Meds And Night Shifts

[s-pot]

Hi all.

I am a student midwife and after being diagnosed last March I started meds for POTS. Im currently taking Lexapro 2.5 morning and evening 7am/7pm and Midodrine 2.5 at 7am and sometimes again in the afternoon depending on symptoms. The Midodrine gives me severe headaches so I try not to take it too often.

I am still symptomatic on the above meds but alot better than I had been and managed to get bak to college and work on wards in July.

My problem now is I have been requested to do night shifts this week ( I was hoping to manage to delay this until Jan when I get to see my consultant re meds and how to manage them! but not possible to delay now!)

I dont know how I am going to manage my meds and POTS all thru the night too!!

Currently I take the bulk load of them during the day to keep me going, the constant walking etc of hospital work seems to keep my BP fairly stable too. However at night I must tilt my bed at bottom and often struggle during the night with symptoms.

I am thinking ill just change my meds to take the bulk load in the evening i.e Midodrine and Lexapro. And my 2nd dose of Lexapro in the morning when I come off shift.

I am just concerned that when I am trying to sleep during the day after a shift, POTS symptoms will be worse (its not easy to get the usual nights sleep during the day even if i am exhausted!)and I cant take Midodrine if I am trying to sleep!

Id really appreciate any advice and If anyone knows the effect sleeping tablets or herbal remedies like Valerian can have on POTS? This might be an option to get a restful sleep during the day if it does not kick of POTS symptoms ;/

[janiedelite]

You should be able to re-work the timing of your midodrine to compensate for you different sleeping schedule. Is there any way you can see your specialist sooner?

[abnel]

Hi S-Spot, sorry I only just saw your post now, but wanted to say I have had very good results with Valerian so long as I don't overdo it, ie, take too much of it. It doesn't seem to adversely affect my blood pressure or heart rate in any way. A herbalist has made me up a great mixture of Valerian, Skullcap, Melissa (all traditional nervine herbs) and they give me a great night sleep and are also very handy during the day if I'm getting too anxious about something and need to calm my nerves. I haven't heard too many people on this forum say they've had bad reactions to Valerian, and from my search on previous posts it would seem many have benefitted from it. I hope you find it beneficial too. Good luck with your new roster, I would be a bit anxious too about such a drastic change in my routine.

[Olive]

I work nights and I just switch it to taking it in the evening. My worst time is at the begining of the shift, that's when we are most busy. I take a klonipin before bed and sleep fine. It's not the best, but it works.

[s-pot]

Hi All thanks for your responses

Lotusflower.....I used to take Valerian all the time but since POTS diagnosis ive bin reluctant to use it cos was not sure of the effect. So thanks for that....ill give it a go again! I find it fantastic for sleep.

I did switch around my meds and completed 3 nights. I really feel the worse for it....sleeping during the day was an awful struggle!! Hope ill get into a routine with it as I do more of em.

POTS wise...it wasnt really too bad! During the night my HR seemed to get very Tachy....at one point my HR was running at 140....a **** of alot faster than the woman I was looking after in the throes of end stage Labour!! lol

I think between the tachycardia and lack of sleep my body feels like ive done rounds in a boxing ring, its worn me out! but nothing a few days of rest wont remedy!

Thanks all for the Advice

Spot