump (Member # 20374) on :
Keebler...when you say LOW heat, infrared...what is LOW? Just curious, as I use the far infrared sauna at our gym and want to make sure I am not letting it get too hot!
Thanks!
Posted by onbam (Member # 23758) on :
Unless it's your own private tub, I'd be worried about contaminating it with Bb. Apparently those things have been found to be pretty germy.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Here are some medical abstracts from a search I did back in 2008 so numbers may be different but the idea is the same: to take a look at the differences in heat from a low-heat infrared sauna vs. a conventional high heat one:
Far infrared sauna - 18 abstracts - I'd start with this set
infrared sauna - 18 abstracts
conventional sauna - 6 abstracts
sauna, while ill - 5 abstracts -
Posted by Paulette-2-Lively (Member # 26137) on :
I have hot tub and in beginning of treatment I felt bad after getting out - like a herx. after a few months of treatment I could tolerate the hottub (103 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
I did notice that after I could tolerate it for longer I would have a really bad reaction if it had not been drained and had the chemicals changed in too long.
I agree that I would not get in public hottub, too many germs & who knows what chemicals they use.
I really enjoy the hottub though...it helps with the sore joints, muscle aches, & is great for my sore feet from the bart.
Another thing that happened to me was that the jets were too much for a long time...I think the massage just too much. I still only use the lowest setting of massage...but it sure does feel good :-)