Awful Day

[guvna2004]

Befor i start, todays been drastic, but i pulled through as many of us do, so please read on and i hope this inspires more.

Today i have had so many skipped and irregualr heartbeats its been unbeliveable. I was thinking about going to A+E again, but i get told off for going there, basically im wasting my time cos im not going to die. The thing that scares me is the chest pains and "all of a sudden" weakness. I felt weak today and put it down to no breakfast, so i decided to pack my stomach full of chocolate becasue i was on the moove walking about, and that made me VERY!! worse. Symptoms today were:

- Tachardia

- Chest Pain

- Stomach Pains

- Feeling weak

- Very Cold

- Dizziness

- Feeling weired, like reality isnt real

- Anxiety ( i get that every day anyway )

+ more i cant remember

Some days are better then others, christmas holidays i was fine. The thing that gets me down is the anxiety, it makes me feel the worst of worst. My lifestyle is about to take a dramatic change, i start colledge in febuary to do a Teaching course for 5 years, ontop of that i start a new job on monday as a Supervisour of KFC here in the UK, its nighttime work. So i do a full day at colledge the straight from there to work. Im looking to get a laptop and the internet so i can keep you all posted on day to day information, to hopefully inspire more. Im dreading it because my anxiety always knows when to kick in, once that starts all other symptoms follow. For 5 years i have to commit myself to a pain staking lifestlye so i better knuckle down and get on with it. I hope my lifestyle will inspire more. Im a bad, but not so bad sufferer of POTS, the way i think is get through today, because i did it yesterday, and the day befor, and the month befor and the year befor.

James

XX

[TexasGrrl]

Sorry to hear your day was so rotten...

A helpful hint.. when you feel bad or feel something coming on, steer clear of sugars and simple carbohydrates. Focus more on proteins and complex carbohydrates. Otherwise, you'll spike your blood sugar and exacerbate your symptoms.

A better choice of snacks would have been something salty and filled with protein, like nuts, beef jerky, pepperoni, etc.

As a matter of fact, I found that many of my symptoms decreased dramatically when I went on Atkins last year. I realized that all the simple sugars I'd been consuming were increasing my symptoms.

Symptoms of high blood sugar and/or the drop in blood sugar that comes after a spike:

* weakness

* dizziness

* fast heart rate

* hunger

While that isn't usually the *cause* of our symptoms, it certainly won't help, and I'd wager it turned your day from simply a worse than normal day to a really bad day.

[Laura]

Hi James! Just a thought... Chocolate is a stimulant like coffee, cola etc. and might have added to your tachycardia and anxiety. Some people with POTS can't tolerate chocolate very well so perhaps that made things worse for you today? Hope you feel better! Laura!

[guvna2004]

I can have 1 normal size chocalate bar and feel ok, apart from sometimes i feel tiered and sleepy after chocolate ( an meals for a matter of fact ), but today i had a whole pack of chocolate toffee biscuits and 2 chocolate bars. I might eat it again in 2 days and see ifit happens again, then i can stay well clear of it in future. Im keen on pasta, rice and potatoe, so its hard for me to come off, although i have been loading on the sea salt on every meal and snack. Its all about trial and error. Ive noticed cod liver oil, vitamin tablets and other crap like that dont work and tuna usually keeps me stable. I also had a bout of bulimia for 2 years, and i think i might have it coming back as i feel guilty when i eat food ( i ate 2 medium size fish-o-fillet meals from macdonalds today, ps. the US Small is the UK Medium, you have larger meals then us ). I also make myself sick on occasions, i know i need to stop and i will. Love you all.

JAMES XX

[TexasGrrl]

Tuna keeps you stable because it is positively LOADED with protein. One 6.5 oz can packs 42 grams of protein for a mere 192 calories. Protein keeps your blood sugar stable, so that's why you feel better after eating it as opposed to a plate of pasta or potatoes.

If you must eat pasta and potatoes, eat them with enough protein to slow their absorption into your bloodstream.

While the other aspects of your diet may be trial and error, this is pure scientific fact. Spikes and drops in your blood sugar WILL make you feel even worse than you do already, so you'll need to do what you can to keep it stable.