I have no idea if this is something that all Canadians share, or if my being Canadian has caused it, or if I’m just some kind of half-Yeti freak, but here goes.
It’s 20 degrees. That’s something like 70 for you 'merikans. Most people love 20 degree weather. It’s pleasant. It’s fun. It’s a welcome respite from the frozen Canadian winter. Me, I cant stand it.
For you see, above about 15 degrees and I become uncomfortably warm, no matter how little I wear (and trust me, I dont wear much). At maybe 17 degrees, the profuse sweating begins. And now, at 20 degrees, I’m having my characteristic difficulty breathing.
I sit here, typing, and I’m struggling to breathe.
Noone knows why. We’ve had doctors look at it, only to tell me it’s allergies. It isn’t. I know this because it happens when the house is made too warm, even in winter. It comes with the heat, and leaves, in seconds, if I move somewhere cold.
What does it feel like? I breathe normally, and I fill my lungs with as much air as normal, I’m quite sure. But nothing gets absorbed, or at least it dosnt feel like it does. This leaves me breathing hard and feeling faint. Much higher than this and I end up prostrate, with my friends and family bringing me fans and ice and frozen drinks.
I can function normally outside most of the time if I simply breathe off something cold. For instance, I’ll buy a very cold drink, and breathe the air coming from near it, which it has cooled. This allows me to breathe entirely normally. Again I say, it’s not allergies.
I had to leave work one day on and outdoor job because the fans I had brought, and the cold water I was breathing off of was not enough to allow me to breathe, and I very nearly passed out at my post. I was escorted to an air conditioned employee lounge, and within seconds of stepping inside I was breathing the cooled air quite normally. They let me stay there until high noon had passed and it was cool enough that I could return.
Does anyone know what I’m talking about, or have any idea why this happens to me? Some have speculated that my body simply produces too much heat. This is supported by the fact that I wear t-shirts in -40 weather and dont feel cold, and yet I cannot take warm dishes out of the dishwasher without pain from the heat.
Or am I just a Canadian icemonster, or what?