Hot tub - good or bad?

[Nat1969]

Been on holiday to a 'hot tub lodge' and have spent the week since getting back feeling awful. Aches all over, headaches, joint pain, sooooo tired, ulcers in my mouth and cold sores in my nose and around my mouth.

I'd heard the heat and the jets would be good for me but I felt shaky and sick within about 20 mins. Got in a shower just after and thought I was going to feint and for a number of hours it felt like ants were crawling over my skin. The next couple of days were not good and then bad the past week. I'm good today - or back to normal at least.

I have Lupus, Fibro, APS and hyperthyroidism.

I'd done a bit of googling before I went and had heard good things but I've not had a good experience. Is this normal?

[Hidden]

I love the heat on feet and hands but I can see how it made you sick. Should try a natural hot spring

[Bronagh2015]

20 mins is quite a long time to spend in one. I love them and they help my joints but I started off with 3 minutes and increased gradually over the weeks but would still only stay about 10 minutes in them.

[Shaysuekirk]

I like having my own hot tub b/c you can adjust the temp to your liking. If it's too hot I get a little dizzy too. And 20 min is plenty of time. Also, I usually feel "bad" after coming from a vacation of fun. So, that might be part of it too.

[whisperit]

A hot bath is one of my few physical pleasure in life (!) but I have had to cut down on them since getting unwell. Shortly afterwards, I tend to get feelings of nausea, general malaise and sometimes that skin crawling and prolonged itching you mention. I don't have any explanation for it, other than perhaps its just a byproduct of the way our thermo-regulation systems have been turned wonky by AI disease. After all, auto-immunity is a self-regulation system gone wrong. Making my baths slightly less hot, and shorter (no more than 30 minutes) helps. x

[maggielee]

Just add that hot is usually very hot and this lowers your blood pressure which too long can dehydrate you make you feel sick, have nausea, etc. Should go hot cool hot, never hot to hot say hot tub, hot shower, sauna, need to get your blood pressure up. also with autoimmune issues if chlorine/acid added to a tub/pool, skin issues may occur, best to keep it short, may not be so bad. ML ....

[Chanpreet_Walia LUPUS UK]

Hi Nat1969,

I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. Have you informed your doctor about this?

We published an article on our blog about ‘pain management’ which contains helpful tips and information: lupusuk.org.uk/pain-managem...

Almost 90% of people with lupus report experiencing fatigue, making it one of the most common symptoms. We published an article on our blog about ‘managing fatigue’ which I hope you will find useful: lupusuk.org.uk/managing-fat...

We published an article on our blog about coping with oral and nasal ulcers which I hope you will find useful: lupusuk.org.uk/coping-with-...

We published a factsheet on ‘LUPUS: The Mouth, Nose and Eyes’ which I hope will be of help to you: lupusuk.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Please let us know how you get on, all the best.

[Nat1969]

Thanks everyone 😊

[johare]

Late reply sorry. Heat of any kind makes me feel very unwell. I begin to feel exhausted like I am drained. I feel it enhances a lot of symptoms. The motion of the bubbles on my joints is nice but I pay for the heat after. I am not always sure about the cleanliness of some of the hot tubs either!