The heat here is really making me sick!! Not kidding!

[Kirsten]

We have a heat wave over here in Europe that's truly unbearable. At least for people like me who cannot tolerate heat very well. For the second time now I'm on sick leave, and I fear this may cost me my job, but I just do not function in this heat and humidity. I collapsed a couple of times in my office. The heat makes me dizzy and nauseaus, and my head is way too hot. My blood pressure, which is usually increased goes down, also, the heat gives me a migraine. I cannot concentrate, I cannot think, my brain seems to be made of jelly these days. I'm tired, I'm exhausted, and the lack of oxygen in the air gives me panic attacks.

Doctor thinks it might be my thyroid gland acting up again. You have to know, I have this autoimmune disease, Hashimoto thyreoidism. I have an appointment in the new endocrinology centre in Goettingen by the end of August.

But I really don't know how to make it through this summer. The heat could last for at least two more months! Meanwhile, we have temperatures around 100°F, here in my apartment, it's 85°F, and in my office, it's even worse. You have to know, most buildings in Germany don't have air conditioning.

Believe me, if I'd win the lottery, I would buy a summer house in Iceland, or somewhere else where the summers are cool. And it's truly beyond me how some people here can actually enjoy this weather!!

Kirsten

[smokey the elder]

I think Europe is not being smart about not putting AC in buildings. One wouldn't refuse to heat the building in winter. heat is more dangerous than cold!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I'm with you - its too darn hot!!!

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Thas sounds awful! I hope your doctors can figure out something for you!

We have had a bad heat wave here, too. This past week/weekend it was 100+ F. We don't have AC either, so until this heat broke yesterday we were pretty uncomfortable too.

[catnapper]

I simply cannot imagine tolerating this heat without AC. We had a blackout last week, and I nearly died after just a few hours of the heat... so did the cats and Miss Nicki.

Why is Europe so against installing AC? It would be unheard of to build a new building without AC here!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I simply cannot imagine tolerating this heat without AC. We had a blackout last week, and I nearly died after just a few hours of the heat... so did the cats and Miss Nicki.

Why is Europe so against installing AC? It would be unheard of to build a new building without AC here!

We're not used to good weather!

[Kirsten]

Well, actually I don't know why no one here has a/c. I guess only the very rich people have it, and some public buildings and stores. The price for energy is so much higher here, so I guess even if my apartment had a/c, I couldn't affort it.

Also, many people here think air conditioning is unhealthy. People are getting colds from it, but I figure this happens only as long as you are not used to it. Personally, I think the heat is much unhealthier; in fact, it seems to be life threatening these days.

I already wrap myself into wet towels (mostly around my head), or take showers and let cool water rinse over my head. I also have these ice packages (that you can use for injuries) and wrap them around my feet, legs or neck. I also bought a fan. And I stroke my cats with wet towels, and they actually enjoy it, especially Luna. The become lethargic in this heat, and my mother's cat, Peggy, had a heat stroke yesterday, I posted about that in cat general.

I wish this heat wave would finally stop, but there's no end in sight. Also, our farmers need some rain, their crop is drying up on the fields... What a terrible summer!

Kirsten

[Queen of Poop]

Could you wet a towel, freeze it and then put it around your neck to help you cool down? If you kept a collection of them you could go with that round the clock. If you had a fridge at work you could do virtually the same thing.

[Logan]

We are spoiled by our airconditioning, Kirsten. I can't imagine living without it.

[ChrisH]

It's awful, hard to get a breath sometimes. I feel as though this will happen anytime now.

Europe swelters in heatwave
Reuters Friday July 21, 08:28 PM

PARIS (Reuters) - A heatwave in France has probably killed 21 people, including a 15-month-old baby, officials said on Friday, and the rest of Europe also sweltered with no sign of temperatures dropping.

Temperatures were not as high as they had been on previous days but authorities warned people to take precautions.

"Desert London", a headline in Britain's Evening
Standard newspaper said over a photo of a parched Hyde Park on Friday.
"This is not the Sahara or Serengeti -- these remarkable pictures show how London's parks have been turned dry, brown and dusty by the drought," the newspaper said.

A severe drought, said to be the worst in a century in the south of England, is making itself felt and temperatures hit a July record of 36.3 Celsius (97.3 Fahrenheit) earlier this week.
British farmers have begun harvesting wheat fields early because of the dry weather.

In Spain, a sunbather died in Barcelona from the heat and a 37-year-old man died in hospital on Friday after collapsing from heat exhaustion while working in a greenhouse in Almeria on the south coast the day before.
Six people were reported dead from heat-related problems so far this Spanish summer.

As in the last major heatwave in 2003, which in France lasted less than a month but killed around 15,000 people, most of the victims were elderly people or the infirm.
A health ministry official said a baby died in Paris where temperatures hit 37 Celsius earlier this week, but provided no further details.
Of the other victims, 10 were aged 80 or over, four collapsed at their workplace, one collapsed on his way home from work, two died while playing sport, two were homeless, and one was an obese youth "in poor physical condition".

SET TO CARRY ON

Temperatures well above 30 Celsius have been registered across France over the past week and weather forecasters say the heatwave looks set to continue well into next week.
The high death toll stunned health authorities and local officials have worked hard to try to improve their response to heatwaves, supplying air conditioning to retirement homes and broadcasting constant information on how to cope in the heat.

In Italy, temperatures pushed higher on Friday, reaching nearly 39 degree Celsius in Florence, and were expected to increase throughout the weekend. Many cities raised their alert levels to avoid a repeat of 2003, when the heatwave killed 20,000 people.
Emergency workers in Rome said they were handing out water to people standing in queues outside museums and art galleries or waiting in the sun to catch their bus.

A worker collapsed and died of heat-related causes in the island of Sardinia on Thursday, while health services received thousands of calls from elderly people asking for help.

Southern and western Bosnia have been hit by a series of fires as temperatures reached as high as 41 degrees, prompting local fire fighters to ask the army for helicopter assistance.

(Reporting by European bureaux)
--------------------------------------------------

Heatwave death toll rises in US
Severe heat across much of the US has claimed at least 22 lives around the country, officials say.
At least 10 states have suffered heat-related deaths as a swathe of the US has sweltered above 38C (100F), although temperatures are set to fall.

Four people died in Chicago, raising the city's toll to seven.

Other deaths have been reported in Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, Arkansas, Indiana, South Dakota and Tennessee and Wisconsin, AP news agency reports.

Relief ahead

Storms brought down power lines in St Louis, Missouri, cutting air conditioning units and forcing the National Guard to evacuate residents.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt ordered in the National Guard in a bid to restore electricity and move sweltering citizens to buildings with emergency air-conditioning.

"We can't overstate the danger of this heat," said Francis Slay, mayor of St Louis. "I've never seen this many people without power, this much debris, buildings collapsed, lines down."
The St Louis heat was expected to subside on Friday, with milder temperatures forecast in the days ahead.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...as/5203802.stm

[AbbyMom]

Your posts remind me of this movie "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" set in London in 1961 starring Leo McKern. Everybody looked like they were melting all the time.

Keep cool everyone!

[zoey]

Kirsten, I'm so sorry you're going through this!
I can relate to an extent. I'm near Houston, Texas where the heat index is 110' some days. And let's not forget the *lovely* humidity. I too have thyroid issues and until just this week, I had no a.c. in my office. I know the thyroid problems cause muscle weakness in the lower extremeties and man, some days i really just about fainted!! Finally, my boss allowed me to get a small a.c. unit, for about $90. American. Until then, I would water down my face and head and sit in the fan, for relief. Do you at least have a fan in your office? Have you heard of the cold suits? It's a cooling device you wear under your clothes. I remember hearing about it and did several searches but came up empty. Perhaps someone here has heard of it. Otherwise, I hope you can get an a.c. somehow!
The dizziness you're experiencing has me concerned. Maybe you could write to the press and they could do a story on this issue. **HUGS**

[Corinna]

Boy do I understand i can't do heat well either any thing over 75degrees Farenhit and I'm cranky and headachy too. thankfully our store has Ac and I have a small one at home. We too have been having a heat wave here not like some but it's more than we are used to.

[zoey]

http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__SI758SL2

I found it!! I knew i'd seen it at Sharper Image. Perhpaps it would help. Good luck!!

[kuhio98]

Anyone ever try a cooling vest? http://www.arcticheatusa.com/

These were all over the news when the Olympic athletes were wearing them to keep cool before and after their races.