I turned green!?
Kittka
done, my fingernails and skin (especially around the neck and upper chest
area) had turned green. My fingernail tips were bright green and I had a
green sheen to my skin. My neighbor, who was also in the hot tub, had
*not* turned green at all and said that there wasn't enough chlorine in
the tub to do that to me. She thought that I might have oxygen-deficient
blood...and I did notice that it was a little difficult to breathe fully
in the tub. I felt faint when I got out and needed to nap for three hours.
I know this sounds strange, but I was wondering if anyone else had this
happen to them?
That's the first (and last) time I'll use that hot tub!
Thanks,
K.
Roger Burns
Linda Phillips
Kittka, that was a pretty scary experience for you. I sure hope that you
are back to your normal colour and feeling better now.
I have often felt that I have turned green and even sprouted horns
since becoming ill, but that was only because of people's reactions to my
illness, not because of the hot tub. :)
I had a terrifying experience with a hot tub myself. Eight and a
half years ago, My family and I were holidaying in Venezuela. A group of
us were enjoying the hot tub when I suffered severe chest pains radiating
down my left arm. I had a crushing sensation in my chest and had
difficulty breathing. I lost consciousness. I was extremely weak, so
weak in fact, that I was unable to even raise my head for a week. I was told
by the physician there that I had suffered a heart attack and that I should
never use a hot tub again. He told me that people with known cardiac
problems should never use hot tubs.
When I was finally able to return home two weeks later and was seen by a
cardiologist, he told me that I had not had a heart attack. I was then
referred to a psychiatrist. If indeed it was not a heart attack, I have
never been able to find out what it was or what is wrong with me. I have
never recouperated and in fact my health has continued to deteriorate. I
am in constant pain, extremely weak and exhausted and I have developed
severe allergies and chemical sensitivities. I was told years ago that I
probably had CFS or FM but not to worry about it because there was nothing
that could be done about it anyway. I was also told that it wasn't an
"important illness".
It may have been purely coincidental that I had this "episode"
in the hot tub and then my health failed and has continued to do so for
eight and a half years. Some how I doubt it.
I am with you when you say that this was your first and your last
experience with a hot tub. I did not turn green but I sure was an awful
shade of grey. I don't think that I will try that "trick" again either.
I wonder if you had a severe reaction to the chlorine. Every one reacts
differently to things and what might not affect one person can make
another very ill. Not having been the one who turned green, I find this
very interesting and would really like to find out what would cause such
an episode. Your desription of your difficulty in breathing and needing
to sleep sounds very similar to my reaction to chlorine.
Just one silly question. Are you sure that you wouldn't like to
try another session in the hot tub on March 17? You could have us all
beat then, instead of having to wear green, you could be green. :) I am
not laughing at you Kittka. It is just that after all these years, if I
didn't find humour in all of this madness, my "reality" would drive me crazy.
I hope you are not suffering lingering problems after your "hot tub episode".
Linda
Roger Burns
Roger Burns
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 23:34:23 +0000
From: "Valerie J. Ostroth" <vale...@vt.edu>
To: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome discussion CFIDS/ME <CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV>
Subject: Re: I turned green!?
K. writes:
>Yesterday I used my neighbor's hot tub for an hour (?) and when I was
>done, my fingernails and skin (especially around the neck and upper chest
>area) had turned green. My fingernail tips were bright green and I had a
>green sheen to my skin.
K., my doc (Cheney) forbids me to ever get in a hot tub again. He says it
wreaks havoc with your immune system! Although he didn't mention turning
green . . . he does have me on water therapy in 81-84 degree water floating
vertically (with help of a flotation belt) for an hour 3x a week. I
FREEZE, and I'm not allowed to take a hot shower afterwards! Don't know if
it's helping yet or not . . .
Valerie J. Ostroth, VALE...@VT.EDU
at the BLACKSBURG ELECTRONIC VILLAGE
70412,22...@compuserve.com
************************************
"Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:--Do I wake or sleep?"
--Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale"
************************************
Roger Burns
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 09:34 EST
From: W_HAVILAND%UVMVAX...@LIST.NIH.GOV
To: CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: I turned green!?
Isn't oxygen deprivation, that turns you blue and violet in the very
late stages. What was the tub made of? Was it pressure treated wood?
I would suspect the green goop from that, but take a finger nail clipping
and have it analyzed, perhaps.
I know the family across the street from us all got green hair from the
copper in their drinking water, from a private well. They now use
something else for washing their blond hair.
I trust you don't have pointed ears??? [ %) ]
Anita w_hav...@uvmvax.uvm.edu
Roger Burns
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 11:20:28 -0500
From: Eric Thomas <ae...@freenet.carleton.ca>
To: CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV
Cc: ae...@freenet.carleton.ca
Subject: Re: I turned green!?
>From: "Valerie J. Ostroth" <vale...@vt.edu>
{Edited}
>K., my doc (Cheney) forbids me to ever get in a hot tub again. He says
>it wreaks havoc with your immune system!
I for the life of me can't figure out why heat would 'wreak havoc with
your immune system'. Your immune system naturally uses heat, in the form
of a fever, to fight off a virus/bacterial infection. Supplementing your
body with external heat, such as a sauna or hot tub, can often be very
beneficial in helping your body fight against viral/bacterial
reproduction.
If you have a cardiovascular problem or an illness, namely MS, then
heat would likely be problematic though....
Also, a possible reason why the original poster's skin turned green in a
hot tub could be that while in hot water the person's veins (greenish
in appearence) dilated. This happens naturally in hot environments.
--
+_________________________________________________________________+
| Eric Thomas, Ottawa, Ont. Canada. ae...@freenet.carleton.ca |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
Kittka
: ---------- Forwarded message ----------
: Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 09:34 EST
: From: W_HAVILAND%UVMVAX...@LIST.NIH.GOV
: To: CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV
: Subject: I turned green!?
: Isn't oxygen deprivation, that turns you blue and violet in the very
: late stages. What was the tub made of? Was it pressure treated wood?
: I would suspect the green goop from that, but take a finger nail clipping
: and have it analyzed, perhaps.
That's strange, it *was* a wood hot tub. I wonder why my neighbor has
never had problems with it.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I didn't know that hot tubs were bad
for the immune system of PWCs. Of course, it would make celebrating St.
Patrick's Day easier! ;-)
K.
Roger Burns
Date: 13 Mar 1994 13:56:26 -0800
From: Kittka <kit...@kaiwan.com>
To: CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV
Pat
maybe i am atypical.
my jacuzzi makes me feel a lot better. i just have to manage
my body temperature well.
pat
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be decisive, even if it means sometimes you'll be wrong -- LLIB #358
Roger Burns
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 7:42:25 EST
From: Carol D'Agastino <ca...@rdz.stjohns.edu>
To: CF...@LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: Re: I turned green!?
>
> >From: "Valerie J. Ostroth" <vale...@vt.edu>
> {Edited}
> >K., my doc (Cheney) forbids me to ever get in a hot tub again. He says
> >it wreaks havoc with your immune system!
>
>
> I for the life of me can't figure out why heat would 'wreak havoc with
> your immune system'. Your immune system naturally uses heat, in the form
> of a fever, to fight off a virus/bacterial infection. Supplementing your
> body with external heat, such as a sauna or hot tub, can often be very
> beneficial in helping your body fight against viral/bacterial
> reproduction.
As a CFS patient, I wouldn't dream of getting into a hot tub.
Heat of that kind is very stressful on a debilitated body. And
stress depresses the immune system. Not to mention the adrenals.
And I wasn't even aware that they put Chlorine in hot tubs.
I can't even sit by a pool with chlorine without feeling drunk
never mind sitting in it. My theory on the green skin is that
it's from the chlorine.