Unusual circulation / body temperature after swimming
August 6, 2019 9:16 AM Subscribe
I've recently started swimming (or at least futzing around in a swimming pool) regularly and am experiencing some really unexpected reactions after swimming. How normal/abnormal is this?
Some background: I have always done some swimming throughout the year, usually when I visit my mother in Vancouver, and I have never had this kind of reaction before. The swimming pool I've been using recently is not super warm, but it isn't terribly cold, either. I have used both warmer and colder pools over the past few years and never had these things happen.
Also, I am very, very fat and have the typically poor circulation of a very, very fat person. I know that in cool water, circulation to the extremities is restricted and I expect a bit of purple in my toes but these extreme reactions are new to me.
The first day, I mostly just futzed around the pool for an hour or so, occasionally having to futz a little a faster to keep from feeling a bit chilly in the pool. After I got out, I rinsed off in the shower on deck, which was hot but not scalding and about a minute into that shower, I could basically feel my whole circulatory system open back up at once. Like there was an actual whooshing feeling and I felt light-headed and dizzy for a minute.
The second day, I did a combination of more serious exercise and a bit of futzing for an hour. FitBit registered 46 of those minutes as 'exercise'. I didn't really feel chilly at all until I was doing some stretching at the end. I didn't shower and just toweled off and changed and went home. A little more than an hour after I finished swimming, all of a sudden I was unbelievably cold -- teeth chattering, full-body shivering, not so steady on my feet, freezing damned cold. I got into bed under a thick comforter and it gradually went away but it was very unpleasant.
This is obviously circulation-related, but what specifically is causing it? And what approach to either my in-pool activities or my out-of-pool rewarming would make neither of these reactions happen? Given the choice between the first reaction and the second reaction, the first reaction was much less unpleasant, but the pool is unsupervised and if I might black out on the deck, that would be bad.
Some background: I have always done some swimming throughout the year, usually when I visit my mother in Vancouver, and I have never had this kind of reaction before. The swimming pool I've been using recently is not super warm, but it isn't terribly cold, either. I have used both warmer and colder pools over the past few years and never had these things happen.
Also, I am very, very fat and have the typically poor circulation of a very, very fat person. I know that in cool water, circulation to the extremities is restricted and I expect a bit of purple in my toes but these extreme reactions are new to me.
The first day, I mostly just futzed around the pool for an hour or so, occasionally having to futz a little a faster to keep from feeling a bit chilly in the pool. After I got out, I rinsed off in the shower on deck, which was hot but not scalding and about a minute into that shower, I could basically feel my whole circulatory system open back up at once. Like there was an actual whooshing feeling and I felt light-headed and dizzy for a minute.
The second day, I did a combination of more serious exercise and a bit of futzing for an hour. FitBit registered 46 of those minutes as 'exercise'. I didn't really feel chilly at all until I was doing some stretching at the end. I didn't shower and just toweled off and changed and went home. A little more than an hour after I finished swimming, all of a sudden I was unbelievably cold -- teeth chattering, full-body shivering, not so steady on my feet, freezing damned cold. I got into bed under a thick comforter and it gradually went away but it was very unpleasant.
This is obviously circulation-related, but what specifically is causing it? And what approach to either my in-pool activities or my out-of-pool rewarming would make neither of these reactions happen? Given the choice between the first reaction and the second reaction, the first reaction was much less unpleasant, but the pool is unsupervised and if I might black out on the deck, that would be bad.
I can't tell you what's causing it but I have a similar reaction to roller derby practice. Not so much at the moment because its really warm here so being really cold is welcome rather than unpleasant but most of the year after practice I am freezing and feel like I just can't get warm. Its worse at my more intense sessions and after Sunday practice, it goes away after a hot meal.
I've heard its to do with sweat and stuff but its the same whether I sit in my sweaty gym clothes until bed or take a hot shower and get changed. On a sunday I have a 3 hour practice, I come home and shower within an hour of practice finishing and I'm freezing cold until I get fed a few hours later. I'm definitely not still sweating. I usually have a protein bar after training and that makes no difference
posted by missmagenta at 9:37 AM on August 6, 2019
I've heard its to do with sweat and stuff but its the same whether I sit in my sweaty gym clothes until bed or take a hot shower and get changed. On a sunday I have a 3 hour practice, I come home and shower within an hour of practice finishing and I'm freezing cold until I get fed a few hours later. I'm definitely not still sweating. I usually have a protein bar after training and that makes no difference
posted by missmagenta at 9:37 AM on August 6, 2019
I don't know what is causing your exact symptoms, but I wanted to say that you shouldn't underestimate the amount of exercise that you are getting, and the accompanying dehydration. The fact that it is low impact and you don't notice yourself sweating can make you think that you aren't doing much, but even futzing around in a swimming pool for an hour requires a lot of effort.
I used to take my daughter to the pool when she was a toddler, and I'd basically futz around in a shallow kids pool for an hour or two. I'm in good shape and exercise regularly, but I'd get home and be WIPED OUT and often have to take a nap (and I am absolutely not a napper). Some combination of the exercise, the chlorine fumes, and the dehydration really got to me.
posted by googly at 9:46 AM on August 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I used to take my daughter to the pool when she was a toddler, and I'd basically futz around in a shallow kids pool for an hour or two. I'm in good shape and exercise regularly, but I'd get home and be WIPED OUT and often have to take a nap (and I am absolutely not a napper). Some combination of the exercise, the chlorine fumes, and the dehydration really got to me.
posted by googly at 9:46 AM on August 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: What is your FitBit saying about your blood pressure when these things are happening?
It doesn't measure blood pressure that I know of. It also doesn't allow me to view heart rate data in that much detail after the fact.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:58 AM on August 6, 2019
It doesn't measure blood pressure that I know of. It also doesn't allow me to view heart rate data in that much detail after the fact.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:58 AM on August 6, 2019
Hot showers tend to dilate blood vessels, which causes your blood pressure to drop, which in turn can make you dizzy (and can make you pass out). It’s pretty common for people with low blood pressure to get lightheaded during hot showers. It would make sense to me that if your circulation is restricted during swimming this reaction would be more dramatic.
If you start to feel dizzy in the shower in the future (either at the pool or at home) sit down IMMEDIATELY. I know it can be embarrassing to sit down in that kind of situation in public, but, as someone who has fainted in public twice, it’s way way worse to actually black out. If you’re at the pool, see if there’s a chair around you could bring it over to the shower so you can sit in the chair instead of on the floor.
posted by insectosaurus at 10:10 AM on August 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
If you start to feel dizzy in the shower in the future (either at the pool or at home) sit down IMMEDIATELY. I know it can be embarrassing to sit down in that kind of situation in public, but, as someone who has fainted in public twice, it’s way way worse to actually black out. If you’re at the pool, see if there’s a chair around you could bring it over to the shower so you can sit in the chair instead of on the floor.
posted by insectosaurus at 10:10 AM on August 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
You're losing a lot of body heat to the pool. Water at 80°F is roughly equivalent to air at 40°F. How cold would you be after exercising in a walk-in fridge for an hour? You're also losing a lot of body water through perspiration. Weigh yourself before and after for an idea of how much.
You should bring a water bottle to the pool and drink during your swim time. You might also benefit from a shorty wetsuit or even just a neoprene vest; when your core temperature drops, circulation to extremities is reduced.
posted by disconnect at 10:52 AM on August 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
You should bring a water bottle to the pool and drink during your swim time. You might also benefit from a shorty wetsuit or even just a neoprene vest; when your core temperature drops, circulation to extremities is reduced.
posted by disconnect at 10:52 AM on August 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
The cold sometime after you exercise could be because of an extreme blood sugar drop. You may have used up all your easily available resources swimming and showering and then actually run out of the endurance resources to do anything not absolutely necessary.
Remember if you are very, very fat you are getting a lot more resistance exercise than a skinny person. Every time you get up you are doing a variation on the deadlift. Every time you walk across the room you are doing the same as a skinny person who is carrying a bellbar. So when you start exercises be aware of the fact that you are now doing your cardio at the same time as doing weights even in the pool. Not only are you doing much more strenuous exercise than someone with a different body but you are using the body of a weight lifting specialist, not a cardio specialist. It's not that you are starting from way behind, being out of shape, but rather you are experiencing the same kind of thing that a power lifter experiences when they try to run a marathon.
Consider being very gentle with yourself and ramping up your exercise routines more slowly. You are getting twice the benefit from them than someone who is not carrying the weight you are. If you doubt this, examine your calves and legs compared to a skinny person who does about the same amount of exercise that you do. You may not see it at first because of the fat layer under the skin, but the chances are your lower body muscles are amazing.
Resistance endurance exercises make different demands on the vascular system than short bursts of cardio do. Your vascular system isn't used to maintaining blood volume under those conditions. The last few years since you were swimming a lot have trained the tissue to maintain circulation to your extremities and your skin surface under completely different conditions. There's a good chance your body was simply indicating that you needed to be under the covers, lying flat until it got enough resources back from the ones you depleted.
But you said it was unpleasant. Cold is one thing. If you feel cold like you want a fireplace and a wooly blanket - that mean's you're cold and surprised because you're not used to it what with ordinarily being able to get warm with minimal exercise. But if you feel crappy cold, like sick to your stomach maybe passing out cold, you are stressing yourself way too much in pursuit of time in the pool and you don't want to do that. You really might have to stick to futzing about for only twenty minutes for the first few weeks before you can enjoy longer in the pool.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:36 AM on August 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Remember if you are very, very fat you are getting a lot more resistance exercise than a skinny person. Every time you get up you are doing a variation on the deadlift. Every time you walk across the room you are doing the same as a skinny person who is carrying a bellbar. So when you start exercises be aware of the fact that you are now doing your cardio at the same time as doing weights even in the pool. Not only are you doing much more strenuous exercise than someone with a different body but you are using the body of a weight lifting specialist, not a cardio specialist. It's not that you are starting from way behind, being out of shape, but rather you are experiencing the same kind of thing that a power lifter experiences when they try to run a marathon.
Consider being very gentle with yourself and ramping up your exercise routines more slowly. You are getting twice the benefit from them than someone who is not carrying the weight you are. If you doubt this, examine your calves and legs compared to a skinny person who does about the same amount of exercise that you do. You may not see it at first because of the fat layer under the skin, but the chances are your lower body muscles are amazing.
Resistance endurance exercises make different demands on the vascular system than short bursts of cardio do. Your vascular system isn't used to maintaining blood volume under those conditions. The last few years since you were swimming a lot have trained the tissue to maintain circulation to your extremities and your skin surface under completely different conditions. There's a good chance your body was simply indicating that you needed to be under the covers, lying flat until it got enough resources back from the ones you depleted.
But you said it was unpleasant. Cold is one thing. If you feel cold like you want a fireplace and a wooly blanket - that mean's you're cold and surprised because you're not used to it what with ordinarily being able to get warm with minimal exercise. But if you feel crappy cold, like sick to your stomach maybe passing out cold, you are stressing yourself way too much in pursuit of time in the pool and you don't want to do that. You really might have to stick to futzing about for only twenty minutes for the first few weeks before you can enjoy longer in the pool.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:36 AM on August 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Being in cold water causes your blood vessels to constrict. When they dilate again after you leave the water, your blood is running through body tissues that may still be cold, so your blood cools and your core temperature drops.
Taking a hot shower possibly made the dilation of blood vessels more sudden. I don't know why this is happening more strongly than it did in the past.
One possible solution would be to get out of the water every 10 or 20 minutes and sit for a few minutes to allow your body temperature and circulation to normalize. You could get a drink of water each time.
posted by mai at 12:00 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Taking a hot shower possibly made the dilation of blood vessels more sudden. I don't know why this is happening more strongly than it did in the past.
One possible solution would be to get out of the water every 10 or 20 minutes and sit for a few minutes to allow your body temperature and circulation to normalize. You could get a drink of water each time.
posted by mai at 12:00 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think the two reactions you experienced are variations on a common theme.
Which is that your body reduces circulation to peripheral tissues to conserve heat (and you have a lot of such tissue because of your fat) and then at some point restores that circulation, which results in your blood circulating through tissue that's quite a bit cooler than normal, and that in turn causes your blood to cool as it transfers heat to cooled tissue.
In the shower, you can route blood through your skin to pick up heat from the hot water and minimize the core temperature drop, but when you didn't shower, there was nothing to mitigate the core temperature drop that resulted from restoring circulation to cooled tissue, and you felt extremely cold until heat generated by metabolic activity could warm you back up again, and that took time.
posted by jamjam at 12:04 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Which is that your body reduces circulation to peripheral tissues to conserve heat (and you have a lot of such tissue because of your fat) and then at some point restores that circulation, which results in your blood circulating through tissue that's quite a bit cooler than normal, and that in turn causes your blood to cool as it transfers heat to cooled tissue.
In the shower, you can route blood through your skin to pick up heat from the hot water and minimize the core temperature drop, but when you didn't shower, there was nothing to mitigate the core temperature drop that resulted from restoring circulation to cooled tissue, and you felt extremely cold until heat generated by metabolic activity could warm you back up again, and that took time.
posted by jamjam at 12:04 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have always had very low blood pressure. I think it's genetic for me because my grandfather had the same problem. I have trouble keeping my core temperature up when I'm in cool water. If I stay in too long I start to feel sick. I have always equated it to being in a sort of pre-hypothermic state. I need a source of external heat to warm me. By that I mean, just a blanket will not help, I need an electric blanket, or time in the sun, or something. Maybe you should get your blood pressure checked.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:13 PM on August 6, 2019
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:13 PM on August 6, 2019
I faint due to sudden temperature changes. A useful term to Google may be vasovagal syncope. If that's what it is, there's not much you can do - you just have to be aware of when you're starting to black out or feel dizzy and sit down as quickly as possible.
posted by peacheater at 4:10 PM on August 6, 2019
posted by peacheater at 4:10 PM on August 6, 2019
This thread on swimming had a very relevant comment from Penguin Pie! Explanation of what's happening and what to do.
posted by jrobin276 at 1:40 PM on August 11, 2019
posted by jrobin276 at 1:40 PM on August 11, 2019
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