Wednesday, June 30, 2010

POTS


Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

This is what Dr. J thinks I have which would explain why I can't seem to stay hydrated, and need abnormal amounts of salt, the hypoglycemia I seem to be having, general fatigue and insomnia, and anxiety, concentration, and other issues. 


Treatment: more salt, exercise, and caffeine

Geez, everything I am already doing! I hope we can figure this out. I am getting annoyed by it.  But I am reading things about it being debilitating, and I am not debilitated, probably because of my lifestyle, but it is seeming to make my long runs difficult because one of the symptoms is that I don't do well at all in the heat right now. She took about 10 vials of blood today, but I guess I am increasing my daily salt intake even more. We will see if that helps. I need some help, so I can do the rest of my races this year without dying! 



2 comments:

  1. Wow, I hope you get this sorted. I suffer in the heat as well and never seem to drink enough, even if I feel I drink too much. Will follow this to see what you come up with.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I took 800mg of Scaps and gatorade before bed last night, and that was the first time I have slept through the night for about a month!

    All these symptoms I have that are probably related:

    I wake up feeling like I have the flu every morning and feel horrible until I make myself get out of bed, and then it goes away after 20 minutes

    Breathing problems that come on with heat and activity

    recently hypoglycemia

    feeling like I have a panic attack that last for 2 weeks

    insomnia

    anxiety that doesn't seem related to anything, and comes on randomly

    heat issues with exercise

    sodium absorption issues.

    and even the two medications that seem to be the only things that help- Aderral and Welbutrin, are sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of this condition. I have always told people anti-depressants work differently with me, and either they work right away and make a difference, or the don't work at all. No one believes me. But if they are working with this condition, it makes sense because it is effecting my othrostatic pressure, and it is that, not the anti-depressant mechanism that is making them work.

    Also the fact that I started adding 200mg of caffeine in the morning, because it is helping my anxiety.

    Not to mention the mental fog I have that seems to go away with salty foods, or protein, feeling disconnected a lot

    I am increasing my daily intake to at least 5000mg and I ordered a whole case of Scaps!!!

    ReplyDelete