Waterparks and Adrenal Insufficiency Can Mix

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We recently spent 2 days in a row at a small water park called Rock ‘n River. The second day at the waterpark, I made a really big mistake with my adrenal insufficient kiddo. 

When we get out and about in this TX heat, I treat her like any other seven-year-old. She takes small breaks in the shade, I make sure she has plenty of cold water and snacks available to her, and let her do her thing. 

We were at the waterpark for maybe two hours and Dot started complaining of a slight headache and her tummy hurting. At the time I didn’t think much of it, as she had gotten upset about going on the lazy river. She wanted to go but she was also frightened, so she had a little bit of a cry about the whole situation. 

I assumed that her head was hurting and also maybe her tummy, because she had been crying and was a little bit upset.

It never occurred to me that she was having issues with her adrenal insufficiency, that I should double her hydrocortisone that afternoon at 2 o’clock when she normally takes it. 

I kept pushing her to drink lots of water and cool off in the shade but what I really needed to do was double her hydrocortisone to cover the stress her body was under due to two days in the Texas heat and running around in the sun.

We got home about 4:30 & it clicked with me that she needed more of her hydrocortisone, so I gave her that and we kept a really close eye on her. 

Within an hour she was feeling much better.

This is such an unusual thing for us. Typically she has no issues with the heat and does not need to be stressed dosed, but I suppose after two days in the water and the sun with 100+ degree weather, it would take its toll on anybody physically. 

We definitely avoided her majorly crashing, but honestly it was probably narrowly avoided. I told her that in the future when she communicates to me that she’s not feeling well, I will go ahead and remember that it’s probably not typical and that I should stress dose her hydrocortisone to be on the safe side. 

It will never hurt her to give her extra hydrocortisone, but not giving her enough can cause major health issues (in most serious cases, cause death) for her.

I think it was a major lesson that I learned that day & I vowed to do better by my babe.