Abdominal Pressure/heaviness?

[tommykazim]

Hi a newbie to this forum, suspect POTS may be my diagnosis though waiting to see a POTS specialist. Does anyone have this uncomfortable abdominal pressure I feel, not related to bowel motions. To me it does feel like it could be abdominal pooling due to vasodilation of gut blood vessels however I am not sure if its possible to feel that? If people have this sensation and have been treated with a vasoconstrictor in particular ocreotide which i read works specifically on mesenteric gut blood vessels has this improved this sensation? Also have vasoconstrictors improved brain fog? Many thanks, Tom

[valliali]

Hi, I have abdominal pressure. At the top of my abdomen, where I imagine my diaphragm is. It makes breathing difficult. Comes and goes for me. I can go months without out, then out of the blue, I"ll be plagued with the pressure and chest tightness. I have found nothing that helps me.

[hensor]

I'm not an expert compared to most on here I'm afraid, but I do get a heavy/full feeling in my abdomen which I reckon is blood pooling. I haven't noticed vasoconstrictors changing this much - I am on midodrine.

However, I do think midodrine improved my levels of brain fog/exhaustion. They haven't disappeared, but I can now hold a conversation most days so they have definitely helped me.

Infact the first day after I started on them I went from complete continuous exhaustion to fully alert and I wrote a poem there and then! My Dr told me not to be silly because the meds I'm on "don't help with fatigue" but my theory is that if I am exhausted because of my oxygen being screwed up due to stupid heart rate and pooling blood, surely it is no big surprise that sorting the pooling and heart rate will make me feel better

Good luck,

Hannah

[tommykazim]

Thanks for your replies. trying to think back to when my brain worked a bit better think the abdo sensation was less....Good to hear Hannah the midodrine has helped with brain clarity and energy and yes I too can see why it would by reducing pooling it would improve blood flow to brain and everywhere else that needs oxygen and nutrients...Apparently Ocreotide works more specifically on abdomen blood vessels, wonder if that would have effect on this wierd tummy sensation....Anyway Hannah are you back to a fairly normal life on the midodrine? hope so!

[potsgirl]

I would suggest seeing your PCP or possible a gastro doc to check things out. It may be something that can be treated with diet or medication, and it would be smart to know what's going on...We seem to forget that not everything is caused by POTS.

Take care,

Jana

[tommykazim]

Yes Jana, you're right it could be unrelated, difficult to know with symptoms that arent really text book and not enough known about POTS. But will hopefully let the pro's figure it out! thanks, Tom

I would suggest seeing your PCP or possible a gastro doc to check things out. It may be something that can be treated with diet or medication, and it would be smart to know what's going on...We seem to forget that not everything is caused by POTS.

Take care,

Jana

[janiedelite]

Yes, octreotide would target the vessels in your abdomen. But have you tried any abdominal compression? Octreotide is very expensive and has side effects, especially with long-term use. I went to WalMart and bought a lumbar support but use it to support my swollen abdomen as needed. Just $10!

Best of luck getting the help you need!!!