Reactions To Changes In Pressure/humidity/flying?

[valliali]

hi -

i am preparing to fly home (from ca to maryland) soon, and am really really nervous. the last time i flew, i had intense series of psvt's and extreme anxiety, not mentally induced. during all flights, i had sudden and extreme reactions to landing. interestingly, i felt really good in the air, but definitely feared my life upon landing.

something i am really interested in is this strong reaction my body has to changes in humidity, barometric pressure and/or altitudes.

several months ago, i moved from california to maryland, having NO idea what i was in for. my father is sick, and i really wanted to be closer to home. however, literally as soon as i hit arkansas (i drove), i felt like death overcame me. i felt so horrible the two months i lived in maryland, before i had to move back to california, where i am feeling drastically better. when i felt my worst on the east coast was when the weather was rainy and cloudy. i am not really sure what this indicates, because it can also be rainy and cloudy here in california, but it is not very humid. so i am not sure if i was affected by the humidity or the barometric pressure changes. whatever it was, it was EXTREME.

in these conditions, i experience this overwhelming sensation of pressure in my head and neck. the pressure feels like blood. it feels like my blood is tar and barely moving through the veins and arteries, thus building up. or like i have had my head hanging over the end of the bed for hours. soooooooo much pressure. no pain though. when this happens, i also feel my heart beat pounding in my ears. it's like i grew a heart in my neck and head and it is so forcefully whooshing in those areas.

also, in that kind of weather or pressure change, i experience a great deal of shortness of breath and even worse, endless psvt's. my heart just races and pounds. i also have panic attack after panic attack.

so, i am wondering a few things. one, if anyone else experiences this? i know that there is talk of people experiencing pressure in their heads, but i am interested in knowing what kind of pressure this is. is it painful? or does it feel like blood clogged in those regions? can you feel your heart beat in your ears and head?

i am also curious about the affects that "east coast" weather have on some of you who live there or have experienced it? i was there for over two months, and these sensations did not get better at all. i do not think it was a matter of simply not adjusting. i do surprisingly adjust very quickly to new environments, so i'm pretty sure that these feelings would have continued if i had stayed there. in california, i am able to work and go to school. i can walk outside, even hike sometimes, and really, function quite well. in maryland, i had plans to work and attend school. i could hardly

[ramakentesh]

I liked your post primarily because I can relate to most of it intensely.

Since Ive had POTS ive had four major boutes of it and ALL of them have precipitated flying long distances:

2004: Minor flare after trip to New Zealand (2 weeks)

2005: Minor flare after work trip to Alice Springs (2 weeks of major symptoms)

2005: Second major flare after trip to Taiwan for two months (3 months of major symptoms)

2008: Third major flare (first in three years too so I thought I was over the worst) upon returning home from a 3 month holiday to the states.

I tell my doctor and he is dismissive - 'its stress from returning home' or 'its allergies in your home town.' But i honestly believe its flying that is causing the flare ups.

WHen i stand up and during my tilt table test not only can I hear my heart beat banging away in my ears, I can SEE it in the corner of my vision! I even proved this to my GP by counting it along with him! Scary thing is he told me this is common with stroke patients

That thick blood feeling you mention in your neck and head relate to reduced blood volume, but more specifically I get a chocking feeling that is apparently caused by norepinephrine constricting your carotid arteries. In my test I had a 44% reduction of blood flow through my carotids on my tilt table test and that was on a good non symptomatic day!

[ramakentesh]

I should also state that short flights dont effect me as much. its the big ones that are the killers. Flight to Cairns is four hours and that was fine for me; flight to Tasmania and Sydney no major problems either. I usually get an adrenal surge the next day after any flight, but its the long ones that bring out a major crash -the longer it seems the worse the crash...

[firewatcher]

I don't know if this will help/make any sense, it's tooooooo early in the morning. My husband is a pilot.

On the longer flights your body is exposed to less pressure and NO humidity for a longer time (like being on an 8,000 ft. tall mountain and no humidity.) You've got even less pressure on the arteries than at sea level, and no exercise to cause circulation or constriction. If your BP is swinging trying to compensate, you're also getting POTS adrenal surges, so you are having "panic attacks." If you have a mast cell disorder, the lack of humidity may be a trigger. Try drinking more, carry a saline nasal spray and use it every 30 minutes or so, wear compression garments (try tight biker shorts and compression socks for you men) and maybe have a drink.

I flew from one side of the US to the other without too much of a crash last year, I think Klonopin and a nap immediately after the flight made a world of difference. I still hate to fly, but medicated, it was better.

[EarthMother]

I am also a california transplant originally from the east coast. I am certain that the quality of my life is much better than if I was back in the snow, sleet and bleak.

When I was traveling, I had no problem with long flights as long as I used a nasal spray before boarding.

Still to this day barametric pressure has a big impact on how I feel. So much so, that my husband has a barameter in his office downstairs so he can anticipate my mood!

Goodluck on your upcoming travels.

[green]

I also felt better living in California than I do in the midwest. (particularly during the Midwestern spring).

Where else is the climate theraputatic for people with dysautonomia? All I know is that Southern California has the same climate as certain parts of the Saudi peninsula and most of the areas bordering the Mediterranean ocean.

I have often thought about going on a visit to the desert regions of the Southwestern United States to see how I feel there. But have never gotten around to it.

[valliali]

thanks, guys.

ramakentesh - your story is interesting. how did you get your carotid blood flow tested? i have sworn up and down this whole time that it feels like the blood is not able to flow out of my neck and gets blocked - clogging up my head and neck. i would like to get that checked. i seem to be intensely sensitive to norepinephrine because a beta blocker helps me soooooooo much, like more than it should, really. it helps symptoms that my doctors are really surprised about, and suspect it is because NE is really screwing up my body. i find the beta blockers help the pressure in my head and neck completely, here in california. but when flying or when in maryland, the beta blockers couldn't fight it off.

i am wondering if those of you sensitive to barometric pressures also have heart problems with it. i have a psvt, which almost never ever occurs in california. even when active or stressed. it has occurred minorly several times, but severely, only twice or three times. however, again, it was when i was flying, during the landing, and right after the landing, that i had debilitating episode after episode. SAME thing when in maryland. it was like constant arrythmias, sooooo intense. heart rates in the 230s with severe pounding.

after i flew the last time, i also found that i was having severe panic attacks the entire next day. in fact, it took days upon returning to california for that to subside. i honestly didn't even correlate it to the flying because i just assumed i was so worked up from how uncomfortable i was from the flying. but perhaps that was what caused the extreme rushes of panic and not feeling well for days, even a week, after?

i am really curious as to why this is happening. i would like some explanation as to why the pressure and heart are sooooooooooooooo ridiculous with low pressures. here in california, i feel my best in hot, dry temperatures. ironic huh? i loooooove the heat and absolutely no humidity at all.

[MelissaCrystal]

Plane rides make me feel extremely dizzy and at times nauseous, when we are rising or falling in altitude. Last time I flew, I felt drunk (which wasn't so bad) but it wiped me out for a full 24 hours afterwards, and I had a bad POTS episode with digestion issues and severe exhaustion. I also had a pretty bad migraine while on the plane too. I hope your traveling goes okay! Just drink LOTS of water, and maybe read up on how divers prepare for deep sea diving.

This probably isn't related to POTS, but one time I had intense pain in my jaw, almost like there was air bubble in my tooth. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. I was so desperate to make it stop that I tried my best to pull the tooth out---it was horrible. Lots of weird pressure problems with me...I have no clue if this connected to my POTS though. I have never had a cavity, so I can't blame it on a dentist leaving an air bubble, you know? Plus it was high up in the gums, like it was in the root or something. Very odd. I'm going to kind of avoid planes if I can until my POTS is successfully on the right treatment plan.

[ramakentesh]

I got the blood flow in the carotid arteries checked by a simple ultrasound during my tilt table test. Its not usually done, but my tilt table results were used in a study which you can find by searching for Lambert and Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.

I also had an MIBG scan that demonstrated almost no Norepinephrine reuptake in my heart.

And lastly i had a arm vein biospy that demonstrated that I had very little Norepinephrine transporter (with the possible cause of a hypermethylated NET gene promoter implicated).

Betablockers do help me a lot too - but sometimes they can make me feel dizzier. I would say that they have been the most beneficial medication ive used as well. Florinef made me feel more jittery, DHE is ok but can also contribute the the jitteriness.

The panic attacks you experience are common with POTS and they would more effectively be referred to as 'adrenal surges' - one of your bodies last resorts when there is a blood pressure disregulation before syncope is to shoot of lots of adrenaline to increase blood pressure and blood flow to the brain - problem is that all it really does is add extreme anxiety to your list of symptoms and rarely counteracts the chocking effects of norepinephrine.

My type of pots is what Dr Grubb would call hyperadregenic, although doctors in Australia tend to think there might be a common underlying cause of both of his forms. Research - i am told - is ongoing.

If you want to get it checked out and providing your doc is flexible, ask for a MIBG scan to check NE reuptake.

[ramakentesh]

why air travel effects me i dont know - and usually its not straight away, its the next day or so and when i get home it stays around for a while. Maybe there is an allergin in my home environment ? But i dont get allergic reactions to stuff.

[valliali]

hi -

i am going to look for your study, it sounds really interesting. i believe that i have a norepinephrine problem, and that is my main issue. i do not have pots. i don't have tachycardia upon standing, nor am i ever hardly dizzy. i do, however, have severe heart issues, inappropriate tachycardia, all kinds of arrythmias, as well as lots of panic, flushing, tremors, etc etc.

what is interesting to me is that the beta blockers help soooo many of my symptoms, like ones that i wouldn't think beta blockers should really help. it makes me wonder if i am super sensitive to norepinephrine or if something is off with it. i tested very low for normetanephrines, the metabolite of NE, but no one can explain the implications of that. all that indicates to me is that i am not metabolizing NE properly, or hardly. i had two 24 hour urine tests, both of which showed normal, even a little low-normal, values of NE.

did you have high values of NE? did you have your normetanephrines tested? how did you get your NET tested?

very interesting. thanks for sharing.

[ramakentesh]

The study is here:

http://circep.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/1/2/103

I had one of NE's metabolites measured and it was low also. I also had urine collections and plasma levels of NE checked and these were normal or quite elevated but never super high on tilt. My nerve firing rate was high normal supine and VERY high on tilt.

[valliali]

interesting. did you have symptoms of this all your life? did they come on suddenly? what triggered them?

[ramakentesh]

No i didnt have these symptoms at all when i was a kid. In my teens I was a little more tired than the average kid and when i had a virus once I nearly fainted.

But i didnt get symptoms until I was at uni.

Started with nights of insomnia, then a period in 1999 of dizziness and vitreous floaters that came out of the blue and was fairly mild (one vitreous floater and lightheaded for two weeks or so).

Then a few years later I had a random BP test when i was standing and my standing BP was 160/80 which was a little unusual but I felt 100% well. I was told to get it checked again and I did sitting and it was normal so it was ignored.

Then in around 2002 I got some weird visual effects out of the blue. I think they call it visual snow and stuff - my doc said eventually that this was persistant migraine aura because i had a fam history of migraines.

Then in 2003 I had a cold, went on a camp and drank a fair bit of grog with some mates as people do in Australia and then came home and went for a run.

During the run I got this sudden thumping heart rate in my head and then my head went dizzy as. had a shower, but still felt strange and just not 'right' - in bed my heart started thumping again and my heart felt all tingly. I was rushed to the emergency and no abnormality was found.

From that day onwards Ive had symptoms - and when i say symptoms id say that before this day my symptoms were very mild and other than the visual stuff I never even bothered seeing a doctor. But after they came on they came on full blown and hard - was off work and was dizzy and out of it all day every day for 6 months, unable to deal with stress of any kind, weird heart beats, trembling all the time, etc...

So I went from maybe 20% to 99% out of the blue at the age of 26

[ajw4790]

Hi,

I too have intense reactions to changes in barometric pressure, humidity, and sea level. I haven't flown in a while, so I do not know... But, I am in Ohio and haven't gone very far west in over 10 years, so I can't compare. When I drove to Nashville, I had a serious flair, the sea level difference and humidity was AWFUL!

[ramakentesh]

I flew for 22 hours before this latest onset (LA to Darwin Australia) so im thinking the length of the flight, me being in a sitting orthostatic position for that long without moving, possible allergens in my home environment (arrived in peak hay fever season) all conspired to bring out a very bad phase.