ZOMG
I think I totally almost blacked out today!! Okay, if it weren't freaking me out at the time, it would have been totally cool. It made me think I was in those first few minutes of a House episode where they show what happens to the victim before they end up at the hospital. I was like, cool, but what the heck is wrong with me. Seriously.
It was hot today. Hot hot hot. So I drank a bit of water. Apparently not enough though. It was at karate, too. Okay! So, it was about....forty minutes into the lesson? And we were doing kicks. We had stopped for a drink break just before, too. Anyway. So, first it began with my neck and shoulders hurting, which was strange but hey, I figured I hadn't warmed up properly. I wasn't tired or anything, but then began having trouble breathing (okay, at this point I began my mini freak out). We were into doing the kicks "hard and fast"...so, in my mini freak out, I didn't actually do the kicks properly...just sort of did them because freakingoutfreakingout.
That's when it got weird. No, really. Very weird. It was just when we finished kicks and moved onto combinations, which, like the kicks, I could only bring myself to do very minimally. The breathing thing was okay by now, sort of, but my neck and shoulders still hurt so that was sucky. But then...my vision started doing cracked up things. I am short sighted, and wasn't wearing my glasses so everything was almost totally blurry anyway, but the fans buzzing overhead and moving...my eyesight started blacking out! That was fucking scary. Everything was just...blurred and the fans buzzing overhead made it worse then it would all fade to black and be back again and I felt sick and I COULDN'T SEE. omg. My head also began to pound and I began to think of all the neurological reasons for the pounding and the loss of eyesight and knew I totally watched too much TV and still retained a basic knowledge from Human Bio and it was just scaring me more! So I freaked out for those 10 minutes, and then remembered I could totally just stop and go sit down. But luckily we stopped for a drink break at that point.
My hands were shaking by then, too and they felt all tingly!. And didn't stop, even when we were doing the kata. But by then I put my glasses on and it helped and I didn't momentarily lose my sight and then the trembling stopped and its okay now. But I figure I was just dehydrated or something. I must go look it up.
Anyway, from the loss of actually seeing, I am on a must-drink-as-much-water-as-humanly-possible binge.
So, Wikipedia says (and for purposes of analysing whether I was dehydrated I will italicise things that occured):
Symptoms:
- headaches similar to what is experienced as a hangover
- sudden episode of visual snow
- decreased blood pressure (hypotension) (well, I wouldn't know)
- dizziness
- fainting
All leading to delirium, unconsciousness and death. WONDERFUL.
Symptoms become noticeable after 2% of one's normal water volume has been loss. Athletes may suffer a loss of performance of up to 50% and experience:
- flushing
- low endurance
- rapid heart rates
- elevated body temp (pretty sure here too...but I couldn't know for certain)
- rapid onset of fatigue
The symptoms become increasingly severe with greater water loss. One's heart and respiration rates will increase to compensate for decreased plasma volume and blood pressure, while body temperature may rise due to decreased sweating. Around 5% to 6% water loss, one may become groggy or sleepy, experience headaches or nausea, and may feel tingling in one's limbs (paresthesia). With 10% to 15% fluid loss, muscles may become spastic, skin may shrivel and wrinkle, vision may dim, urination will be greatly reduced and may become painful, Difficulty breathing, Chest / abdominal pain and delirium may begin. Losses of greater than 15% are usually fatal.
Um. I'm going to go away and FREAK OUT NOW.