Post by DarcyLongfellow on Feb 6, 2023 10:25:14 GMT -5
It's funny you should ask this -- DH and I are fairly sure our 13 year old has it, or something similar. In the post last week I noticed the poster said her child had it, but she had a lot going on so I was going to wait to ask her about it!
We did the "poor man's table test" on DD, and the results were consistent with POTS. We are taking her to see a pediatric neurologist. She's already had an MRI and a full blood work panel done.
Have you tried eating salt to see if it helps when you're having an episode?
TikTok made me think I have it based on the whole "do you stand like this? do you sit like this?" but I don't think I really do. I've never passed out from standing up quickly and have only rarely gotten even lightheaded from it.
I have a bit of orthostatic/postural hypotension. It's mild but I've had phases where I definitely notice it a lot more. Or doing certain activities... like I remember we went strawberry picking last summer and I had to stop the repetitive bending/squatting and standing because everything went swirly and I almost fainted. My BP runs on the lower side in general. I don't have POTS though... my heart rate doesn't seem affected that I've noticed.
I've wondered if I have this because I've been a fainter my entire life, largely under the circumstances I've seen described. I remember when I realized many people have never fainted and I'm like a heroine in a Victorian romance over here.
Post by fuckyourcouch on Feb 7, 2023 11:58:45 GMT -5
I have it. My rheumatologist sent me to a cardiologist and they did the tilt table test and all that. My BP has always been quite low and a few years ago I started fainting regularly and it got a lot worse.
There isn’t really a treatment. The cardiologist just told me to add a lot of salt to my diet and gave me some “emergency” BP raising meds for acute situations. I am extremely heat sensitive so a lot of times I would have issues mid day in the middle of something. The meds were for that type of situation, where I couldn’t necessarily prep beforehand.
I am not really a salt person (don’t love savory snacks, etc) so I mostly get my salt with a lot of electrolyte drink mixes. I load up if I know it’s going to be warm or I’ll be doing a lot of physical effort (I’m a regular runner). This has mostly kept me close to 110-120 over 70-80 and I haven’t fainted in a long time.
I have a friend in her late 40s who has POTS. Feel free to PM questions and I can pass them along!
Thanks! I guess I’m just curious about her symptoms and treatment.
for sure feeling weak and lightheaded, erratic pulse, insanely high heartrate, exhausted, feeling sick all the time, lots of headaches, etc. I asked her to let me know what treatment has worked best; it took about a solid year of fine tuning the meds to get something that has worked for her--once I hear back I will send you a PM!