Pots At Its Worst Right Before And During Menstural Cycle

[dino551]

[size="3"]Hi Everyone!

I'm new to the Forum. I was diagnosed with Pots in Feb. 08. It was a nightmare since nobody could figure out what the problem was. My neighbor who has a friend with this condition is basically who lead me in the right direction. It (POTS) came out of nowhere!!! I have only had numerous ekg's, a tilt table test, chest x-ray, blood work, valsalva procedure thing done and carried around an event monitor for a while. MY chief complaint is that I become very symptomatic when I get close to my menstural cycle. I know the Dr. has mention that this does happen. But, since I've started the beta blocker I can go days and feel really great with hardly any symptoms. If I do get an episode, it happens mainly during the night(i'm awaken from my sleep). My chest will hurt and I may feel a hot or sweaty(not all the time). But, when it gets close to the "monthly thing", I get very sweaty during the night, HOT and then COLD, Chest hurting, and sometimes a little nausea. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, but it seems to be alot better now since I have had kids. I went from never getting a cycle to getting one all the time now. I was recently checked to make sure I wasn't go through menopause and everything came out fine. I have been on/off the b/c pill, but prefer not to go on it since I take enough medicine. So, now I wish I wouldn't get one (period) if it meant it would take away these annoying symptoms caused by the POTS. Does anyone have a similar situation, any thoughts of what I could do to make it better, etc? When I get a POTS episode, my h/r goes up as well as my b/p. Before I was put on anything, my b/p would get up to as high as 180/100, h/r 135-150. I never see it that high now since I take the lopressor. Also, any suggestions for Dentist visits. I had episode of POTS when the dentist administered carbo caine to fix some cavities. However, at the time this occurred, I did not know I had POTS. I just thought I was having some sort of reaction to the medicine. So, now I'm very apprehensive to go back to the dentist.

[Ernie]

Hi,

Welcome to this forum.

Some members take medication to stop their menstruation 3-4 months, have a cycle and stop it again all over. You may talk it over with your doctor.

[Alizee]

Hey there!

I'm new to this forum too. Glad you're here

I remember I had the same problem as you, regarding the periods. All of my symptoms would flare up severely. I did have to get a hysterectomy last year to help fix my endometriosis problem. Unfortunately didn't fix the endo but it did stop the horrible once a month severe flares because I had no menstrual cycle. I had to start taking estrogen because my doc said I was too young to begin a final menopause. Though I still get these random flare ups that were there before now at least I know I don't have to dread my time of the month anymore :^)

There was a birth control pill I went on, before the endoscopy and hysterectomy surgeries, that you took everyday but you only had your period 4 times a year! It was great! I am sorry I don't remember the name, but talk to your gynecologist about it as an option.

I know there is a type of novocaine injection that the dentist gives which can increase the heart rate immensely in some patients. My Mom turned out to be one of them sensitive to that novocaine (she does not have POTS). Apparently there is a different type they can give you if the other bothers you. Talk it over with your doctor and dentist because it shouldn't make your heart race like that. Also having POTS I'd imagine it would make things that much more dangerous.

[maryfw]

I just recently went on a shot to stop my periods (Depo) about 3 weeks ago. I will know within a week if it really does stop my periods and if it does I will be greatly relieved because my symptoms get worse too the week before and the week of my period. One great benefit I have already noticed is that my skin is looking great. I was beginning to have breakouts with my cycles and I am 40 years old.

mary

[Megan]

I'm on depo to stop my periods, and while occasionally I have mini-periods and some problems right around the time of my shot, every three months is better than every month. I hope you find a way to ease symptoms!

Meg

[Eillyre]

Welcome Dino!

Yep, symptoms get worse for me before my period, too, although not majorly enough to merit medicinal intervention. Interestingly enough, since I got sick, my periods have been worse. They always used to be very easy and fairly pain-free...not anymore.

Welcome again!

Angela

[Sunfish]

hi christine -

welcome to the forum (though, of course, sorry you have reason to be here in the first place). you'll find that it is VERY common to have and increase in signs/ symptoms related to the menstrual cycle for those with POTS &/or other dysautonomias. i've never been one to have bad cramping or other more "traditional" hassles with my period but the few days prior to my period used to correlate with increased dizziness/ fainting for me pretty dramatically. when my periods were regular we could treat this with extra meds for those few days but when my cycles went wacky (in terms of regularlity) this didn't work so well so i started continuous birth control, something you'll discover is done pretty often. for me it was a good decision and while i've changed the specific med a few times over the years i've never regretted limiting my period to the 3-4 times a year i now get it.

i definitely appreciate your not wanting to be on more meds than you have to be, but when some people are in the situation wherein taking a med doesn't bring bad side effects and means being able to keep working or being able to drive safely and/or being able to get to the bathroom independently and/or other significant quality of life issues it can be a no-brainer. i'm NOT saying this is necessarily the case for you as it's a very individual thing, but you're definitely not alone in noticing a connection.

the connection is thought to be directly hormone related for some people and/or related to the fact that, as a side effect of hormonal changes, ALL women have a slightly lower BP at certain times during the mentrual cycle (generally the days right before bleeding begins) and in turn this little BP change can wreck havoc in someone who already struggles with issues with BP/ HR regulation issues.

i haven't had problems at the dentist but know that some others on the forum have so hopefully some of them will chime in. there have been several discussions which you can find as well via a search. you'll find a lot of discussion about menstrual "flares" and birth control usage as well if you're up for more reading.

hope this helps,

melissa

p.s. if you haven't used the search function before, it's toward the upper right portion of the screen.

[PattiL]

Hi Christine,

Welcome Dino..

My daughter, also a Christine (she has POTS), and our family live about 5 minutes from you--we're in Painesville Twp. I can't believe it. My best friend just told me about her neighbor who has POTS and lives in Concord. I know there's another member on this site who's from Mentor. Maybe we could get a support group out here?

Chrissy has problems during her period the most and actually wants to talk to her GYN about DEPO. B/C pills just don't work for her--the nausea is unbearable.

Patti

[Sunfish]

hello again i hadn't noticed before that you're in ohio so wanted to add an extra hello from another ohioan. i'm not nearly as close to you as patti/ chrissy but still share the same state addy so a lot closer than many. additionally i lived in the cleveland area for a while and had to utilize almost every medical specialty while i was there so don't hesitate to track me down if you need any doctor recommendations along the way, autonomic-related or otherwise. after not having been there in about a year & a half i was actually just at cleveland clinic last week for 2 days and may be back again soon; i'm in the toledo area now so about 2 hours west of cleveland proper.

melissa

p.s. for what it's worth, you're not in the worst locale in terms of access to medical care for autonomic problems and/or a medical system that at least has some familiarity with their existance. cleveland in particular and ohio in general has a lot better care in this regard than many other places throughout the country. doesn't mean it's all smooth sailing, but know that it could be much worse!!

[bellaluna]

Add me to the club- my symptoms get way worse at "that time of the month". Both before and during. I'm on a beta blocker that keeps things pretty well in check the rest of the month, but the week before and during can be hellish...

Sorry you have to be a member of this particular club, but welcome! You'll find lots of great information on this board, and tons of support from great people who understand what you are going through, which is so nice when most people have no idea what its like living with what we live with.

Mary

[mkoven]

I'm definitely worse before my period. Unfortunately, for me that now means from ovulation on. i can't take bcps because I have complicated migraines, but there is definitely a link. None of this became a problem until I hit 36, and sadly, has gotten worse. I don't know what the mechanism is-- which hormones do what to what-- but it's there. I track my sitting and standing bps in the mornings, and I have significant drops premenstrually. (I don't really get tachy, just low bp).

[ajw4790]

Another hello from Ohio!

Welcome, and yes I think I do see an increase in symptoms during this time. I think I see the most increase in symptoms though with migraines. But, I do see other symptoms increase as well. I have actually not had any dr. mention birth control pills to me to work on this, but at this time for a multitude of reasons I think I would rather wait. But, I do think for many this can be a helpful option.

[mrsdavidson8605]

Hi there,

Just wanted to comment about the dentist thing. I had to have a crown done and my dentist was great! she gave me novicane with NO epinephrine (sp??). That is what makes the heart race so fast, and for us POTS people, causes more problems.. I actually read about it from a link on this website somewhere... anyway, she had to give me several more shots than normal (bc the non epinephrine stuff wears off faster) but it wasn't TOO bad. Of course, I was already anxious bc I HATE the dentist, so that didn't help. Another thing they did was monitor my bp and pulse the entire time. I would suggest that, just to be safe.. hope that helps!!