New Here, Intro And Questions

[kitchmill]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rachel and I'm a 32 year old mother of 2 (ages 2 and 4). I was recently diagnosed with "mild POTS." I believe I've had it all of my life but have learned to compensate for it (or feel the episodes coming!), although the episodes and accompanying symptoms have gotten worse in the last few years after the birth of my children. I've always had low blood pressure, so even my tachycardia events don't register as much to sneeze at since they still look like normal BP for most people. I've only actually blacked out once in my life and that was when I was a kid. Other than that, I can feel the events coming and I either sit back down or steady myself until they pass.

I have tons of side effects though, many that I had no idea were related until I finally found a good doctor who mentioned POTS to me! Chronic fatigue and inability to do much physical activity, migraines, cold all the time, restless leg syndrome, etc. On top of that, I'm hypothyroid so I already have a compromised immune system and have to carefully watch my thyroid levels to be sure that that is not contributing to my symptoms.

So, on to my questions... Do many of you find that stress in your life really wipes you out? For me, it seems like any little stressful event will send me to bed for a week (not that I can take a week off of work or from my kids!). Also, did anyone start out "mild" like me, and progressively get worse? Is there any chance that I will just stay mild? Not really familiar with how this works.

Any advice or words of wisdom that you'd like to share are appreciated!

Thanks!

Rachel

[pat57]

Hi,

Sorry, I have NCS not POTS, I just don't have any answers for you.

Someone will tho.

[Megan]

Hi Rachel! Stress definitely wipes me out! Finals week is always awful (I'm halfway through college). Sometimes it helps to journal, meditate, etc (if you have time with two toddlers!) As for the mild thing, I don't know if my POTS has necessarily gotten worse, it's just constantly changing. A symptom goes away, and a new one, sometimes worse, pops up. It's just strange. My doc said I could grow out of it, or at least aspects of it, by my mid twenties. As far as you staying mild, I would guess that it's a possibility, but everyone is different and I'm no doctor. Oh, and welcome!

Meg

[Ernie]

Hi,

Welcome aboard.

Stress is one of the trigger for POTS and NCS.

I became disabled overnight and my disorder is genetic so incurable. I can only manage the symptoms. Some people have good prognosis. It depends on your etiology.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Welcome Rachel--glad you found us, but sorry you are coping with this as well. I think I had mild POTS for years as well. Pregnancy triggered severe symptoms. My daughter is now 5 and my symptoms are generally mild, but I get bad flare ups still from time to time. POTS is not progressive, but it can be chronic.

[Eillyre]

Welcome Rachel!

Stress is definitely one of my triggers. I do as much as I can to decrease situations/experiences that will be stressful -- anything to decrease "couch time!"

Glad you've been able to cope with it pretty well. My BP and HR have always been on the low side (base HR was super low back when I was in training -- 37 or 38), so I can sympathize with you there. I never managed to raise any sky-high numbers in either category even when I was symptomatic, but the amount of change was significant enough to eventually draw some attention and get us on the right track. Black-outs, etc. helped, too. ;-)

Have fun with the kids!

Angela