I fainted for the first time last week from dehydration. I have the scabs on my left knuckle and forehead to show for it, and the memory of losing a hold on my balance and waking up to the impact of concrete.
In short, I let myself get dangerously dehydrated during a full day of baseball (or more likely leading up to it at which point it was too late to rehydrate) to the point that my muscles were beginning to cramp while playing during the last hour. Instead of stopping off at a grocery store or gas station to get a snack and sports drink, I opted to make the 40 minute drive home without any water in the car.
After fighing off cramps in stop-and-go traffic I got out of my car and immediately had a horrible cramp in my right hamstring. I’ve had these for all my life, so I thought that would be the worst of it. After working through it I started walking back home only to lose all sense of control and fell to the ground ten feet away from my car.
Luckily the knock on my head was minimal and everything looked worse than it was. I recovered quickly and called a friend to help, and have since made a point to track how much water I drink and also augment with electrolyte beverages. But it was a scary moment that was both avoidable and could have resulted in awful injury. As we head into the tail end of summer (or in the Bay Area, our real summer) make sure you have water on hand and some salty snacks to help retain what you drink. Pay attention to how you’re sweating and how your body feels, and don’t be too stubborn to rest. As someone with a track record of medical hubris, this experience brought me down a notch. It’s better to get out in front of that.