06/25/2024
HEAT STROKE WARNING
In a post on June 15th I posted that it was my 44th spiritual birthday. Since our mother came home from the hospital on Good Friday after work I have been recovering her fence lines and driveway from lack of care since our dad passed away in 2012. On the 15th I was close to finishing and wanted to get everything on a burn pile before the rain on Sunday. Days of getting soaked with sweat caught up with me and even though I was working in the shade for only three hours I did not realize that I almost had a heat stroke. I want to share what I have learned by Googleing what happens when the brain is overheated. I hope it can help anyone who’s walking through the same struggles I have most of my adult life, which with age has been more of a challenge starting in 2012 when caring for my father spread me thin.
When overheated you first experience heat stress which is telling you to stop or take a break. If you continue you go into heat exhaustion which is one degree away from a heat stroke and another degree away from a coma. I have always tried to be fast at everything and that made me inpatient with slow moving people. I have also been OCD about finishing what I start and have had to learn to let things go when I’m too busy. God let me get to the end of my strength to reveal to me that this was sinful pride that He wanted to remove, for me to slow down, be more humble, to teach me to work smart instead of hard, to be kinder and more gentle.
My precious wife, close friends and even a few professionals have tried to help me when stress caused by being overextended, pain, or overheating my brain has caused me to be sleep deprived which led to me displaying some of the symptoms of manic episodes.Unfortunately the one that my ego and pride was causing me be affected by the most was being highly sensitive to criticism which made me resist any help not given gently. For this reason if you know someone who may be experiencing the same things listed below you need to kill the issues with kindness or they will likely resist your help. None of the professionals ever asked me if I was getting overheated which in retrospect was keeping me from having a sound mind and occasionally led to bad decisions. They all wanted to give me a pill like a band-aid and never get to the source of the wounds or take a holistic approach. Pills may have helped me heal quicker however if God had not allowed me to walk out of this valley with Him alone I would not be experiencing the victory He has given!!!
This is a good read on the subject. https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/injury/2020/what-happens-to-the-brain-during-a-heatstroke-062520
When the brain overheats, it can cause a number of neurological and physiological changes that can impact consciousness, cognitive function, and overall health. These changes can include: Confusion, trouble thinking, impaired cognition, memory loss, decreased focus, brain fog, irritability, impulsivity, aggressiveness, anxiety, anger, depression, excessive sweating, fatigue, headaches and dizziness. The most common symptoms are feeling dazed and confused, headaches, thinking more slowly than usual, and an inability to remember things or even tasks just completed, mental fatigue and mood swings. Many of them are just like what people experience if they are bi polar, alcoholics or drug abusers.
After lighting the fire that night I sat on the lawn mower to watch it until it died down and began reflecting as I always do on my spiritual birthday where I am and I am not in my walk with the Lord. I began to think about how I had lost my first love for God, grown weary in well doing and was deceived to think I was just lukewarm. Holy Spirit gently spoke to my spirit that I was beyond lukewarm and I was cold. I prayed that God would restore to me the joy of His salvation.
Many times God has given me a time of visitation along with a birthday present of a deeper revelation or solution to problems in my life usually as a result of his love leading me to repentance. On the following Wednesday the 19th at a weekly prayer meeting I have been attending for many years the Lord began to give me a breakthrough instead of a breakdown the devil wanted to deliver. He gave me six of the best words in the universe to say to anyone and everyone, especially when I feel I'm being pressured or criticized.
I LOVE YOU. PRAY FOR ME.
When the body’s temperature begins to rise, the brain’s health is on the line.
