Hillary Clinton got dizzy while at the 9/11 Memorial Service last Sunday. Reports say she almost fainted. In the last two years I too have felt the ground move beneath my feet. And apparently I’ve been given a clean bill of health. I had my heart checked, my blood drawn, my blood pressure taken, my brain scanned. And you know what came up? Nada. Niete. Not a darn thing.
It all started once when I caved into peer pressure and finally tamed my unruly frizzy mane. A Brazilian Blow-Out was supposedly the answer to all my problems. (Hair that is.) I would no longer be a slave to the elements and have to brace myself if I saw rain or humidity in the forecast.
It’s a long process, you know. They put on some goop, wash it out, blow it out and then start all over a couple of dozen times. At least, that’s what it felt like. What I do remember quite clear is getting dizzy and nauseous and wanting to get the hell out of there before I was fully Brazilianized. Once me and my newly smoothed hair got home, we both had to lay down to take a rest. The room, it kept on spinning.
I have since had similar sensations if someone is spraying strong cleaning chemicals to clean, let’s say, a mirror in front of my face at a beauty salon. Sometimes, the foul smelling magic cocktail they put on my head to make the grey go away makes me feel funky too.
Last summer I had a nasty sinus infection that turned into bronchitis and then morphed into the flu – I was dizzy off and on for two weeks. One thing I know is that antibiotics, caffeine, dehydration, heat, and stress all make it worse. And it’s when the woozy sensation starts to come on it’s scary as hell.
Just thinking about my overflowing plate makes me dizzy and have to sit down. If I had Hillary Clinton’s grueling schedule, not to mention having to wear a Kevlar vest under my clothes, I’d be tearing my clothes off to get some air.
It wasn’t always like this. Over the years, in addition to a flagging metabolism and intolerance to dairy, I’ve developed a sensitivity to wet paint fumes and, like an old Buick, I overheat easily. Midlife has been generous with me, bestowing one interesting gift after another. Sometimes, I get weepy too, but that’s another story.
My doctor explained to me after my dizzy episode that sometimes as we get older our systems become more sensitive. God knows I don’t handle stress as well as I used to. It’s amazing our bodies even last this long when you think that one hundred years ago, by this age, we’d already be dead.
So don’t worry, Hillary. Many of us have been in your wobbly shoes. Get some rest and we’ll see you soon.
About the author: Linda Wolff writes at Carpool Goddess, where she proves that midlife, motherhood, and the empty nest aren’t so scary. Her work has appeared on The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Scary Mommy, TODAY Parents, Grown and Flown, Babble, and more. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
4 Comments
Delightful. Shows you that we’re all human.
Right there with you. In fact, i am a little dizzy right now.
I totally relate to that too. I’ve passed out twice off of tables at restaurants and I too got a clean bill of health. It’s a Vasovagel response. My sister has been swooning all her life and she’s healthy as a horse. I’m pretty sure it happened to me because I went too long without eating and was standing for a long time. I can’t stand the smell of chlorine from pools or in the washing machine. It’s weird how it affects your sense of smell.
The health of Hillary is very bad, thats been known in the media for some time. If you take a good look at her face you can see its getting all too much for her. I seriously advise her never to go into office. She might die in the first month because she cant handle it.