Pots And Anxiety

[Garrettrichard]

Heyy again guys, I just wanted to know if theres anyone on here that's dealing with anxiety as well as POTS syndrome, unfortunately I have both.

What do you guys do to cope with the anxiety when your feeling sick or just depressed about your sickness.

Even if you don't have anxiety how do you cheer your self up when things seem a little down.

Thanks again guys!

Garrett

[Christy_D]

My son, who is 15, plays on line games. He has friends he talks to regularly via the internet. It seems to keep him in the loop with them. That way he is not as secluded, it's definitely not the same as being with his friends but it seems to help.

[potsgirl]

Hi Garrett,

Anxiety is commonly found in POTS/dysautonomia patients as a symptom of POTS, not a separate entity. I know there are many of us here that take some SSRI to help with our anxiety/depression. I take Paxil, which really seems to help me a lot. Please ask your doctor to see if something similar might be helpful to you, too (Xanax, Trazodone, Klonopin, etc.). You're certainly not alone!

Cheers,

Jana

[mountain girl]

I also have anxiety, and had it before pots, mostly exhibited by crying and getting upset easily. I take medications for it but still experience the crying some when I get overly tired or feel bad, or should I say worse than usual with pots symptoms. It helps me to come on the forum, as far as things to do, and I like to watch the weather channel and CNN news. I think the reason I like those channels are twofold. One is they are short segments I don't have to pay close attention to follow what is going on, and I feel like it helps me stay connected with what is going on.

[lavender]

Is there any connection between POTS and Anxiety? Chronic anxiety/depression problems are really common on my Mom's side of the family. MY mom's had a rough winter with anxiety and at times her symptoms are a lot like mine with POTS....insomnia, racing heart, feelings of being way too wired, irritable bowel stuff. I don't think she has POTS and I dont think my POTs is an anxiety problem, but I do wonder if there is a connection. She is now being treated with some meds that are really helping her, especially with sleep. (Remeron and Neurontin) I wonder if those types of meds would help me with my major sleep issues. any thoughts?

[Notgivinup]

lavender, I take neurontin at night only. It's for restless leg syndrome, which I've had forever. It really helps me sleep. I've been on it for over 15 years. I've never had any side effects whatsoever. Maybe that would work for you?

[vemee]

When my daughter developed pots in 8th grade the first symptom was severe anxiety; in fact the anxiety kept us from diagnosing the pots until after she was off of most of the medications. I have pots and have also dealt with anxiety. For those that have pooling, anxiety may be (my opinion) a result of increasing levels of norepinephrine as the body tries to combat the pooling. There are also other chemicals involved in regulate blood pressure and blood flow that may be out of balance but I don't know enough about it.

[erik]

It is said to be a back & forth (two direction) interaction between POTS & anxiety/stress... with either making the other worse.

I'm not sure how to state this appropriately, but I have wondered if it might be enlightening for a person without insight into POTS who is inclined to say "it is 100% in your head" to perhaps voluntarily be given a shot of norepinephrine inducing agent that raised their level suddenly to the levels that some of us endure often enough! I think some of the skeptics might change their tune pronto! There are experimental procedures where anxiety inducing meds are administered in order to measure how well a particular treatment then blocks them... so this is not a totally inhumane thing to consider! It is done safely (voluntarily) in research circles. Of course, as the person goes in to panic mode... everyone around them can say repeatedly "come on now, it's just in your head, right?" I am not so cruel, but it is intriguing thought

On the other hand. If you have either dysautonomia, anxiety, both... or any chronic illness. It behooves you to address whatever you can as best you can. This means one doesn't get to ignore anxiety/stress issues simply because there is a more physical condition going on. One kinda has to take it all on as best one can.

Treating anxiety will help POTS. Treating POTS will help anxiety. Treating both (and being vigilant about both) is probably wisest approach. Any chronic illness pushes "depression" buttons. It's just an extra challenge in our worlds.

[ramakentesh]

Anxiety is a principle symptom of POTS through three mechanisms - sympathetic excess from elevated MSNA activity or norepinephrine, elevated epinephrine which is released to counter act the circulatory abnormalities and postural hypocapnia which also causes severe anxiety.

In psychogenic anxiety or GAD the flight or fight response is increased as it is in POTS but in POTS its increased because our neurovascular system is messed up.

With my last very bad POTS crash I experience daily extreme postural anxiety that drove me insane - it made all the other symptoms seem ok. Even now there are days where i still feel a little jittery when sitting for long periods.

[ramakentesh]

Treating anxiety will help POTS. Treating POTS will help anxiety. Treating both (and being vigilant about both) is probably wisest approach. Any chronic illness pushes "depression" buttons. It's just an extra challenge in our worlds

Wise words my friend - and SOOO very true. Settle the anxiety down, stop stressing (which is hard when you feel terrible) and over time things seem to generally settle down (I hope LOL).

Infact there is some speculative evidence that perhaps NET gene hypermethylation can be triggered by stress. Ofcourse with POTS its easier to feel stressed because your already hyper so its potentially a vicious cycle.

[erik]

The theory of physical adaptations from psychogenic stimuli is nicely congruent with those who's POTS seems to emerge post trauma... not to mention the similarity with PTSD (for those in the subset of POTS who are similar to that... not everyone is). It could even be considered a positive adaptation because if one is in a traumatic environment, responding in accord is helpful. This is well discussed with all the "dissociative disorders". Problems come once you're back in "normal" environment but body is still in "adapted" mode, right? Perhaps the de-hyper-methylation step hast been neglected!

I met a fellow who went to prison for a bit. Upon entry he was never good with remembering names & faces. After witnessing beating & murder "inside", he now has a photographic memory for names & faces and is very attuned to exactly who everyone is and what they are doing. This is "hypervigilance". He also has that "associative memory" that others have described here. It is an appropriate adaptation for some. It is likely backed by physiological changes.

If he eventually seeks a simple suburban life and settles down with a sweet bride... perhaps this adaptation will no longer be healthy. In the subtler mental health conditions, it is an incongruity with surrounding & circumstance that defines "illness"... not any particular state.

[scarfgirl]

This is a big problem for me right now, and a lot of the drugs used to treat anxiety are counterproductive in my case, but none of the psychotherapies help at all, so I'm still in the dark as to what to do about it. The anxiety itself is really only a problem when trying to sleep or trying to wake up, other times I can just ignore it.

[ramakentesh]

The only thing that knocked out my postural anxiety was beta blockers. All conventional anti anxiety meds I was given (which were only a few I might add) did nothing.