It felt great until the tingly.

September 1, 2009 11:11 AM

After ~20 minutes in a hot tub, I get an intensely uncomfortable tingling feeling in my arms and my face and feel very... woozy and unbalanced. What is going on, and is this normal?

After I surfaced and enjoyed some cooler air for a bit I felt better. Strangely enough, I'd felt this exact same feeling in one other situation- while having sex with someone. I thought maybe I was just hyperventilating then? lol, young inexperienced people. I kind of felt like I was going to pass out, but I've never passed out before so I don't know if that's actually what was happening. I don't know what exactly my body is doing. And I'd really like to know.

Am a young female with normally lowish blood pressure but in good health.

posted by The Biggest Dreamer to health & fitness (13 comments total)

Periferal blood vessels dialate, leaving less oxygenated blood to the brain than it's used to. Especially with lower blood pressure.

In the future, just make sure that you do not fall, getting out of a hot tub.
posted by Danf at 11:20 AM on September 1

Perhaps dehydration? It can be deceptive in a hot tub because you don't notice the sweat being mostly submerged in the water.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 11:22 AM on September 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is fairly normal, the heat makes your blood vessels dilate, which can lower your already-lowish blood pressure even further and make you all dizzy and tingly. And yes, it's certainly possible for this mechanism to cause people to pass out.
posted by phoenixy at 11:25 AM on September 1

Heat can make your blood pressure drop. Mine is on the low side too and I love, love LOVE hot showers. Long, hot showers. Unfortunately, too long in one and I start to feel like you did. I have to open the bathroom door to let some air in and that buys me a little time while I exit.

I have almost passed out from these scenarios. But it actually takes a lot to pass out. Your brain will start to sap functions unnecessary to survival in order to try and prevent you actually passing out. Unfortunately this includes limb coordination and even so much as temporarily blocking sight (yeah that one I experienced personally).

May want to ask your doctor just to rule anything out but it's most likely nothing to worry about.
posted by cmgonzalez at 11:37 AM on September 1

Just make sure your hot tub doesn't get too hot, or it'll increase your likelihood of passing out.
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:37 AM on September 1

Also, depending on the tub, there can be lots of chloriney goodness in there, which likes to offgas as the temperature goes up.

I have a huge chlorine sensitivity, it was not uncommon for me to puke my brains out/fall down and be awful any given swim night when I was on the swim team.
posted by TomMelee at 11:41 AM on September 1

The fact that sex did the same thing to you is leading me to think it's a blood-pressure-related thing. The heat is probably affecting your blood pressure, and the increased activity from sex is probably also affecting your blood pressure.

(Fun data point -- once had something similar happen once during sex, and talked to my doctor about it -- she pointed to the fact that I had also had a cold at that time and had taken a decongestant, which does things to your blood vessels and blood pressure as well, and that combination of factors caused the dizziness/lightheadedness.)

It sounds like you're just slightly more prone to changes in blood pressure affecting your equilibrium, about which all you can do is just keep an eye on yourself and clear out of the hot tub when you start feeling a little dizzy. (Which it says on most hot tubs that you're supposed to do, so there you go.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:51 AM on September 1

Happens occasionally to me too, though just with hot tubs, not so much with sex.
posted by craven_morhead at 12:58 PM on September 1

cmgonzalez: "Heat can make your blood pressure drop."

I thought it made your bp rise. My dad has hypertension and he's not allowed to be in a hot tub or super hot bath.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:10 PM on September 1

It goes back to what phoenixy said about heat making your blood vessels dilate. Sweating in conjunction with that can also cause a little drop in blood volume enough to cause symptoms.
posted by cmgonzalez at 1:40 PM on September 1

I hope you will practice safe hot-tubbing. This means having another responsible adult with you at all times. (The risk is that you might become dizzy and pass out, then sink into the water... blub, blub, blub... and it's bye-bye. )
posted by exphysicist345 at 8:02 PM on September 1

Don't worry exphysicsist, I'll be as safe as I can :)

Thanks for the quick answers, everyone.. it's good to hear that it's not that strange. I wish I knew what I could do to make my body handle itself better in these situations though..
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 9:09 PM on September 1

Drink water before getting in the hot tub. If you need salt, have something salty. Keep an unbreakable container of water nearby and stay hydrated. Get out of the tub periodically and cool off. Avoid drinking alcohol. Having lower blood pressure means that you need to pay attention to staying hydrated.

Don't feel that you need to stay in the hot tub if you are too hot, some people like to get out and cool off for a bit, and other people like to stay in. It's not a competition to see who can stay in the longest (or if it is, quit playing, this doesn't work out well).

You don't mention the temperature of the hot tub, but you will be able to spend less time in a hotter one. Commercially run hot springs often have a cold soaking pool or cold shower available which one can use before getting back into the very hot water.
posted by yohko at 10:31 PM on September 1