Is it heat exhaustion or heat stroke? Here are the symptoms to watch for

UC Davis ^ | July 30, 2024 | Staff

[Larry Lucido]

[TornadoAlley3]

Pickle juice

[Red Badger]

😫.......................

[Cowgirl of Justice]

This happened to me when we were working at our farm one hot July during a drought - still not sure if it was heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

Sweat POURED out of the top of my head and then abruptly stopped. I had uncontrollable, projectile vomiting and when we arrived at the ER, I started shivering so hard my teeth were chattering. My body temp dropped to 94 and they had to put heated blankets on me. (The outside temp was over 100 degrees.) I was so weakened and unable to do anything for a couple of weeks.

Since then, my body thermostat doesn’t seem to work anymore, I don’t perspire at all and have to plan every single thing around the outside temps. I can’t even go to the beach now in the summer. 😭 I always have to have moving air and use the ceiling fans all year, even during snow.

[Red Badger]

Sounds like Heat Stroke!.................

[RWGinger]

Thank you for this very important article

[BipolarBob]

Rule #1 Don't go outside. There's a large yellow heat death ray thingy in the sky just waiting to microwave you. Outside there is a cacophony of birds screeching that will drive you nuts. Ants, flies, mosquitoes and a host of other small stinging insects to make you miserable.
If you like looking at trees, just do so from the window. There is no need to go outside for any reason. Stay inside in the AC. That's what are bodies were meant for.

[SunkenCiv]

• Exposure to trihalomethanes linked to chronic kidney disease (Water filtration helps) [07/21/2025]
• Weight loss clears out aging cells and boosts lipid recycling, study finds [07/21/2025]
• Is fruit juice bad for you and your children? [07/21/2025]

[ansel12]

I love canned pickle juice but one rarely sees it on store shelves.

I know that once one feels better then they should follow up with the evening’s dirty martini.

[wally_bert]

Last week I went up to my parent’s place in the country to drop off an early birthday gift to my mother and to try out an RC tank that I got working.

After a couple of hours in 95 or so degree heat, the tank was functioning better than I was. It was fun even if the RC tank was kind of wonky at times.

About half the time was running the tank. The rest was trying photos and video of it with a couple of cameras and a small drone. Some of it has become Youtube fodder.

It’s about 90 minutes to come home from there. My AC was on full blast just about all the way.

[ansel12]

This heat stuff is real, I’ve seen it hitting highly physical men over the years and one man die of it.

[Bon of Babble]

Most of us in So Cal have central air - but utilities are so expensive here now that I know of a lot of people who either aren’t running their a/c’s or have them set high. We pay ≈ 60% + more for electricity than other states due to idiotic “Climate Policies” and high taxes.

Average bills in my neighborhood in the summer are ≈ $500 - $750 during the hottest months of July- September, sometimes through October as well.

I expect there to be a lot more heat related deaths and injuries due to the cost of a/c.

Love my State. Hate its Government.

[TermLimits4All]

I’m one who doesn’t drink enough water. I do drink a ton of coffee and Gatorade when I’m out working in the heat in the summer. This weekend I built a trough for me to fill with protein pellets for the herd of deer I hunt. Went from being able to fill 200# to now 400# at a time. Then put up a deer stand in a new field. All this with a 105-110 heat index. I sweated like crazy but no lightheadedness or cramping thankfully.

[Red Badger]

Unless you are on a low salt diet, be sure to take some extra to avoid the cramps...............

[Quickgun]

Our home here in Texas is 1850 square foot, so rather small, but plenty for us . Our highest bill during the summer months is just under $200. We keep our AC set on about 79, and with ceiling fans that’s good for us. And since we live out in the country, with plenty of firewood and a fireplace insert, our winter bills go down to about $60. Most of that is probably the electric range and clothes dryer.

[ansel12]

People who work outdoors need to be sensitive to catching if their body is starting to accumulate heat.

Working, sweating, drinking fluids, skin evaporation, sweating, feeling the cooling if one takes a break or steps in the shade are all the normal parts of working outdoors, but if they notice that their body is starting to build-up heat, that it is accumulating heat, then they need to break-off the work and discontinue until things totally normalize and their system is reset, take a very long break in the house or the vehicle, or in the tub if things are bad.

[Fresh Wind]

Thirst is often the first sign of dehydration.

Gosh, I never would have guessed that.

[The Great RJ]

Heat exhaustion used to be called heat prostration, but I remember an old timer in my home town calling it heat prostitution

[Sequoyah101]

Anytime the heat index exceeds body temperature I pack it in. At that point you just can’t sweat enough to keep yourself cool. Yup, I’m an old wimp. I am also in the market for an air conditioned lawn mowing tractor instead of waiting until evening to mow the yard and finishing at 2200 hrs.

My neighbor had a heat stroke last year and spent about a week in the hospital. This summer he is more sensitive to heat than before. We have been hot, very hot before in our time but now that we are older we don’t tolerate heat so well. Leave throwing hay at 105 degrees to much younger folks. Our skin is thinner now and we have fewer micro arteries and vessels in our skin for heat exchange. The heat being harder on us as we age is a real thing.

Do as much for your animals that live outdoors as you can this time of year. Provide them plenty of cool and clean water, wet down the dirt beneath the shrubs, provide them a fan on the porch. They get heat stroke as well, particularly cats since they don’t sweat anywhere but between their toes and don’t usually pant unless they are in distress.

Fortunately, I found my old tomcat under some bushes out in the corner of the yard three weeks ago, he was lifeless. I had no idea what had happened and suspected hemoplasmosis or bobcat fever, it was heat stroke. Over four days of near continuous care and IV fluids I nursed him back to health. I thought he had gone blind but it was temporary but very pitiful to see him staggering and bumping into things. Much better now and sassy again but living in the shop until the weather cools and I can get him neutered. He will not survive his considerable wanderings and I hope to curb his zeal for that.