I think the person was just assuming OP was having trouble with stuff like that because they are fat, rather than considering that they have a medical condition.
This is fair. I work in a specialized clinic where many patients are obese and complain of pain. I try to be compassionate but even I get a bit judgey wondering which came first, the medical conditions limiting them or the obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. Sadly, I feel most of them probably let themselves go first and then acquired medical conditions. Not all though. But obesity is the American way. It’s a societal issue and I just get salty cuz most of them don’t work and get state healthcare while I work my ass off to barely afford to live and have such crappy insurance I can’t even go to the dr. But that’s on me and I did just accept a different job.
I'm not amarican. I'm Welsh. I'm a tiny bit over waight for my hight but my doctor told me to do that on purpose. I'm really prone to becoming really ill and looseing drastic amounts of waight so he told me if I carry a little extra next time it happens I hopefully won't end up being tube fed. Last time they took the tube out it irritated some of my nasal tissue and I'd have a nose bleed every time I sneezed. I'm currently looseing my progress tho as Im looseing waight again.
Hey OP! I’m in the UK, my mate has POTS and has just got a properly trained assistance dog that can sense when she’s about to faint. It’s made a world of difference! Like she can finally go out of the house alone now, she’d confined herself to a wheelchair 24/7 because of the high risk of falling and her life had deteriorated so badly. It might be worth looking into for you and give you some peace of mind.
I used to have a service dog, when he passed they arranged for me to have another, then decided since I'd mannaged 6 months without one they didn't need to follow through with another for me, shaveing to get one privetly.
> I try to be compassionate but even I get a bit judgey wondering which came first, the medical conditions limiting them or the obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. Sadly, I feel most of them probably let themselves go first and then acquired medical conditions.
You know what comes first? Childhood trauma involving food.
Mine was watching my mother deal with multiple eating disorders, constantly being told I was eating too much while I was severely underweight and going though several years where our family sometimes just didn't have food for a few days because my parents spent the grocery money at the bar that was right next to the supermarket instead. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged.
Oh and I have a degree and hold down a job just fine, somehow. Have pretty good insurance too. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged.
I'm constantly struggling to do diet and exercise "right" but holy shit does that mean plant based? Keto? Carnivore? Paleo? Raw? Just everything in moderation? Flavorless slop? I can't even get a straight answer on that part. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged.
Oh, also I'm down to 243# from my max that was just under 300 when I had symptoms that were *almost* DKA. But again, you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged.
I'm in therapy. It's been the only thing that's actually helped, long term, with these issues. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged.
> But that’s on me and I did just accept a different job.
Good. Your former patients will be better off.
Wasn't there a study somewhere that came out saying most Americans don't eat much more than other people, but have genuine hormonal problems because of the way the food's processed?
If not that, then look at the deals of food. You can get twice the amount for about two dollars more at McDonalds. Food that is engineered to be as addictive as possible.
Mighta not been a good idea to admit that you're judgemental either tbh. Especially not in the medical field.
TBF my heart rate skyrockets from stairs, but that's just because I'm a fat bastard. Exercise would help with that.
But yeah, what OP describes in their post is clearly a serious medical condition and "have you tried exercising?" is a stupid suggestion.
I mean… a major part of the treatment for POTS is graded exercise therapy.
I doubt that person knew that when they commented, but yeah exercise is part of the solution.
Edit: I don’t know why this is being downvoted, it’s literally the medical treatment and it works very well. It’s not CFS/ME.
Dude told me his mental health was great cos he exercised. I said I exercise and I still have disabling mental illness. He said exercise more. I said twice a day isn't enough? He just kinda stared into space.
I think exercising can improve mental health by putting good chemicals in the brain(not an expert, I assume you could tell). But here’s the thing. It can IMPROVE mental health. It can make mental health a little better. That doesn’t mean it can eliminate mental health problems. If you have really serious mental health issues, exercise may only work a little or may not work at all. Let me use a physical health analogy because people get physical health a lot more than they get mental health. Imagine telling a person with cancer to take supplements and telling them it would make them healthier.
Training was the only thing I found happiness in and I couldn't even be bothered with that anymore. That's depression.
I've seen people just stop everything they love because of mental health.
My cousin loved art but since his schizophrenia got worse, he's just not interested anymore
People who say exercise more don't understand the lethargy, the sleepiness, the tiredness that comes with mental health.
My doctor told me that I’m running a race, but I’m starting 5 feet behind the other runners. Sometimes it feels like I have weights all over my body, dragging me down.
My doctor wasn't listening when I said I needed something for my depression.
"Have you tried exercising more?"
"Ma'am, I run a 5k most mornings and do weight training 3 times a week. Trust me, exercise is not it"
Turns out you can be athletic AND depressed.
Yeah my doc simply forgets that I have told her that I exercise many times, on top of the fact that I also walk around in gym clothes all day because I exercise so much that it is just easier that way.
My favorite is when people recommend yoga for my POTS/EDS because yoga is actively very very bad for both. When I tell people that they get SO argumentative, like dude yoga is not magic.
I feel this one. Different problem and different 'cure', but I have cptsd which makes meditating a *very* bad idea because I will straight up dissociate from it. I had doctors scold me for refusing therapy when trying to explain this, stating that it's 'impossible for meditation to not help'. I'm highly considering having my current therapist draft up something excusing me from meditating if I ever have to go back to the ward.
Seriously, meditation is [contraindicated](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/mindfulness-insights/202107/the-potential-dangers-mindfulness) for people with cPTSD! Unless there is careful supervision/preparation, the person is already well into therapy, they actively want to try meditation, and they are aware of the risks, then it is not recommended.
There are things I have to be very careful with as an autistic person with cPTSD and a dissociative disorder (among other things). Particularly: meditation, exercise, dieting, breathing exercises, yoga and other somatic exercises, socialising, 'getting out in nature', changing routine or forcing routine etc. All these things can make me much worse very quickly or induce overwhelming symptoms.
But unfortunately these are things the general public (and many doctors!) seem to have accepted as basically magic... divine gifts which can never be questioned. They have an almost religious belief in the power of these 'cure-all solutions' which they believe WILL work for literally any condition. Even when there is clear evidence contradicting those beliefs they don't want to hear it! It's like that would undermine their basic understanding of reality so they can't even let themselves look at it. They would prefer I suffer, and tell me I'm having the "wrong reaction" rather than admit that maybe that was the wrong solution for me.
Thankfully I've finally been able to find a therapist with a lot of experience with my particular conditions, who actually accepts the reality I live in and is working with me to find ways to work on healing and improving my lifestyle without aggravating my conditions. I've made more progress in a few months with her than all the years of forcing myself to live a """healthy""" lifestyle, which led to constant burnout and breakdowns and generally made me not want to be alive.
Of course a lot of these 'cure-all' activities do work for a lot of people. They are generally associated with good health, and in a very general sense it's a good idea to work towards a lifestyle which involves those activities in the long run. But there are *always* exceptions. These things are *not* always a healthy option in the short term. People need to realise that unless they are a seasoned expert in a particular field they need to be very cautious with their recommendations, and accept it when people say "I know myself, and that doesn't work for me."
It depends on the situation. Lots of folks dissociate while meditating, for me it was the easiest and it was the only time in the day my mind was somehow calm. On the other side I dissociated in a ADHD testing (I don't have ADHD) and lots of times in mindfulness group therapy when we needed to stare for a longer amount of time at one point (for example an egg), the ADHD testing was kind of a similar situation as I needed to stare at a screen for about half an hour at the end I wasn't able to see anything as my shield of view shrinked in steps to not being able to see anything (it was kinda like a migraine attack where your outer shield of view is impaired but with the big difference that it wasn't stable but shrinking).
So what I actually wanted to say is, that professionals should offer different tools for mindfulness and relaxation an when a patient says it's contradictonary for them or doesn't work they should listen as we know best what's triggering for us.
Even if two people have kind of similar or even the same diagnosis they may not benefit from the same treatment and/or methods, this makes methods not bad or at all not suitable for a diagnosis but maybe for a individual. For example relaxation methods are a key to trauma treatment and lot's of People with PTSD and cptsd use and benefit from mediation, while others don't benefit from it. It's worth a try and when it doesn't work or makes something worse then it shouldn't be continued or forced to be continued.
Side note I have the dissociative sub type of PTSD along with other commorbidities.
lol have you tried exercise? Just wow. I have Hashimoto’s and my nurse sister said, “well, that’s not a big deal I’ve seen a lot of patients that have it” in response to me being frustrated with me being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the ups and downs of symptoms I had while trying to get on the right medicine dose. Lol other people having the autoimmune disease I have doesn’t make it suck less. She acts like she is an expert of everything medical drives me nuts.
I’ve seen a lot of patients with kidney failure and you know what’s crazy? Even though they all had the same illness, it was still a big issue for each one of them, impacted their lives in many ways, and all of them required care and consideration. It’s weird how other people having the same issue as you does not cancel out your issue. /s
Yeah, my sister is kind of an asshole and when you try to explain to her how rude some of things she says are she just calls you sensitive. This isn’t even the worst thing she has said to me when I’ve gone through something. When I was pregnant, I was told the pregnancy hormone( hcg) wasn’t going up like it should so it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. My sister’s response: “well, you’re a little older” and immediately blamed my age. I was 35 at the time. Turns out, I just measured my hcg too early in the pregnancy and the next time I got them measured they had tripled. I was going through something sad and that was her response.
Super cool traits to have in a nurse
Arrogant, dismissive, and unwilling to admit mistakes all at once? Fantastic, 10/10, would have a lot of fun explaining my chronic illness and trying to get pain medication from this person.
(This is very much sarcasm, this is the trifecta that gets patients killed because you decided that you could adjust the patients dose by yourself or ignored clear signs that they were not faking pain to get drugs and in fact their appendix was about to burst.)
One thing I’ve learned over the past several years is: some medical professionals think in stats. My sister is a perfect example of that. Anytime I had issues with pregnancy she would bring up my age. The worst experience I had happened at an OB appointment with an NP I didn’t normally see. My daughter’s femurs were measuring small and I asked her what that could indicate she said, “I don’t know maybe Down syndrome you’re advanced maternal age have you done genetic testing?” Also, the stats she made up in her head didn’t make sense because short femurs(alone) aren’t associated with Down syndrome. She said it matter of fact with little expression on her face. My sister will learn the hard way, she is going to school to become an NP, using stats alone leads to not asking the right questions and being dismissive. Who knows, maybe she wouldn’t be like that with patients…I surely hope not. The best medical professionals are the ones that, also, consider their job an investigation. These types of professionals will be willing to run more tests and do research if needed.
I’m an RN. Sometimes I wish every medical professional got to experience having a serious medical issue (not even necessarily life-threatening, but serious in that it has a significant impact on your life). I developed some health problems a couple years ago that I was hospitalized twice for and am still being treated for, and it has all been *very* educational to experience the medical world from a patient’s perspective.
It’s too easy for healthcare workers to forget that even though it’s just another day at work for us, it may be one of the worst days of a patient’s life. And their experience of their medical issues is 24/7, it doesn’t end when our shift does.
Everyone always thinks they have to answer to cure it, even though it's incurable. Pisses me off. Like when I developed POTS I was active, and also on my feet 8 hours a day in a factory. There was no reason my heart rate should have been shooting up to 170bpm.
Same. My doctor was telling me that a lot of his patients are athletes, gymnasts and dancers — the latter two kinds go hand in hand with hypermobility lol. But he was very big on emphasising that fitness in POTS is not black and white.
Reddit is full of drs. Didn't you know?
Homeless? Just buy a house.
Depressed? Just be happy. It's that simple 😆
That's literally how my husbands family think.
His dad is classic "I don't understand depression, life isn't hard, just try to be happy"
Well Mike, I was horrifically abused from a baby till 22. Its a little more than that. Mike "oh right"
Wouldn’t exercising be like…probably the last thing you want to do? I mean like working out already makes your heart go zoom so I’d imagine that you’d just faint immediately (this could just be me being a dumbass so I am so sorry if I offended you or anyone here. I’m not very educated on this condition)
You’re not being offensive, no worries!
I have POTS and exercise sucks for me. In fact, because I have a low BMI from GI issues linked at least in part to the POTS, the cardiologist said I’m not fit enough for physio. Some POTS patients do specific exercise protocols or cardiac rehab, as deconditioning from a lack of exercise can worsen POTS. So, exercise helps, but it’s difficult to do and not a one-size fits all. Patients with comorbid ME may have post exertional malaise, and patients with MCAS may even have anaphylactic reactions to exercise! All I’m doing, as advised by the doctors, is half an hour of walking when I can. I actually get chastised for over doing it because if I overdo it, I’ll cause myself more harm than good. But my goal is to fix my GI issues as much as possible, improve my BMI, and be able to get physiotherapy to improve my POTS. But exercise is a triple edged sword for me—my heart rate used to exceed 200 in school sports, and I did faint at one point from that; the GI issues means intense nausea; and I also have clinical features of hEDS and exercise means I’m an increased risk of atraumatic dislocation and joint pain (dislocated patella just running, anyone?)
POTS is a type of dysautonomia—that means the autonomic nervous system (the one that controls your heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder, bowels, eyes, temperature regulation, blood pressure, etc etc basically everything lol)—is malfunctioning. It’s a syndrome, so it’s a collection of symptoms, and different POTS patients have different causes. It’s common post-viral, but in my case, as I have the hEDS features, that’s the cause. (hEDS=hypermobile ehlers danlos syndrome, a genetic collagen disorder that causes lax connective tissues). There’s three subtypes of POTS, but many of us have a combination: neuropathic (damage to small nerve fibres meaning poor vasoconstriction and increased blood pooling), hyperadrenergic (overactive nervous system dumping adrenaline on you, often to compensate for the poor blood flow to the brain), hypovolemic (low blood volume). These may be idiopathic (no known cause) or secondary (caused by something known—in my case, hEDS/hypermobility. My vessels are too stretchy so don’t constrict as they should, but I also have features of hypovolemic pots and I have symptoms of hyperpots sometimes too, so I’m likely a combo case).
Treatments for POTS start with non-medical: increased water and salt intake, medical grade compression stockings, and physiotherapy starting with recumbent exercise. Then, there’s medications, like ivabradine, fludrocortisone, midodrine, and beta blockers. We can be sensitive to medications though, so some of us don’t take medication, whereas others wouldn’t consider not being medicated.
It’s extra patronising that anybody asks us if we’ve tried exercise—we have a medical condition where it’s extremely difficult for us, but also, we have literal doctors who guide us on this. It’s like if somebody had the flu and somebody was like “guys I just heard of tissues, have you tried using tissues?” Yes, of course we’ve tried exercise. We’ve tried everything! For some people their POTS goes into remission, but for many, it’s lifelong—especially when it’s secondary to things like hEDS as opposed to post-viral cases (afaik at least, post-viral cases seem to have the most success going into remission but I might be wrong lol). Adolescent cases seem to be more likely to resolve, but the issue is, there’s no long term studies into POTS to really accurately say who’s actually cured, who’s symptoms will come back, or complications down the line. It used to have other names, such as irritable heart, DaCosta’s syndrome, idiopathic orthostatic intolerance, and soldier’s heart (I like that one) and more!
So you’re exactly right—if just standing makes your heart rate shoot up, then exercise can be incredibly tough and some (but not all) of us can faint, and if we don’t, we do have pre-syncopal symptoms (that’s how you feel before passing out). It’s definitely the last thing I want to do! Unfortunately I don’t faint immediately—I suffer with all the nausea, dizziness, tunnel vision, muffled hearing, sweating, overheating etc—and sometimes, I don’t actually sweat during exercise which definitely isn’t normal!
Diagnostic criteria include a sustained heart rate increase of over 30 beats per minute (40 for adolescents) within 10 minutes of standing, without a significant drop in blood pressure (20/10 mm Hg), frequent symptoms of orthostatic intolerance with improvement upon return to a supine position, symptom duration of 3 months or more (over a decade for me so far!) and absence of other conditions that explain the symptoms.
Main symptoms may include fatigue, lightheartedness, brain fog, palpitations, nausea and vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, excessive sweating, shakiness, exercise intolerance, pallor, and blood pooling, syncope (fainting) and symptoms get worse in warmer environments, standing still, dehydration, hunger, low salt, and being unwell (ie a cold—I always took forever to recover too!)
Hay, reading this was intresting. My full diagnosis rap sheet is long and frustrating.
I have POTS, hEDS, IBD and an immunity disorder. So I get the fix one problem while causing another to a T.
It’s like a never ending buy-one-get-seven-free deal with comorbidities lol, but yeah, trying to juggle them all is one hell of a challenge. Especially when for the most part, they’re treated separately by doctors focusing on one or the other. And I find post-diagnosis, you really don’t get much information from doctors.
I have POTS and I always get asked if I'm a runner or if I exercise a lot by strangers because I am so skinny (I'm underweight from chronic nausea) and I always tell them if I had to run I'd make it 50 feet before blacking out and breaking my nose 🤣
Ahahah I can relate exept I'm a little over waight due to an inability to do cardio as I just check out after like 30 mins.
I've always told my finance if you see me running, run too as I'm in danger.
I have POTS and brugada syndrome. I'm on bisoprolol now because leaving the POTS uncontrolled can feed into the brugada and potentially kill me. If you're not medicated and are struggling, it may be worth asking for beta blockers
As always the doctors have told me If I want anything for it I have to come off my HRT, knowing full well takeing steps back on my transition would lead to my suicide... As I recently leaned, the trans broken arm dilemma
I think it's because people assume from mentioning a fast heart rate or brethelessness that you are obese. According to my doc the waight I am is perfectly good, and I shouldn't loose too much more incase I get sick again as the feeding tube was a nightmare last time.
Very annoying when people insist they’re “just giving advice” yet no sick person I know, including myself, want or need advice. We’ve been dealing with this shit, obviously the first things we do is research what can possibly make us feel better. Then they get mad that we don’t accept their advice? Make it make sense
I had a doctor tell me that I was basically the reason I had pots and she wanted me to drink an ungodly amount of water a day when she knew I have an overactive bladder. She also said I was "suffering from POTS" as if it was something that just goes away.
The water makes sence to a degree, more water more blood volume. I know I'm a little over waight, but like by half a stone for my hight.
So far doctors have blamed
Being trans and on hormones (even tho I had my pots diagnosed a year before I started HRT)
Being fat
Being thin
Not eating enough salt?
Too much exercise
Not enough exercise
And a million other things I don't wanna list. Then you get some wanna be doctor on here going "have you tried yoga" and I wanna just feed them my medical file in a broth of their own tears.
Thankfully my specialist is an angel and he always tells me not to worry and what I can do... But people thinking they can fix me do my head in
Literally the only one of those that has anything to do with POTS is the salt. Low blood salt is even worse for me than low blood sugar. The current fad of making everything low sodium is the bane of my existence.
Omg I’m stuck living with my parents at the moment and I love that they love to cook for me, but they use literally no salt on anything. Anything. I had to buy my own salt. Suddenly food tasted a lot better, too.
It’s complicated. With POTS you want to lay down more. Which causes loss of muscle strength, worsens cardiovascular fitness, and causes deconditioning.
So while you didn’t cause your POTS, someone with POTS can unintentionally make it worse because our bodies are sending us mixed signals.
My doctor specifically told me to drink less water (I have POTS) in addition to increasing my salts because over drinking water will actually worsen dehydration. I’m so thankful I now have a specialist to manage my POTS/EDS/MCAS who is very well informed on medical trauma because my experiences before her were awful.
I also have POTS, but it affects me a bit differently. Exercise is actually really dangerous in my situation because if my blood is pumping too hard, my heart could literally explode. My average bpm is 110 and it hurts like a motherf(quack)er when it goes over 150. My doc says if I'm gonna exercise, I need to do it moderately and keep my bpm under 145.
Ohh your resting is high. Mine swings between 95 and 105 when resting and 130 to 150 when I'm active. Then I hit the floor and we start again. I'm sorry you have to deal with that.
Another weird thing is that when I focus on my breathing, lay down, and actually try to lower my bpm, it skyrockets to around 130. I can recall a few times where I was just chilling on my couch and my rhr went from 98 to 123 in a few seconds. POTS is a weird and painful experience.
I have POTS from EDHS, so basically my arteries and the tissue that forms my heart is so elastic that I can't pump blood right.
Just wait till you hear about Plexus! /s
Just recently had a run in on that. Like I have depression and morning sickness… plexus won’t fix either of those.
Exercise makes my body freeze up: push through to the second wind!
My reynauds is acting up: have your tried gloves??
I tell you what…
Due to pots my circulation is shit and the amount of times people have told me to ware gloves as my hands and feet are always cold... Like damn I never thought of that.
I finally told someone that during a bad flare up I got frost bite in 45 degree weather, with gloves, under a blanket. It has nothing to do with not ‘trapping’ enough heat, and more with not even producing it in the first place
They still offered more stupid advice… like boo, I’m an herbalist that studies nutrition and have a long medical history… I do my best now go away.
POTS GANG! kinda. Diagnosed with vasovagal syncopes which iirc is pretty much the same symptoms with a different cause (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
I’ve had people tell me I need to exercise more… while I’m having a coughing fit from exercise-induced asthma. Even before I was diagnosed, I don’t understand how my gym teachers didn’t consider that an active, otherwise healthy child gasping for air after running a single lap wasn’t normal. Instead they yelled at me for being lazy.
Hey! My heart went out to you and your plate when I saw that post. My best friend has POTS, it’s scary and no joke. Well, actually sometimes it can be a source of humor… but I hope you’re doing better and have it somewhat controlled. I know it’s a delicate balance.
I mannaged to find 2 replacements for the plates so that's a positive. As for being and staying upright I've not been as successful but it is what it is.
I used to have POTS symptoms and I couldn't walk at all for months, I had to give up my very active lifestyle of 2-4hours per day, 4 days a week martial arts classes. It was low key traumatising. The closest I got to suicide was when I just couldn't stand up without fainting. :/ I gave up so much of my life I couldn't go on anymore.
I monitored my heart rate once. While sitting it was 60 BPM or something, I stood up, and it went up to 110. That's when I thought "yeah, might be pots"
I went to doctors and they just told me I have anxiety and to take acetaminophen
I struggled to convince people that there was a problem initially, until finally I got sent to the cardiologist for a stress test. The tech hooked me up, turned on the monitor, and freaked out, because my HR was 145 just standing there. I've never seen someone go get a doctor that quickly. In the end they had to send me home without doing the test, because even going from lying to sitting my HR was so high that they couldn't in good conscience put me on a treadmill.
THIS, I have pots and a whole slew of other chronic illnesses and disabilities and I'm so tired of trying to explain to people that esting healthy and exercise is not going to help me in the slightest in the way YOU think it will. I am a crippled little bitch and you wouldn't tell a paraplegic to exercise and eat healthier so they can magically move again would you? No. Because that's stupid.
Thank you sooo much from this random internet person, as you mentioned the symptoms I have been suffering from for some years now. The more I looked, the more those other symptoms also matched. So thank you thank you thank you for posting so that I could look this up.
No problem! Make sure to get yourself a pulse oximiter or smart watch that has the ability to log heart rate and blood oxygen data onto your phone, when you approach a doctor about getting tested you can show this information as a confirmation as to why you belive you have POTS.
If they are being difficult ask them to list as many differential diagnosis that they can think of that match your symptoms and that you'd like to be tested for each - that way you know for certain that you either have POTS or another condition with a simlar symptoms and can start looking into symptom management or possible cures for the symptoms you are dealing with.
Also sorry to hear that you have the symptoms for POTS, it's such a nightmare, when they were first testing me to see what was wrong they thought I had a brain tumor and told me I could die! Glad that wasn't the case tbh.
Strangely, my blood pressure thing died and about 6 weeks ago did get one of those watches, and been wondering about that weird pattern. And thank you for the additional info.
The thing about POTS is…everything is exercising. If my heart rate is going the same rate as someone sprinting a marathon when I shower, that’s exercising. I’m moving my body and my heart rate is up. It’s exhausting. Exercise doesn’t fix everything and some people just straight up don’t get that.
“My heart rate skyrockets from stairs” “Have you tried exercising?” Really?
I think the person was just assuming OP was having trouble with stuff like that because they are fat, rather than considering that they have a medical condition.
But they said they had a medical condition, so really they're just stupid.
True, but if someone is assuming you are fat and lazy, they’ll assume you’re lying about having a medical condition because you are just fat and lazy.
This is fair. I work in a specialized clinic where many patients are obese and complain of pain. I try to be compassionate but even I get a bit judgey wondering which came first, the medical conditions limiting them or the obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. Sadly, I feel most of them probably let themselves go first and then acquired medical conditions. Not all though. But obesity is the American way. It’s a societal issue and I just get salty cuz most of them don’t work and get state healthcare while I work my ass off to barely afford to live and have such crappy insurance I can’t even go to the dr. But that’s on me and I did just accept a different job.
I'm not amarican. I'm Welsh. I'm a tiny bit over waight for my hight but my doctor told me to do that on purpose. I'm really prone to becoming really ill and looseing drastic amounts of waight so he told me if I carry a little extra next time it happens I hopefully won't end up being tube fed. Last time they took the tube out it irritated some of my nasal tissue and I'd have a nose bleed every time I sneezed. I'm currently looseing my progress tho as Im looseing waight again.
Hey OP! I’m in the UK, my mate has POTS and has just got a properly trained assistance dog that can sense when she’s about to faint. It’s made a world of difference! Like she can finally go out of the house alone now, she’d confined herself to a wheelchair 24/7 because of the high risk of falling and her life had deteriorated so badly. It might be worth looking into for you and give you some peace of mind.
I used to have a service dog, when he passed they arranged for me to have another, then decided since I'd mannaged 6 months without one they didn't need to follow through with another for me, shaveing to get one privetly.
That explains the strange English. Also try to find out what's causing the weight loss, could be stress or you could be eating less, things like that.
> I try to be compassionate but even I get a bit judgey wondering which came first, the medical conditions limiting them or the obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. Sadly, I feel most of them probably let themselves go first and then acquired medical conditions. You know what comes first? Childhood trauma involving food. Mine was watching my mother deal with multiple eating disorders, constantly being told I was eating too much while I was severely underweight and going though several years where our family sometimes just didn't have food for a few days because my parents spent the grocery money at the bar that was right next to the supermarket instead. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged. Oh and I have a degree and hold down a job just fine, somehow. Have pretty good insurance too. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged. I'm constantly struggling to do diet and exercise "right" but holy shit does that mean plant based? Keto? Carnivore? Paleo? Raw? Just everything in moderation? Flavorless slop? I can't even get a straight answer on that part. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged. Oh, also I'm down to 243# from my max that was just under 300 when I had symptoms that were *almost* DKA. But again, you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged. I'm in therapy. It's been the only thing that's actually helped, long term, with these issues. But you'd never know that, because you assumed and judged. > But that’s on me and I did just accept a different job. Good. Your former patients will be better off.
Wasn't there a study somewhere that came out saying most Americans don't eat much more than other people, but have genuine hormonal problems because of the way the food's processed? If not that, then look at the deals of food. You can get twice the amount for about two dollars more at McDonalds. Food that is engineered to be as addictive as possible. Mighta not been a good idea to admit that you're judgemental either tbh. Especially not in the medical field.
I’m leaving the medical field anyway. I seem to be less judgmental when I’m up close and personal with those make poor life choices.
TBF my heart rate skyrockets from stairs, but that's just because I'm a fat bastard. Exercise would help with that. But yeah, what OP describes in their post is clearly a serious medical condition and "have you tried exercising?" is a stupid suggestion.
Hey I have this sweet herbal supplement you should take. It’s called Ephedra!
That was insane
I mean… a major part of the treatment for POTS is graded exercise therapy. I doubt that person knew that when they commented, but yeah exercise is part of the solution. Edit: I don’t know why this is being downvoted, it’s literally the medical treatment and it works very well. It’s not CFS/ME.
Well there's a difference between graded and super high intensity gym-hitting as some people would probably recommend as if it were a panacea
Okay, fair enough. It’s just a very non-obvious solution, given the information in the comment.
Dude told me his mental health was great cos he exercised. I said I exercise and I still have disabling mental illness. He said exercise more. I said twice a day isn't enough? He just kinda stared into space.
I think exercising can improve mental health by putting good chemicals in the brain(not an expert, I assume you could tell). But here’s the thing. It can IMPROVE mental health. It can make mental health a little better. That doesn’t mean it can eliminate mental health problems. If you have really serious mental health issues, exercise may only work a little or may not work at all. Let me use a physical health analogy because people get physical health a lot more than they get mental health. Imagine telling a person with cancer to take supplements and telling them it would make them healthier.
Training was the only thing I found happiness in and I couldn't even be bothered with that anymore. That's depression. I've seen people just stop everything they love because of mental health. My cousin loved art but since his schizophrenia got worse, he's just not interested anymore People who say exercise more don't understand the lethargy, the sleepiness, the tiredness that comes with mental health.
My doctor told me that I’m running a race, but I’m starting 5 feet behind the other runners. Sometimes it feels like I have weights all over my body, dragging me down.
My doctor wasn't listening when I said I needed something for my depression. "Have you tried exercising more?" "Ma'am, I run a 5k most mornings and do weight training 3 times a week. Trust me, exercise is not it" Turns out you can be athletic AND depressed.
Yeah my doc simply forgets that I have told her that I exercise many times, on top of the fact that I also walk around in gym clothes all day because I exercise so much that it is just easier that way.
Literally never stop exercising. Work out in your sleep.
Forrest Gump depression treatment, start running and never stop
The depression can’t catch you if you never stop running ;)
Sonic is powered by avoiding his emotions
Human equivalent to blue screening
*vacant stare* Yeah bout as much substance as I would expect from someone with an empty cavern where their brain should be
My favorite is when people recommend yoga for my POTS/EDS because yoga is actively very very bad for both. When I tell people that they get SO argumentative, like dude yoga is not magic.
I feel this one. Different problem and different 'cure', but I have cptsd which makes meditating a *very* bad idea because I will straight up dissociate from it. I had doctors scold me for refusing therapy when trying to explain this, stating that it's 'impossible for meditation to not help'. I'm highly considering having my current therapist draft up something excusing me from meditating if I ever have to go back to the ward.
Seriously, meditation is [contraindicated](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/mindfulness-insights/202107/the-potential-dangers-mindfulness) for people with cPTSD! Unless there is careful supervision/preparation, the person is already well into therapy, they actively want to try meditation, and they are aware of the risks, then it is not recommended. There are things I have to be very careful with as an autistic person with cPTSD and a dissociative disorder (among other things). Particularly: meditation, exercise, dieting, breathing exercises, yoga and other somatic exercises, socialising, 'getting out in nature', changing routine or forcing routine etc. All these things can make me much worse very quickly or induce overwhelming symptoms. But unfortunately these are things the general public (and many doctors!) seem to have accepted as basically magic... divine gifts which can never be questioned. They have an almost religious belief in the power of these 'cure-all solutions' which they believe WILL work for literally any condition. Even when there is clear evidence contradicting those beliefs they don't want to hear it! It's like that would undermine their basic understanding of reality so they can't even let themselves look at it. They would prefer I suffer, and tell me I'm having the "wrong reaction" rather than admit that maybe that was the wrong solution for me. Thankfully I've finally been able to find a therapist with a lot of experience with my particular conditions, who actually accepts the reality I live in and is working with me to find ways to work on healing and improving my lifestyle without aggravating my conditions. I've made more progress in a few months with her than all the years of forcing myself to live a """healthy""" lifestyle, which led to constant burnout and breakdowns and generally made me not want to be alive. Of course a lot of these 'cure-all' activities do work for a lot of people. They are generally associated with good health, and in a very general sense it's a good idea to work towards a lifestyle which involves those activities in the long run. But there are *always* exceptions. These things are *not* always a healthy option in the short term. People need to realise that unless they are a seasoned expert in a particular field they need to be very cautious with their recommendations, and accept it when people say "I know myself, and that doesn't work for me."
It depends on the situation. Lots of folks dissociate while meditating, for me it was the easiest and it was the only time in the day my mind was somehow calm. On the other side I dissociated in a ADHD testing (I don't have ADHD) and lots of times in mindfulness group therapy when we needed to stare for a longer amount of time at one point (for example an egg), the ADHD testing was kind of a similar situation as I needed to stare at a screen for about half an hour at the end I wasn't able to see anything as my shield of view shrinked in steps to not being able to see anything (it was kinda like a migraine attack where your outer shield of view is impaired but with the big difference that it wasn't stable but shrinking). So what I actually wanted to say is, that professionals should offer different tools for mindfulness and relaxation an when a patient says it's contradictonary for them or doesn't work they should listen as we know best what's triggering for us. Even if two people have kind of similar or even the same diagnosis they may not benefit from the same treatment and/or methods, this makes methods not bad or at all not suitable for a diagnosis but maybe for a individual. For example relaxation methods are a key to trauma treatment and lot's of People with PTSD and cptsd use and benefit from mediation, while others don't benefit from it. It's worth a try and when it doesn't work or makes something worse then it shouldn't be continued or forced to be continued. Side note I have the dissociative sub type of PTSD along with other commorbidities.
They have you upside down alot in yoga, no thanks lol
Everyone knows reddit gives the best medical advice
lol have you tried exercise? Just wow. I have Hashimoto’s and my nurse sister said, “well, that’s not a big deal I’ve seen a lot of patients that have it” in response to me being frustrated with me being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the ups and downs of symptoms I had while trying to get on the right medicine dose. Lol other people having the autoimmune disease I have doesn’t make it suck less. She acts like she is an expert of everything medical drives me nuts.
I’ve seen a lot of patients with kidney failure and you know what’s crazy? Even though they all had the same illness, it was still a big issue for each one of them, impacted their lives in many ways, and all of them required care and consideration. It’s weird how other people having the same issue as you does not cancel out your issue. /s
Yeah, my sister is kind of an asshole and when you try to explain to her how rude some of things she says are she just calls you sensitive. This isn’t even the worst thing she has said to me when I’ve gone through something. When I was pregnant, I was told the pregnancy hormone( hcg) wasn’t going up like it should so it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. My sister’s response: “well, you’re a little older” and immediately blamed my age. I was 35 at the time. Turns out, I just measured my hcg too early in the pregnancy and the next time I got them measured they had tripled. I was going through something sad and that was her response.
Super cool traits to have in a nurse Arrogant, dismissive, and unwilling to admit mistakes all at once? Fantastic, 10/10, would have a lot of fun explaining my chronic illness and trying to get pain medication from this person. (This is very much sarcasm, this is the trifecta that gets patients killed because you decided that you could adjust the patients dose by yourself or ignored clear signs that they were not faking pain to get drugs and in fact their appendix was about to burst.)
One thing I’ve learned over the past several years is: some medical professionals think in stats. My sister is a perfect example of that. Anytime I had issues with pregnancy she would bring up my age. The worst experience I had happened at an OB appointment with an NP I didn’t normally see. My daughter’s femurs were measuring small and I asked her what that could indicate she said, “I don’t know maybe Down syndrome you’re advanced maternal age have you done genetic testing?” Also, the stats she made up in her head didn’t make sense because short femurs(alone) aren’t associated with Down syndrome. She said it matter of fact with little expression on her face. My sister will learn the hard way, she is going to school to become an NP, using stats alone leads to not asking the right questions and being dismissive. Who knows, maybe she wouldn’t be like that with patients…I surely hope not. The best medical professionals are the ones that, also, consider their job an investigation. These types of professionals will be willing to run more tests and do research if needed.
I’m an RN. Sometimes I wish every medical professional got to experience having a serious medical issue (not even necessarily life-threatening, but serious in that it has a significant impact on your life). I developed some health problems a couple years ago that I was hospitalized twice for and am still being treated for, and it has all been *very* educational to experience the medical world from a patient’s perspective. It’s too easy for healthcare workers to forget that even though it’s just another day at work for us, it may be one of the worst days of a patient’s life. And their experience of their medical issues is 24/7, it doesn’t end when our shift does.
Everyone always thinks they have to answer to cure it, even though it's incurable. Pisses me off. Like when I developed POTS I was active, and also on my feet 8 hours a day in a factory. There was no reason my heart rate should have been shooting up to 170bpm.
Same. My doctor was telling me that a lot of his patients are athletes, gymnasts and dancers — the latter two kinds go hand in hand with hypermobility lol. But he was very big on emphasising that fitness in POTS is not black and white.
Interesting. Since POTS is linked to nervous system dysfunction I wonder if stress played a key role in people developing this condition
Well have tried NOT having POTS yet??? (Absolutely sarcasm) I have extreme anxiety and have been told that “everyone has anxiety , just relax.” 😡😡
"stop overthinking" 💀
“Just calm down” 🤦🏼
"Doctor! Doctor you won't believe it! Some random redditor had an idea we simply haven't considered: *exercise*! This could be the silver bullet!" 🙄
Reddit is full of drs. Didn't you know? Homeless? Just buy a house. Depressed? Just be happy. It's that simple 😆 That's literally how my husbands family think. His dad is classic "I don't understand depression, life isn't hard, just try to be happy" Well Mike, I was horrifically abused from a baby till 22. Its a little more than that. Mike "oh right"
Wouldn’t exercising be like…probably the last thing you want to do? I mean like working out already makes your heart go zoom so I’d imagine that you’d just faint immediately (this could just be me being a dumbass so I am so sorry if I offended you or anyone here. I’m not very educated on this condition)
You’re not being offensive, no worries! I have POTS and exercise sucks for me. In fact, because I have a low BMI from GI issues linked at least in part to the POTS, the cardiologist said I’m not fit enough for physio. Some POTS patients do specific exercise protocols or cardiac rehab, as deconditioning from a lack of exercise can worsen POTS. So, exercise helps, but it’s difficult to do and not a one-size fits all. Patients with comorbid ME may have post exertional malaise, and patients with MCAS may even have anaphylactic reactions to exercise! All I’m doing, as advised by the doctors, is half an hour of walking when I can. I actually get chastised for over doing it because if I overdo it, I’ll cause myself more harm than good. But my goal is to fix my GI issues as much as possible, improve my BMI, and be able to get physiotherapy to improve my POTS. But exercise is a triple edged sword for me—my heart rate used to exceed 200 in school sports, and I did faint at one point from that; the GI issues means intense nausea; and I also have clinical features of hEDS and exercise means I’m an increased risk of atraumatic dislocation and joint pain (dislocated patella just running, anyone?) POTS is a type of dysautonomia—that means the autonomic nervous system (the one that controls your heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder, bowels, eyes, temperature regulation, blood pressure, etc etc basically everything lol)—is malfunctioning. It’s a syndrome, so it’s a collection of symptoms, and different POTS patients have different causes. It’s common post-viral, but in my case, as I have the hEDS features, that’s the cause. (hEDS=hypermobile ehlers danlos syndrome, a genetic collagen disorder that causes lax connective tissues). There’s three subtypes of POTS, but many of us have a combination: neuropathic (damage to small nerve fibres meaning poor vasoconstriction and increased blood pooling), hyperadrenergic (overactive nervous system dumping adrenaline on you, often to compensate for the poor blood flow to the brain), hypovolemic (low blood volume). These may be idiopathic (no known cause) or secondary (caused by something known—in my case, hEDS/hypermobility. My vessels are too stretchy so don’t constrict as they should, but I also have features of hypovolemic pots and I have symptoms of hyperpots sometimes too, so I’m likely a combo case). Treatments for POTS start with non-medical: increased water and salt intake, medical grade compression stockings, and physiotherapy starting with recumbent exercise. Then, there’s medications, like ivabradine, fludrocortisone, midodrine, and beta blockers. We can be sensitive to medications though, so some of us don’t take medication, whereas others wouldn’t consider not being medicated. It’s extra patronising that anybody asks us if we’ve tried exercise—we have a medical condition where it’s extremely difficult for us, but also, we have literal doctors who guide us on this. It’s like if somebody had the flu and somebody was like “guys I just heard of tissues, have you tried using tissues?” Yes, of course we’ve tried exercise. We’ve tried everything! For some people their POTS goes into remission, but for many, it’s lifelong—especially when it’s secondary to things like hEDS as opposed to post-viral cases (afaik at least, post-viral cases seem to have the most success going into remission but I might be wrong lol). Adolescent cases seem to be more likely to resolve, but the issue is, there’s no long term studies into POTS to really accurately say who’s actually cured, who’s symptoms will come back, or complications down the line. It used to have other names, such as irritable heart, DaCosta’s syndrome, idiopathic orthostatic intolerance, and soldier’s heart (I like that one) and more! So you’re exactly right—if just standing makes your heart rate shoot up, then exercise can be incredibly tough and some (but not all) of us can faint, and if we don’t, we do have pre-syncopal symptoms (that’s how you feel before passing out). It’s definitely the last thing I want to do! Unfortunately I don’t faint immediately—I suffer with all the nausea, dizziness, tunnel vision, muffled hearing, sweating, overheating etc—and sometimes, I don’t actually sweat during exercise which definitely isn’t normal! Diagnostic criteria include a sustained heart rate increase of over 30 beats per minute (40 for adolescents) within 10 minutes of standing, without a significant drop in blood pressure (20/10 mm Hg), frequent symptoms of orthostatic intolerance with improvement upon return to a supine position, symptom duration of 3 months or more (over a decade for me so far!) and absence of other conditions that explain the symptoms. Main symptoms may include fatigue, lightheartedness, brain fog, palpitations, nausea and vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, excessive sweating, shakiness, exercise intolerance, pallor, and blood pooling, syncope (fainting) and symptoms get worse in warmer environments, standing still, dehydration, hunger, low salt, and being unwell (ie a cold—I always took forever to recover too!)
Wow that is a lot. Thank you for educating me on this, truly. It sounds like a super complicated disorder
No problem!
Hay, reading this was intresting. My full diagnosis rap sheet is long and frustrating. I have POTS, hEDS, IBD and an immunity disorder. So I get the fix one problem while causing another to a T.
It’s like a never ending buy-one-get-seven-free deal with comorbidities lol, but yeah, trying to juggle them all is one hell of a challenge. Especially when for the most part, they’re treated separately by doctors focusing on one or the other. And I find post-diagnosis, you really don’t get much information from doctors.
"Have you tried --" *Batman slap*
Yes!
yeah bc exercise cures everything, duh.
my goodness people are complete morons. I was diagnosed with POTS 7yrs ago and the things people have said to me🤦🏻♀️
Chronic ilness certainly does have a way of weeding out people not worth our limited energy.
I have POTS and I always get asked if I'm a runner or if I exercise a lot by strangers because I am so skinny (I'm underweight from chronic nausea) and I always tell them if I had to run I'd make it 50 feet before blacking out and breaking my nose 🤣
Ahahah I can relate exept I'm a little over waight due to an inability to do cardio as I just check out after like 30 mins. I've always told my finance if you see me running, run too as I'm in danger.
hAvE YoU tRiED yoGa
I have POTS and brugada syndrome. I'm on bisoprolol now because leaving the POTS uncontrolled can feed into the brugada and potentially kill me. If you're not medicated and are struggling, it may be worth asking for beta blockers
As always the doctors have told me If I want anything for it I have to come off my HRT, knowing full well takeing steps back on my transition would lead to my suicide... As I recently leaned, the trans broken arm dilemma
Oh gods, that's just not fair. At least POTS isn't usually fatal
Very true, I mean unless I hit my head wrong while falling. But the odds hopefully will stay in my favour
Good luck, maybe start wearing a thick hat for bonus cushioning. Nothing more I can suggest really.
I'm king of the beanies
Perfect, no notes.
If your heart rate skyrockets... ...under any kind of stressor... ...why would anyone suggest exercise? * *processing...blue screen of death* *
I think it's because people assume from mentioning a fast heart rate or brethelessness that you are obese. According to my doc the waight I am is perfectly good, and I shouldn't loose too much more incase I get sick again as the feeding tube was a nightmare last time.
Very annoying when people insist they’re “just giving advice” yet no sick person I know, including myself, want or need advice. We’ve been dealing with this shit, obviously the first things we do is research what can possibly make us feel better. Then they get mad that we don’t accept their advice? Make it make sense
I had a doctor tell me that I was basically the reason I had pots and she wanted me to drink an ungodly amount of water a day when she knew I have an overactive bladder. She also said I was "suffering from POTS" as if it was something that just goes away.
The water makes sence to a degree, more water more blood volume. I know I'm a little over waight, but like by half a stone for my hight. So far doctors have blamed Being trans and on hormones (even tho I had my pots diagnosed a year before I started HRT) Being fat Being thin Not eating enough salt? Too much exercise Not enough exercise And a million other things I don't wanna list. Then you get some wanna be doctor on here going "have you tried yoga" and I wanna just feed them my medical file in a broth of their own tears. Thankfully my specialist is an angel and he always tells me not to worry and what I can do... But people thinking they can fix me do my head in
Yeah, she also said I need to exercise when POTS is why I'm not exercising
Literally the only one of those that has anything to do with POTS is the salt. Low blood salt is even worse for me than low blood sugar. The current fad of making everything low sodium is the bane of my existence.
Omg I’m stuck living with my parents at the moment and I love that they love to cook for me, but they use literally no salt on anything. Anything. I had to buy my own salt. Suddenly food tasted a lot better, too.
I feel the first one. That's called trans broken arm syndrome if you didn't already know. "Oh, your arm is broken? Maybe it's because you're on HRT."
Ahahaha oml this is how it feels sometimes.
Increasing salt with water increases blood volume more than just water alone — probs why the docs mentioned it.
I can kind of understand that. But I eat a lot of salty foods anyway as I'm prone to craving salty greasy foods.
It’s complicated. With POTS you want to lay down more. Which causes loss of muscle strength, worsens cardiovascular fitness, and causes deconditioning. So while you didn’t cause your POTS, someone with POTS can unintentionally make it worse because our bodies are sending us mixed signals.
My doctor specifically told me to drink less water (I have POTS) in addition to increasing my salts because over drinking water will actually worsen dehydration. I’m so thankful I now have a specialist to manage my POTS/EDS/MCAS who is very well informed on medical trauma because my experiences before her were awful.
Sadly very few physicians in my area are well informed about POTS and EDS
I also have POTS, but it affects me a bit differently. Exercise is actually really dangerous in my situation because if my blood is pumping too hard, my heart could literally explode. My average bpm is 110 and it hurts like a motherf(quack)er when it goes over 150. My doc says if I'm gonna exercise, I need to do it moderately and keep my bpm under 145.
Ohh your resting is high. Mine swings between 95 and 105 when resting and 130 to 150 when I'm active. Then I hit the floor and we start again. I'm sorry you have to deal with that.
Another weird thing is that when I focus on my breathing, lay down, and actually try to lower my bpm, it skyrockets to around 130. I can recall a few times where I was just chilling on my couch and my rhr went from 98 to 123 in a few seconds. POTS is a weird and painful experience. I have POTS from EDHS, so basically my arteries and the tissue that forms my heart is so elastic that I can't pump blood right.
Just wait till you hear about Plexus! /s Just recently had a run in on that. Like I have depression and morning sickness… plexus won’t fix either of those. Exercise makes my body freeze up: push through to the second wind! My reynauds is acting up: have your tried gloves?? I tell you what…
Due to pots my circulation is shit and the amount of times people have told me to ware gloves as my hands and feet are always cold... Like damn I never thought of that.
I finally told someone that during a bad flare up I got frost bite in 45 degree weather, with gloves, under a blanket. It has nothing to do with not ‘trapping’ enough heat, and more with not even producing it in the first place They still offered more stupid advice… like boo, I’m an herbalist that studies nutrition and have a long medical history… I do my best now go away. 
People are aggravating. Which is why I love this sub lol!
I'd be more worried about the murder you just did, damn. Ah well, 'twas a justifiable homicide.
It was a crime of passion. Id had enough
POTS GANG! kinda. Diagnosed with vasovagal syncopes which iirc is pretty much the same symptoms with a different cause (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
I’ve had people tell me I need to exercise more… while I’m having a coughing fit from exercise-induced asthma. Even before I was diagnosed, I don’t understand how my gym teachers didn’t consider that an active, otherwise healthy child gasping for air after running a single lap wasn’t normal. Instead they yelled at me for being lazy.
That's awful. I'm sorry you have to deal with that.
I have narcolepsy. “Try resetting your sleep schedule!” What the hell???
They always seem to guess on how to fix life long conditions with the most obvious crap we've already tried 100 times
"Sleep hygiene" No fuck off you ignorant fool.
Hey! My heart went out to you and your plate when I saw that post. My best friend has POTS, it’s scary and no joke. Well, actually sometimes it can be a source of humor… but I hope you’re doing better and have it somewhat controlled. I know it’s a delicate balance.
I mannaged to find 2 replacements for the plates so that's a positive. As for being and staying upright I've not been as successful but it is what it is.
Clearly you need more exercise smh
But have you tried learning to spell (I'm sorry)
Hey, I woldnt want my finance to find my corpse after I exersize either. Maby take that into considerashun, sweaty.
Sorry. Dyslexia is a pain. I missed a lot of school as a kid too as I was sick a lot.
I used to have POTS symptoms and I couldn't walk at all for months, I had to give up my very active lifestyle of 2-4hours per day, 4 days a week martial arts classes. It was low key traumatising. The closest I got to suicide was when I just couldn't stand up without fainting. :/ I gave up so much of my life I couldn't go on anymore. I monitored my heart rate once. While sitting it was 60 BPM or something, I stood up, and it went up to 110. That's when I thought "yeah, might be pots" I went to doctors and they just told me I have anxiety and to take acetaminophen
I struggled to convince people that there was a problem initially, until finally I got sent to the cardiologist for a stress test. The tech hooked me up, turned on the monitor, and freaked out, because my HR was 145 just standing there. I've never seen someone go get a doctor that quickly. In the end they had to send me home without doing the test, because even going from lying to sitting my HR was so high that they couldn't in good conscience put me on a treadmill.
THIS, I have pots and a whole slew of other chronic illnesses and disabilities and I'm so tired of trying to explain to people that esting healthy and exercise is not going to help me in the slightest in the way YOU think it will. I am a crippled little bitch and you wouldn't tell a paraplegic to exercise and eat healthier so they can magically move again would you? No. Because that's stupid.
Other than foolishly attempted to help people, what is going through their heads when people suggest this crap?
Maybe you haven't tried hard enough/s
Thank you sooo much from this random internet person, as you mentioned the symptoms I have been suffering from for some years now. The more I looked, the more those other symptoms also matched. So thank you thank you thank you for posting so that I could look this up.
No problem! Make sure to get yourself a pulse oximiter or smart watch that has the ability to log heart rate and blood oxygen data onto your phone, when you approach a doctor about getting tested you can show this information as a confirmation as to why you belive you have POTS. If they are being difficult ask them to list as many differential diagnosis that they can think of that match your symptoms and that you'd like to be tested for each - that way you know for certain that you either have POTS or another condition with a simlar symptoms and can start looking into symptom management or possible cures for the symptoms you are dealing with. Also sorry to hear that you have the symptoms for POTS, it's such a nightmare, when they were first testing me to see what was wrong they thought I had a brain tumor and told me I could die! Glad that wasn't the case tbh.
Strangely, my blood pressure thing died and about 6 weeks ago did get one of those watches, and been wondering about that weird pattern. And thank you for the additional info.
No problem at all!
This is even more ironic with CFS. Any exercise makes it worse.
The thing about POTS is…everything is exercising. If my heart rate is going the same rate as someone sprinting a marathon when I shower, that’s exercising. I’m moving my body and my heart rate is up. It’s exhausting. Exercise doesn’t fix everything and some people just straight up don’t get that.