excessive sweating

Hello,

I experience that the excessive sweating during the class weakens me so that my posture is not improving that much.

Have you looked into electrolyte supplementation? I sweat quite a bit too and found that once I started supplementing electrolytes, I felt MUCH better in class.

One of my yoga instructors recommended “Electrolyte Stamina” tablets from Trace Minerals Research. There are many other electrolyte/endurance products out there, but this is the one I’ve been using.

I take 3 tablets about an hour before class with a couple of big glasses of water. It has made a big difference for me… your mileage may vary, though. 😉

Assuming you have no medical conditions, here is what I recommend. ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You need to let your body adjust and adapt to the exercise in its own time frame. Your body will figure out what you are asking of it, and figure out how to respond. But it takes time, and each person’s time line is different, based on genetics, athletic ability, fitness level, age, health, etc. First, drink a lot of fluids on a regular basis, but don’t load up right before class or during class. Don’t eat 3-4 hours before. After class, begin hydrating slowly and regularly and have fruit available, like a banana, watermelon, cherries. Second, scale back your effort until you can tolerate the class, and gradually increase as your body adapts. When I started, I was completely spent just after the initial breathing and exercises and then struggled to do anything (I regular train, swim, jump rope, you name it). After a few classes, I realized that some of these people had been doing this for years and were still challenged in the class. I realized I was pushing myself in an unrealistic manner. Despite being physically fit, this was completely foreign to my body. I decided to listen to the instructions, and just do what was in my comfort zone until I adapted to just being in the room and the heat. There are so many levels to the practice, and you have to master each one, like a pyramid. Upside down pyramids fall over! For you, just going frequently and adjusting to the heat may be required before you do anything else. The alternative is quitty, or getting sick.

by09, are you a vegetarian or vegan? Some people find they sweat less if they cut meat out of your diet. That might make a difference, if you’re eating meat presently.

Hi Everybody,
I sweat soooo much. By the end of first set Pranayama I am dripping. There are rivers running down my arms and POURING off my fingertips. My eyes are red and burning from so much liquid dripping in them by the end of class. It is really remarkable how much I sweat. My towel is soaked and there is a puddle on my yoga mat that will spill off if I don’t roll up my towel with my mat. Any upside down involves sweat POURING into my nostrils. No one else in any class I’ve been to sweats like me. I’m not embarrassed by it but it does concern me. I’m thinking about going to teacher training and I’m worried that my body can’t possibly tolerate that much sweating for so many days in a row. I take electrolytes before and after class. Im five feet ten inches tall and weigh about 130 pounds, I can’t really “afford” to lose all this moisture.
My teachers say that it’s because Im effectively heating and cooling my body and that I shouldn’t worry about it. They say I am lucky to be able to sweat like that. But besides the prospect of teacher training there are two other reasons why this is a concern for me. One is that since starting Bikram about two months ago I now sweat like crazy EVERYWHERE! At the beach, whenever I’m in the sun at all, out dancing. It’s like my spiggot was turned on or something. The other reason I am concerned is that my digestion has been a little ummmm…….how to broach this taboo subject….ummmm…it’s been a little scant. It’s been a lot scant actually and you’d think what with all the twisting and wind removing postures that this wouldn’t be a problem but it is and I think it’s because Im sweating everything out that should be staying in my colon. Anyone have any thoughts on this….

I found this old post and I can definitely relate…any thoughts anyone?

Valeria

Thanks Gabrielle, I have been doing much better with the fluids since I found something called Ultima Replenisher. It doesn’t make me nauseous like the fizzy electrolyte tablets do. I had no idea that I’ve been at a low level of dehydration the entire 3 years I’ve been practicing. The person’s post about the 3 Cs helped me see that. Thank you for that description!

Unfortunately, I think I now have the effects of heat exhaustion and cannot seem to get my strength back. The studio where I practice is very hot; they have it going to 110 and above. This, plus not enough fluids, medication discontinuation symptoms, chronic fatigue immune disorder/fibromyalgia have me with hot flashes, night sweats, waking up every hour to go to the bathroom, then up at 3am after only a few hours of sleep, constant upset stomach, barely enough energy to do daily activities. I can barely take a walk, let alone go to class. When I feel a little more energy I try to do a posture or two at home or some chi gong.

I’d love to hear how others have recovered from heat exhaustion, especially those who are being treated for high blood pressure. Also any tips for getting in all that water per day. I’m temporarily down, but definitely not out of hot yoga!

Take care everyone.

Namaste.

Hi Gabrielle, an update… I’ve taken time off due to extreme fatique. I had a bad reaction between the too-hot studios, not quite enough hydration, + discontinuation symptoms from the drug Cymbalta. Since beginning Bikram three years ago, I easily came off all antidepressants and sleep medications, but I didn’t realize that Cymbalta withdrawl can cause night sweats, hot flashes, sleep disruption and increased blood pressure, which put me at greater risk for dehydration and heat exhaustion. I tried taking a week off from yoga, then went back, but the weakness just got worse. I could barely function and had to stop work for awhile. Now, I’m back at work and have started doing light exercise like walking and Tai Chi a few times a week. In the meantime, I’m “practicing” drinking loads more water and have found something good called “Ultima Replenisher” for electrolytes. For some reason though, it’s still really hard for me to get several liters liquid down per day. I did have to go back on the Cymbalta to stop the above symptoms, and will have to come down again much more slowly, as in 1 mg less every three to four months. (That’s my plan anyway, since my doctor’s only plan was to put me back on Prozac to try and “bridge the gap”, but I really don’t want to do that.) Hopefully, this will be slow enough to keep from activating the withdrawl/discontinuation symptoms, so I won’t have more problems when I go back to class. I’d love to hear from anyone who has come back from something like this.

Thanks so much. Take care.

That would be great Gabrielle. Thanks for the encouragement too. I will PM you for more info!

Valeria