Hey guys,
I just experienced a similar story as I decided
To take a nice relaxing afternoon bath using Epsom salt. In the beginning the bath was extremely relaxing and I felt so good. However, all of a sudden I felt beating in my right ear.. ( almost like an irregular heartbeat) this was accompanied by an increased heart rate. I tried to brush it off by changing my
Position and flipping on my belly. Unfortunately it didn’t get better. The beating in my ear became louder and my heart rate went crazy. I started to drain the water so that I wouldn’t drown in case I fainted. I was able to climb out of the tub and lay down til I felt better. Has anyone have any ideas as to what causes the beating in the ear? I get the increased heart rate but what the beating in the eat is a bit alarming to me.

Hope you don’t mind me chiming in here April… that sounds mmmmarvellous to me. I hope you never keep that fan (even a portable one) too close to the bathwater, as you can get a nasty shock even from batteries if it should slip into the water. Don’t ask me how I know this! ;( I personally love a super hot bath, gradually adding the heat after I’m already in the tub as it is filling up, so that my body can acclimate. Kind of like a lobster slowly being cooked (yikes, well not exactly!) If my skin starts to turn bright RED, I know it’s way TOO hot, but opening a window to let in cold air sounds like a great way to “chill out” during a wonderful soak. Ahhh….

HotTubBill,
I don’t have any ulcers or anything. But was a 3 sport athlete for four years in high school. Then with that came knee problems. So, the hot hot bath was SO worth it. Even now, after my knees have been fixed with prolotherapy, I still take hot baths because it helps. I take 1.5-2 hr baths myself.

My baths are so hot it sometimes takes me a minute to ease myself into it. This is my escape. I too have had the almost pass out moments, but will not dare give my baths up! I find that it helps alot to have something cool to drink with you and to take a portable fan in the bathroom with you. And if its cold outside, I will open my bathroom window.

This is great, Ben! Thanks for sharing this very useful info!

Great information here. From things I learned via various sources online, I noticed more than one place that stated that when using salts in a hot bath, such as epsom and sea salts, they recommended trying to get your water as close to 98.6f as possible. The salts keep the water at constant level as does your body. It should be hot enough to induce the benefits of detoxing, and mineral absorption, while helping to reduce the the chances of overheating. It will still increase your heart rate and effect your blood pressure so you still need to time your bath and be careful with post bath safety. Also, I always have plenty of room temp water to drink nearby to prevent dehydration.

Along with Dr. Williams’ statement, if you were already ill, it’s possible that you did have a fever. Your body’s metabolism (the mitochondria of cells) begin to lose function and die when there is an increase in body temperature. This would have just put you into a more dangerous situation. I have to say that I don’t think it was the hot bath alone that caused your issues. Though, it’s very important to ensure that baths are never TOO hot and that you have lukewarm or cooler baths when you’re ill (even though it feels good to have a hot one at the time, you’re going to feel horrible when you get out).

When changing your core temperature to a hotter temperature (even by a few degrees) the body begins to destroy toxins. It’s like simulating a fever. When toxins leave your body you can feel faint, disoriented, nauseous, ect.
I suggest cooling down as the water drains and taking your time standing up. This goes for hot baths, saunas, hot tubs and anything that raises the body temperature for an extended period of time.

Thank you all for informing me on this topic ! I am a mother and my 13 year old daughter decided she wanted a hot bath yesterday….off course this is not the first time so I let her run her bath and went and put my son to bed. About 15 minutes later, I hear a very low voice calling mom…. So I go into the bathroom to discover my daughter almost fainting in her bath !! I helped her out and almost carried her to her bed because she was feeling very week. She also said their were a noise in her ears and she was nauseous and had a headache. I gave her something to dring while she was in bed and the nausea and noise went away. But even after a night sleep she was complaining of pain in her ears and the headache was still there. She had a complete blood test done a few months ago for something else all together and all was fine…so I am wandering if any of you had symptoms last longer that 10-15 minutes…. By the way when I pulled to plug to drain the water in her bath I could barely put my arm in there….it’s puzzling to me that she was even capable of lying down in the water….with her head in because the intended to take a shower after to wash her hair. That is all the details I have. Any feedback is very welcome !!

Thanks all of you again !
Nathalie

I’m doing research at the moment for my own bath time woes. I’d certainly caution use of epsom salts – I was using them too often in very hot baths and made myself exhausted and quite ill. I’m wondering if anyone knows what, if anything, happens to a person who takes hot baths too often. Are there long-term negative effects? I’m trying to determine if other symptoms (chronic joint paint and fatigue) might not have some kind of connection to too many hot baths.