Hello doctor, I am actually facing some weakness issues since 2 or 3 days. I am a self-employed guy, my work timings are quite odd like 10 pm to 5 am. I wake up by 12 pm and then work from 2 pm - 8 pm (this includes working, meetings, get together with friends and coffee). I do not prefer eating outside, to be safe. My eating schedule for breakfast has bread with vegetables or 2 rotis or parathas cooked with olive oil. Then I go out and have black coffee in a coffee shop close to my office. Then I return by 8 pm and have dinner directly. At night, while working, I have cherries, berries or milk depending on my mood.I think I am feeling a bit weak or sick due to hot weather in my place. Yesterday at 2 pm, I decided to go to work, but I returned back as it was really hot here around 45-degreeCelsius. At that time, I felt like my legs were shaking while driving, and I felt like not going to the workplace. So I came back and slept. After an hour, I felt like super active, but again, when I went out after just an hour, I became exhausted and again felt like not doing any work or talking to anyone. I checked for fever and had nothing. My question is, what is causing this? How to get away from this feeling? How to stay active so that I can work productively? Please note: I do not get time to exercise because of my work schedule.
Hi. Please find my observations below. It appears that your body is not prepared for the heat conditions prevailing in your place. Since you have work schedules which start in the early afternoon, it is possible that you got dehydrated with electrolyte loss which might have resulted in your feeling unusual weakness. The main electrolytes in our body are sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and phosphate. These have to be present at normal levels at all times. If these get low due to any reason, then there is weakness, and people feel unusually sick. Heat stroke conditions might have caused fluid and electrolyte imbalance like symptoms. If you are used to your daily work schedule, then your sleep and food timings are not a concern. However, you should start having lots of fluids with electrolytes so that the balance is maintained when you leave home at 2 pm. Please keep in mind that with a temperature of 45-degree Celsius, there is a higher chance to develop fluid and electrolyte loss. Another point I would like to discuss is the cooler or air conditioner setting at home just before you left out yesterday. If the room cooler was at 20 to 25 degrees Celsius and you had suddenly gone out to 45-degree Celsius, then this itself would have caused a temperature imbalance and precipitated your exhaustion. Please shut down the cooler and then stay in the room for 5 minutes to allow your body to adapt to the temperature outside. Do not rush out. Even when you go to work in your car, please maintain a mild air conditioning so that when you step out, you will not feel much difference in the afternoon. Please keep fluids and fresh juices with you at home and office and carry a water bottle with ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts) solution or juice while driving. If you feel exhausted, then stop safely and drink the ORS or juice to keep you healthy and hydrated.