overexertion? dehydration?

How much are you sweating?

My military training tells me that is Dehydration...borderline heat stroke. The first indicator is dry skin, then heat, then nausea and eventually a blackout if you don't drink.

Honestly, if you get to that point the quickest way to rehydrate is to eat 2 packets of salt (the little restaurant ones work perfect) and drink a bottle of gatorade.

Itech- initially, sweating a normal amount. When it gets to that point though, I'm not really sure. Memory's hazy.

Arthritic- Ok that's scary. Can you have heatstroke if you're not out in the sun? Thanks for the salt packet tip. I'll remember that... and I'll try to drink a lot more the day of practice next week and see if that helps.

Ok so I did some reading on my own (slow day at work haha) and yeah, that sounds exactly right. Pretty scary. I was having a couple other symptoms too, which I was mistaking for something else. I know I generally don't drink nearly enough fluids so I'm sure it was because I couldn't sweat enough to release the heat. LESSON LEARNED. Pretty freaky since this is not the first time that's happened. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I'm going to go get a glass of water now.

Before your game, have an entire bottle of gatorade. Then whilst playing or practice you should also finish an entire bottle of water.

That's sufficient fluid amounts for the average person.

Also drinking a restore drink immmediately after a heavy/strenuous practice is good, I use Endurox restore for less than an hour workout and Enurox R4 for over an hour strenuous workout and it helps with more than just hydration/replenishment. As Itech mentioned hydrate before your game/practice with more than just water if your going into it with a heavy workout/game as you will loose alot of fluid/salt/sugar ect..

Itech: I got some gatorade, am going to put a half gatorade half water mix in my bottle tomorrow morning. It's too sweet and syrupy just straight, especially when playing.

Bill: Thanks. Where do I find stuff like that, health food stores?

The big issue I think is just regular everyday hydration. I drink a lot of coffee (bad!) and probably have about 2 8-oz glasses of water during the day. Maybe a little bit of something with dinner but not much. So yeah.... I have been pretty stupid about it. I had 50 oz today and feel like bursting.

Maalivahti,

Drink it straight, drink a full one. Gatorade is basically salt water. It helps you retain the required liquids in your body. I wanted you to drink the gatorade BEFORE the game anyways. Water during the game.