This happened to my dad. TIA was suspected but there was no lasting damage nor other stroke symptoms. It was ruled exhaustion. My dad regularly works 70-80 hour weeks and does at least one all-nighter a month. What I learned is that this is not uncommon in his field (medicine.) Four of his colleagues have had the same experience, they just don't let anyone know and really try to hide it out of personal and professional pride.
I was still trying to be a startup hacker in my 30s, working all nighters, living on pizza and coffee. After one all nighter I could not remember the combination to my lock at the gym (I often showered at the gym by work instead of going home) nor could I remember my PIN number at the ATM. My hands were shaking it felt like my heart was going to explode . I checked into the ER and they said I was fine but that I was experiencing acute exhaustion and dehydration.
Since then I've tried to tone things down a bit, but unfortunately most tech companies tend towards insane work hours, no matter how much they claim to follow a "normal" work week. I recently left a job because it was expected to work about 70 hours a week and I knew I'd end up falling apart like my dad (or Bill Nye) if I kept it up.
When I lives in SF, it was not uncommon for my fellow engineers to binge drink on weekends (or wednesdays), have super unhealthy foodie-fests like "bacon parties" or try to outdo each other with the craziest 4-espresso-shot coffee concoction. I've seen too many halfways-healthy looking programmers turn into high-blood-pressure overweight blobs over the course of 18 months, and I fear for their long term health. Nobody wants to admit it, but the culture of stress and overwork at startups (and other fields) has real physical effects. Maybe not today, but somewhere down the road.
I was still trying to be a startup hacker in my 30s, working all nighters, living on pizza and coffee. After one all nighter I could not remember the combination to my lock at the gym (I often showered at the gym by work instead of going home) nor could I remember my PIN number at the ATM. My hands were shaking it felt like my heart was going to explode . I checked into the ER and they said I was fine but that I was experiencing acute exhaustion and dehydration.
Since then I've tried to tone things down a bit, but unfortunately most tech companies tend towards insane work hours, no matter how much they claim to follow a "normal" work week. I recently left a job because it was expected to work about 70 hours a week and I knew I'd end up falling apart like my dad (or Bill Nye) if I kept it up.
When I lives in SF, it was not uncommon for my fellow engineers to binge drink on weekends (or wednesdays), have super unhealthy foodie-fests like "bacon parties" or try to outdo each other with the craziest 4-espresso-shot coffee concoction. I've seen too many halfways-healthy looking programmers turn into high-blood-pressure overweight blobs over the course of 18 months, and I fear for their long term health. Nobody wants to admit it, but the culture of stress and overwork at startups (and other fields) has real physical effects. Maybe not today, but somewhere down the road.