Sun sensitivity?

[LorinnPKD]

Hi everyone,

So one thing I've noticed since hitting Stage 5 or so is a lot of sun sensitivity.  I live in a dry, high-altitude Western state, and if I'm engaging in any sort of activity (walking, gentle yard work) in the sun and above 70-75 degrees or so, I am instantly sapped.  Like, I get super overheated and woozy and have to sit down right away -- and then I'm pretty much useless for the rest of the day, so I sleep.

A friend thought it might be a drug interaction (I first noticed it when I was just on Renvela before I started hemo;  now I'm on hemo and taking Renvela, Sensipar, and there's a tiny dose of Hectorol in my line).  Another friend thinks the sun is just what pushes my usual fatigue over the edge.

Is anyone else experiencing this?   Thanks!

[Rerun]

When the weather is warmer, you can drink a bit more because you sweat whether you realize it or not.  Try sipping on water or ice tea when you are outside and it is warmer.  See if that helps. Dehydration zaps you.  I usually put on 2 liters on a weekend.  When it is warm and I go in and have gained .8 I know I can drink a little more.  YEA  Also, lots of different medication make you sensitive to the sun so always wear sunscreen. 

[Charlie B53]

dehydration can be very easy to happen to dialysis patients because we tend to limit our fluid intake so severely.

A few weeks ago the weather was actually quite nice, warm with a very gentle breeze.  Working in the yard slowly walking around carrying the weed wacker, I hadn't done that for almost a year so the place really needed it, the breeze kept me cool enough I never noticed much of any sweat.  I did take a number of short breaks coming into the house to take a few small sips of Kool-Aid. Prior to dialysis I would have chugged the whole glass each time instead of just a mouthful and stopping.

Over the week end I may have had three or four of those 32 ounce glasses.  Come Monday mornings dialysis treatment I was half scared to step on the scale, worried just how much I had gained drinking all that Kool-Aid.  I was SHOCKED to see that I was .7 K UNDER my dry weight.  That never happened before.

So it is very possible for us to suffer the symptoms of heat stroke while outside.

[LorinnPKD]

Thanks for your help.

And I wasn't thinking...!  I should have mentioned that I am not fluid restricted at this point (my PKD kidneys are weird), so I don't think it's dehydration (although I'll be looking at my intake carefully).

[Charlie B53]

It is quite normal for a body to break the smallest amount of sweat across the forehead.  It is Natures way, the evaporation cools the brain to keep it from overheating.  Very often there is just enough breeze that I am not sweating anywhere else on my body, only that smallest wetness on my brow, not even enough to run down into my eyes..

When I STOP sweating I know I'm about to get into trouble.  The LACK of that little bit of dampness is my sign that my body is attempting to conserve water, which means I am already beginning to dehydrate, and I have got to get inside and cool down and get some fluid into my system.

I've made this mistake once.  It ain't good.  And somehow it changes the resistance, leaving the body far more sussepable(Sp?) to the affects of heat.