posted
I've recently started going in the hot tub for 10-15 minutes at a time (it's all I can handle) and have done this every day for the past 6 days straight.
Is there such a thing as going in too much? Should it just be a few days a week?
It seems to be helping me a bit, so I'd like to continue it.
-------------------- Jennifer Posts: 266 | From Ocean County, NJ | Registered: Aug 2007
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
I really don't know.
I just know I am only able to be in it for 5 min and I haven't gone in over 3 months because I could barely make it to the car afterwards.
So, I am guessing if you just listen to your body you will know.
part of my problem is people want to talk with me and that zaps me..
I will let them know I can't talk but just that small bit will do me in
And the lights and music and movement as the hot tub is next to the pool at the local gym are all too much for me at this time.
I do know my lyme doc wanted me to do the hot tub thing when I first started going to him.
I just can't recall how many times a week and for how long as at that time there was not a hot tub available where i lived.
Thanks for reminding me I need to try the hot tub thing again.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
It knocks me on my butt, but later on I feel better and it does seem to be helping.
But while I'm sitting in there I feel like I'm gonna pass out. Heart rate goes up, tingling burning and twitching gets crazy.
I have to sit there with my eyes closed and concentrate on my breathing, because it I also tend to get the air hunger real bad while I'm in.
I guess with everything, just watch it and do it in moderation.
I know what you mean about too much going on, I'm glad it isn't like that where I go.
-------------------- Jennifer Posts: 266 | From Ocean County, NJ | Registered: Aug 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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I'd say listen to your body - all your body.
In past years 10-20 minutes in a hot tub would would require months of flat-out no-way-to-get-off-the-bed time for myself. A hot bath, even now, requires of me a full 2 days of total exhaustion. But you sound like that's not the case.
However, it's so enjoyable, that if you can safely do it, I hope you can. It is a proceed-with-caution thing, though.
If you feel dizzy or if you get exertion "pay-back" that tells you something. Same for trouble with nasal passages or lungs.
Your doctor might have suggestions, specific to your body. If you have any cardiac condition, please be sure to ask specifically about that.
I would not take a cold shower right afterward as some might do as I think that could cause a shock to your system. Warm to cool water, perhaps, but gradual.
Electrolyte replacement, too, might be good to prevent problems.
This sounds like it may be your own hot tub
The shape of the water is important. It's tricky balancing the antimicrobial chemicals (which are not great for us) with the desire for clean water. So, if one public hot tub knocks you out it could be the chemicals and other hot tub might be better.
If it's your own, you could regulate the temp down so you could be in a little longer and enjoy stretches and simple exercises.
I also wonder if gettting a fresh exchange of outdoor air in everyday is possible where this hot tub is located. Most have to use extra chlorine as heat requires that, so fresh air is good.
If you say you just can't do more than 10 minutes, assess exactly what about that stresses your body? The heat, reactions, pay-back? If it's the heat, but it "feels so good" can you drink cool - not cold - water or tea while you are in there? Sitting up on the edge every couple minutes might help.
Electrolyte replacement, too, might be good to prevent problems.
You might find your answers on PubMed. Some of the abstracts might be a bit scary yet, if you are aware of how to maintain good water or other steps to take, that increases your safety as you enjoy this.
Hot Tub - 111 abstracts - most of these relate to lungs
Hot Tubs - 63 abstracts
hot tub, cardiac - 2 abstracts, with other links
==============================
CMAJ. 2003 Dec 9;169(12):1265-8.
Are hot tubs safe for people with treated hypertension?
Shin TW, Wilson M, Wilson
Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology and the Cardiovascular Risk Factor Reduction Unit, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
BACKGROUND: People with hypertension are commonly warned to check with a physician before using a hot tub, but there is little literature on which to base this advice.
We compared symptoms, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in response to 10 minutes of hot-tub immersion in a group of patients with treated hypertension and in a control group normotensive subjects.
METHODS: We recruited 21 patients (18 men and 3 women aged 43-76 years) with stable, treated hypertension and 23 control subjects (14 men and 9 women aged 19-83 years) without hypertension.
. . .
INTERPRETATION: Immersion in a hot tub for 10 minutes lowers blood pressure in subjects with treated hypertension, but no more than in normotensive control subjects. Spending 10 minutes in a hot tub should be safe for most treated hypertensive patients.
PMID: 14662661 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
================================
Pneumologie. 2006 May;60(5):285-9.
[Swimming pool lung -- extrinsic allergic alveolitis or mycobacterial disease?] - [Article in German]
authors at link
excerpt:
Interestingly, the water contained Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in huge amounts and in this case the histopathological features of the lung biopsy specimens differed from those seen in typical EAA, but were similar to those described in "hot tub lung" caused by mycobacteria.
Solely by avoidance of cleaning the swimming pool, without any pharmacological treatment, the patient recovered completely within three months.
============================
Water Res. 2008 Jan;42(1-2):278-86. Epub 2007 Jul 14.
Antibacterial activities of plant essential oils against Legionella pneumophila.
Chang CW, Chang WL, Chang ST, Cheng SS.
Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan, Republic of China.
The objective of this study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) extracted from Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaves and different tissues of Cryptomeria japonica against pathogenic Legionella pneumophila at 42 degrees C.
Ten kinds of EOs were extracted by water distillation and their chemical constituents were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The results showed that cinnamon leaf EO possessed stronger anti-L. pneumophila activity than C. japonica EO.
In particular, the highest bactericidal effect was noted in contact with C. osmophloeum leaf EO of cinnamaldehyde type (characterized by its major constituent of cinnamaldehyde accounting for 91.3% of EO), regardless of contacted cell concentration (2 and 4logCFUml(-1)) or exposure time (10 and 60min).
Cinnamaldehyde is responsible for anti-L. pneumophila activity based on the results of antimicrobial testing and statistical analysis. Stepwise regression analyses show that EO concentration is the most significant factor affecting the bioactivity of EO.
It is concluded that C. osmophloeum leaf oil of cinnamaldehyde type and its major constituent, cinnamaldehyde, possess strong anti-L. pneumophila activities, and have the great potential to be used as an antibacterial agent to control legionellosis associated with hot tubs and spa facilities widely used in homes and resorts.
PMID: 17659763 [PubMed - in process]
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