Dysautonomia And Hormones

[misstraci]

Does anyone feel worse or better around their period? (hopefully this isn't a TMI post) but I was just curious if this is a true story that females with dysautonmia/pots feel worse at different times during the "cycle"?

Thanks

[MomtoGiuliana]

Yes, this is common. And yes I typically feel worst the few days before my period.

[HopeSprings]

Definitely yes - hormones have an effect. I tend to be better the week or 2 before my period and much worse the day my period starts and the week or 2 after. This is not always true - but I'm pretty sure I've found a general pattern with this.

[Sarah4444]

I am much worse on the 7-10 days around the beginning of my period (usually about 5 days before and then the first few days).

[Bears Mommy]

I feel awful about four days before my period and during the whole thing. I bleed VERY heavily. My only theory so far is that all that blood loss causes a drop in my blood volume and therefore my symptoms are worse, but I could be wrong.

[skiberthoud]

I'm also much more symptomatic just before and during my period. It's a good 7-10 days of feeling my worst...

[Yolaclover]

Same as Sarah4

[misstraci]

thanks all of you for writing. I had recently started on lexapro and although I feel no where near wonderful, I had definitely been telling a difference that I can stand and not feel like I'm going to pass out, well yesterday and today have been miserable, I feel like death and am so sad because I was excited about the new med and now I'm scared it's stopped working already and it's only been about 2-3 weeks of it. Anyways, thanks, maybe it's just hormones that are causing me to all of sudden feel extra worse again.

[bensman]

Most months I have my best time the 2 weeks prior to my cycle and crash the day I start my cycle (very heavy). I then usually feel "off" until I ovulate. However, there are some months that my body decides to follow a different pattern....like every other weird issue I have.

[ramakentesh]

This question gets posed about monthly.

fluctuations in serotonin, blood volume and angiotensin II levels could all potentially cause this.

[Birdlady]

No difference.

[misstraci]

ramakentesh... Do you happen to know what exactly happens to the seritonin during hormonal times and also if you are on an SSRI, which also affects seritonin, what that means as well?

Thanks

[lizababy]

Traci~

For the duration, my chest usually feels like it is going to explode. I am not tachy during my period, it just hurts really, really bad

[Friedbrain]

You might find the wikipedia entry on "catamenial epilepsy" informative. "Catamenial" is related to menstrual cycle hormones, and the website has good information on hormone fluctuations throughout the month, and how the different imbalances can affect health. I have catamenial epilepsy, which is how I first learned about this. I consider my symptoms in terms of monthly chunks, because they vary over time (as in Big Picture, across the years). For example, my symptoms during ovulation sometimes consist of joint pain and feverish feeling, and difficulty urinating; whereas my symptoms before my period are overactive head and hyper startle (and stress-induced shakes are MUCH more likely; I can't handle stress at all during this time); I've had trouble swallowing and chest pain infrequently but during the early part of my cycle before ovulation, too... But again, I think of it as a month-by-month issue, so I "re-start" my mental checklist at the beginning of each cycle.

[lissy]

Absolutely when I became very ill which lead to this chronic state it began with starting my cycle after the birth of my last child (3 1/2) years ago...

And which each one after it took more and more out of me until I was symptomatic throughout the month, I may have more energy and feel slightly better about 2 weeks before it comes so I guess ovulation time is the better time for me. All the time right before, during, and after is complete misery .

One very bizarre thing I have noticed since the winter, every time I have a cycle I get a cold it appears to be a cold ( maybe allergies or something)Can you be allergic to your own hormones???

My symptoms begin after ovulation Extreme dizziness almost unable to stay balanced for long, then hot flashes, chest pains and pain under my left rib cage,craving Alot of chocolate, heavy bleeding *starting earlier every month,Fatigue more than the daily type, and then after is like completely starting over to get better like back at square one again. This goes on every month it seems like I feel every hormone changing within my body.

Honestly after my last child it seems like something got reset hormonally and causes all this dysfunction.I have been tested for many typical hormonal conditions when it all began maybe it was in the beginning stages and I need to be rechecked? Any ideas?

Lissy

[Friedbrain]

Absolutely when I became very ill which lead to this chronic state it began with starting my cycle after the birth of my last child (3 1/2) years ago...

And which each one after it took more and more out of me until I was symptomatic throughout the month, I may have more energy and feel slightly better about 2 weeks before it comes so I guess ovulation time is the better time for me. All the time right before, during, and after is complete misery .

One very bizarre thing I have noticed since the winter, every time I have a cycle I get a cold it appears to be a cold ( maybe allergies or something)Can you be allergic to your own hormones???

Lissy, my neurological problems (most obvious "start", tho I'd had non-limiting problems for years beforehand) started when my hormones kicked back in fulltime after my second son, too. I've heard that from another woman, as well; I'm sure it's a real phenomenon. It makes sense. When the brain is deprived of chemicals for a long period of time, a common response is to upregulate....and then, suddenly, the hormones turn back on and Whammo. I'm sure that, for me, it was a Perfect Storm at the time.

As for your cold, one hypothesis....is that there's something in your environment that you're allergic to, and most of the time your body is capable of suppressing the response (like via cortisol, which has anti-inflammatory effects) but during a specific time of the month, your cortisol (or HPA) is decreased, and you get a hyper-response, resulting in inflammation. Depends on your cold symptoms, tho, if my hypothesis fits lol But the reason I thought this is that I have had bouts of bad to Really Horrific "bronchitis" that I now know I can halt the progression of by simply increasing my cortisol levels (by doubling my cortef dose) when I feel my chest starting to get heavy. It happened every Fall when I lived in the Midwest.

Honestly after my last child it seems like something got reset hormonally and causes all this dysfunction.I have been tested for many typical hormonal conditions when it all began maybe it was in the beginning stages and I need to be rechecked? Any ideas?

Have you been checked for adrenal dysfunction? Very, very few doctors know how to test and/or interpret the results properly (and to make it worse, many labs don't even know hot to do the labwork properly!), but many of the symptoms of dysautonomia overlap with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction. I was put on cortef 9 ys ago for adrenal insufficiency after testing, and felt so much better that I didn't question it; until lately when I was feeling worse (with more symptoms that also fit with dysautonomia, which is why I ended up here). Now it looks like my diagnosis may actually be higher up the food chain, ie at the level of the pituitary. But whatever. If you do see an endocrinologist for this, make SURE you ask and ask and ask for a doctor who specializes in this (most endos specialize in diabetes, maybe thyroid.....).

[ramakentesh]

No offense but most of that is highly questionable and probably not relevant to POTS.

If you develope pots after pregnancy you should be aware that there are a number of autoimmune illness that first present shortly after pregnancy. I would firstly make an assumption that perhaps in these cases, POTS is an autoimmune condition (as evidence suggests in at least 33% of cases based on research, not opinion).

[Bears Mommy]

This is very interesting.

I've had some kind of dysautonomia since I was 13, it was sometimes barely noticeable, sometimes would make me pass out every day. A year and a half ago I had a late first trimester miscarriage where I went into labor derived a baby, because I was still in my first trimester they told me I needed to stay home, of course I hemorrhaged and had to be rushed to the emergency room because of my extreme blood loss. I was anemic for months after. I have never recovered from it. My fainting spells have been awful since then, my fatigue is over the top. I can't exercise, do housework, anything without my heart rate going so high that I pass out, nausea, etc....

I've always thought that the miscarriage made my dysautonomia much worse. I've been tested for everything under the sun and this is the only thing that they can figure out is wrong with me (I get to see a specialist in September for the TTT etc).

[Friedbrain]

This is very interesting.

I've had some kind of dysautonomia since I was 13, it was sometimes barely noticeable, sometimes would make me pass out every day. A year and a half ago I had a late first trimester miscarriage where I went into labor derived a baby, because I was still in my first trimester they told me I needed to stay home, of course I hemorrhaged and had to be rushed to the emergency room because of my extreme blood loss. I was anemic for months after. I have never recovered from it. My fainting spells have been awful since then, my fatigue is over the top. I can't exercise, do housework, anything without my heart rate going so high that I pass out, nausea, etc....

I've always thought that the miscarriage made my dysautonomia much worse. I've been tested for everything under the sun and this is the only thing that they can figure out is wrong with me (I get to see a specialist in September for the TTT etc).

I'm hesitant to reply, because I don't know if Ramakentesh was talking about my post being irrelevant and questionable....but I try to offer when I can, and certainly people are free to ignore my thoughts and experiences if they want to! So my apologies for taking up your time if this isn't applicable, and he's right, it is not about POTS, but is in response to Bear's Mommy's post...... what she wrote about severe blood loss and significant symptoms following that experience made me think of something I read about recently (but know nothing about, other than that!): Sheehan's syndrome. It may be worth reading up and seeing if anything fits.....

[lissy]

Friedbrain you can say and post whatever you like your opinion and thought matters to me whether its right or wrong relevant proven or just a hunch thats why I post to get others opinions and maybe someone has been dxed with something they might have been overlooked in my case. There are no Dr.'s on here replying to our posts I don't imagine....so just had to add that, whatever anyone has to say to me Matters!

Lissy

[Bears Mommy]

...what she wrote about severe blood loss and significant symptoms following that experience made me think of something I read about recently (but know nothing about, other than that!): Sheehan's syndrome. It may be worth reading up and seeing if anything fits.....

Oh geez, yes a lot of it fits, but I think a lot of it fits a most of us too. They thought for a while that I had Addison's (very similar symptoms to Sheehans). I am so lost in this, I don't even know what to do next. I'm praying like crazy that the specialist that I'm going to in September takes an interest in my case. My primary doctor acknowledges the OI, but doesn't want to go farther than that. All I know is that I am so freaking tired that life is miserable.