iheartcats Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hello, All,Yesterday I went and had a 5-hour Blood Glucose test which was rather awful. All I had was a little water until 4pm in the evening and they took approximately 24 vials of blood over 8 draws.Of course I was feeling dizzy toward the end and my heart rate was around 116 on standing. It's often 100-140 in the AM so that wasn't surprising...but it usually hangs around 120 when I get up before calming down a bit later in the day after water/salt/etc unless I'm running around or up/down stairs.So today I wake up and it's 160. It was hanging 140-160 standing and around 100-110 sitting down. It's usually not that bad for this long.Of course I had to run errands so I'm feeling so wiped out (and still have to get the cat to the vet! what a day for this)!But...it's my worst day in months and the only thing different was the extensive blood draws/testing yesterday. It's Saturday so I can't call the specialist - my primary care physician probably wouldn't tell me to do anymore than what I'm doing (water/salt). I assume I'm also 'dehydrated' from the fast yesterday so had G2 and am now having a Latte as a dose of caffeine can 'help' boost my BP and am trying anything. It ***** being 'tired' at 11am on Saturday!Has anyone had a similar experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hi,When I have more than 3 vials of blood taken and I have to be fasting I need at least 1L of IV saline and the more vials they take they more saline I take. If I don't have saline afterward I faint for days every time I stand. So I have an agreement with my doctors to have the saline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted April 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hi,When I have more than 3 vials of blood taken and I have to be fasting I need at least 1L of IV saline and the more vials they take they more saline I take. If I don't have saline afterward I faint for days every time I stand. So I have an agreement with my doctors to have the saline.Ernie -Thanks for the response. That makes me feel 'better' with this being the worst day I've had with POTS. The Gatorade is helping a little...but I'll have to talk to my doctor. 24 vials of blood was a bit too much for me, I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsdmom Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 I wonder if you could also be feeling ill because of the test itself - did you have to drink/eat anything that had a ton of sugar in it? Just thinking about the one time I had this test done and I felt terrible afterwards - and I didn't have dysautonomia then. I feel like if I had it done now I would react even worse.Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flop Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Getting dehydrated is a sure way to have a bad time with POTS, if you were fasted for so long on the test day you are bound to be dehydrated. Also as dsdmom said any special drinks they give you can make normal people feel awful for a while so may knock you even more out of balance.Sounds like you are doing all the right things to help yourself recover - fluids, fluids, salt and more fluids!! You can often tell by the amount and colour of your urine if you are dehydrated or not (it should be very light yellow, almost colourless - if darker yellow/orange/brown you need to drink more).Hope you're feeling back to baseline soon,Flop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajw4790 Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Wow, that is a lot of blood. I can imagine that you and many of us if we did that, and likely many non-dysautonomia patients would feel ill side effects after that. I think much of it could be that your blood volume was just greatly decreased and caused your heart etc. to work harder. Therefore you may need to eat more, due to burning more calories. Also, it is important to try to increase your blood volume by drinking plenty of fluids and the salt to retain those fluids. So, gatorade type drinks would likely be good. It is like mentioned likely the combo of the test, dehydration, and fasting.Careful with the caffeine due to it is a diuretic and will raise your heart rate more. Sometimes after these types of tests you just have to give in and take care of yourself. Get some rest, plenty of fluids/salt, eat well as needed, and not overdue things and make it worse. I haven't had a glucose test in a while, and I don't think it was ever one like that, so I do not have actual personal experience from it. If you are prone to fainting, with low blood volume try and be careful especially while driving etc.Hope you get to feeling better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat57 Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Its no wonder!E gads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 That's a lot of blood! Two vials taken and I feel like I'm having life sucked out of me. Fasting is always an awful thing for me. I'm guessing dehydration's a big part of what you're feeling. Hope you get to feeling better!Meg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted April 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Thank you everyone. Actually had to 'nap' for the first time in a long time...but am plugging along and am tired...but feeling a bit better.Just really more wiped out than usual.I'm relieved that's it's likely due to the test, though, and not some horrid worsening of my POTS! Thank you SOOO SOOO much for all your help/advice/input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningshoe Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 I am going to have this test too - I thougt you could drink water even though you were fasting...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted April 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 I am going to have this test too - I thougt you could drink water even though you were fasting...?I was allowed in moderation...but I had such a horrid stomach ache after drinking the glucose for a few hours I couldn't really drink much...too nauseous. And I had to keep the glucose 'down.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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