Surviving the Heat As A POTSIE, Neurodivergent, Hypermobile Human
This is for all you POTSy, hyper mobile humans out there…
Did you know that if you’re autistic and/or ADHD, and female, you’re more than three times more likely to also have co-occurring conditions of hypermobility, dysautonomia, and inflammation?
And surviving summer with those conditions is really tough.
The weather here in the UK this weekend has been mad hot. The only time the temperature has been anywhere near acceptable for me or my cats has been around 5-7am. Luckily for me (or not so lucky) my little floofy angels insist on awakening me around 5am. It’s almost as if they want to share this moment of joyful temperature alignment with me. At least that’s what I tell myself. (I know it’s actually because they want breakfast).
I thought I’d share with you what I’ve been doing to try and regulate my body temperature and manage my POTSy symptoms all weekend. Even though I have also been a muppet and made them worse by gardening. I seem to have developed a mild obsession in the dopamine of beautiful flowers. But we all need joy in our lives so no regrets!
Become a Lizard
Lizards are of course cold blooded and need to bask to warm up enough to have energy to move around. But I’ve found emulating that very still nothingness they seem to embody works really well as a way to give myself permission to do less on hot or humid days.
These are my go to self-care techniques for hot weather.
Water and Salts: this has been a game changer for me. When you’re hyper mobile and a bit POTSy, you need more salts than the average person. You can take these in the form of low citric acid electrolytes, or the cheaper option is to simply dissolve a pinch of Himalayan pink salt into 500ml of water three times a day
Horizontal Rest in Darkness: your body struggles more than a regular person to pump blood and fluids against gravity, meaning they pool in your legs and gut. This is why standing is more painful for you, and why you get dizzy. After any kind of activity, or during heat at regular points through the day, lie down, feet higher than heart, and put an eye mask on, perhaps even with a cool flannel on your head/tummy (see below)
Cool Your Tummy, Head and Neck: AuDHD, POTSy, hyper mobile, inflamed people are more prone to neurological issues and migraine. Including vestibular migraine which have less obvious symptoms than headache. So cooling these body parts helps
your gut to deal with inflammation caused by foods you’ve eaten, and pollen or spores kicked up in the dryness.
your head cool down reducing tension and overheating
tones the vagus nerve to help you induce the parasympathetic nervous system to come online
Move During Mornings/Evenings Only: my cats are so wise, be active early in the morning or late in the evening when it is cooler. Do as little as possible between 11am and 6pm
Delegate Cooking: if you live with someone and they’re not struggling with these issues, give them the task of making meals. If you don’t have that kind of support, then opt for the simplest, easiest meals you can manage.
Crackers, celery, cucumber are all great for salt, water, and crunchiness and aren’t likely to kick off a mast cell reaction.
Avoid potatoes, tomatoes, highly spiced foods unless it’s turmeric, and anything too doughy. Your body will have a hard time digesting these.
Stay in the Shade or Stay Indoors: it goes without saying, really - stay out of that sun. It’s too hot for us noodle-bodied peeps. We can admire the view outside from indoors or go out later when it’s not so scorchio
Fan On and Water Spray: having a fan on is essential because if your body isn’t functioning effectively then it may have a hard time sweating and doing the usual things a body does to stay cool. Plus, when it’s humid, our sweat doesn’t evaporate as easily. A fan does that for us. Add in a spritz of cold water, maybe mixed with equal parts witch hazel and a drop of lavender or cooling peppermint essential oil, soothes and calms an overheated bod
If you have any tips for surviving the hot weather as an AuDHDer who is hyper mobile, POTSy, and inflamed, I would love to hear them. Reply to this email!
Stay cool. Don’t feel guilty for prioritising your health.
