Sitting With Feet Up

[lieze]

I keep having flashbacks maybe trying to solve a riddle that can't be solved. What I keep thinking of is how much time I have spent either lying down or with my feet up in the last 20 years. You know how astronauts develop orthostatic intolerance from being without gravity. Well I wonder if the body can also be conditioned over time to orthostatic intolerance through habit.

Yes I was very active especially at my job but I'm always on the go. I guess I was noticing more fatigue standing

over time and if I would sit at the desk it was often holding my head up with my arm.

When home from work it was automatic feet up and laying around in a fatigue what a vicious cycle.

Before I had children I worked nights and would sleep 14

hours a day just out of boredom and depression because I was alone with my husband working out of state at the time. I was partially fatigued from working the night shift and just felt no motivation to get up.

We lived in a crappy crappy neighborhood with no yard and my environment just was depressing.

I sound lazy weak depressed. It seems like maybe there was more going on I don't know.

Then yes when I was sick with the chicken pox it was a lot of lying around while I was off.

When pregnant I would come home eat get almost overstuffed symptomatic and then legs were thrown over the back of the couch up as high as I could get them and I remember even sleeping with a pillow under my legs to elevate them while pregnant.

What in the world was going on?

Was I just feeling vague symptoms then or did I condition myself to not tolerate having my legs down.

What a puzzle.

[lieze]

As a child also legs up almost always.

It's like I was constantly going into a modified fetal position.

I remember sitting as a child some to watch tv but I think once I reached a certain age I was always laying on the couch or sitting with my feet drawn up.

I think sitting is uncomfortable to me because I have such a long torso compared to my legs. There is no balance.

It's like I'm going to tip over so extending my legs out to the side or even out in front of me helps from putting all the weight "pull" on my upper skeleton.

Also drawing the legs up relaxes muscles that are being stretched and strained from the awkwardness of my physique.

So in the process of trying to compensate for an imbalanced skeleton it seems it's created other weakness potentially if that is the reason.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Sure it is true that you can become deconditioned from extended bedrest,however it sounds like you were compensating for symptoms (ie you sat w your feet up b/c it made you feel better), rather than doing something that caused your severe symptoms.

I also remember having this thought when I became quite ill w POTS. I wondered what I had done that had caused myself to become deconditioned--b/c that is what drs initially told me--told me I was depressed and out of shape. I really doubt you brought it on yourself based on what you describe.