Diet

[Linj10]

Is there any diet such as gluten free that helps with these symptoms and POTS? Do any of you follow a special diet that you've noticed helped?

As far as Gatorade and water....I was told to force water but I hate it. My drink of choice Is caffeine free diet Pepsi but im sure tht isn't helping. Does anyone notice a helpfulness of forcing water of by drinking Gatorade or vitamin water?

And recently, I think bc I've been under major stress with school and wedding planning and. It resting, I've been having some neurological issues. I can think of words but I can't get them to come out of my mouth or I will stumble when I try and speak. I feel like I have a brain fog. I cannot recall as quickly as I could before and I can't always make my body do what I want. I trip a lot and scariest of all, last week I was feeling somewhat lousy but kept pushing myself. I went in Walmart and wrote a check and when I signed the check it looked fine, but when I went to sign the Walmart keypad I noticed after I had signed what I thought was my name turned out to be what I called cursive as 7 year old. Squiggly lines. I somewhat felt I was struggling when signing but did not realize til I looked back. I was scared to death I held myself together until I got to the car and then I burst into tears. How an I be loosing control of my body so young? My vision, which is normally corrected with low strength glasses and in jan I started using contacts, has become blurry with my contacts and unseeable with my glasses,one it is getting worse.

Is all this our "normal"?

[Monstrosity]

As far as water goes it is not an option you need it period. I drink 1/2 to 1 gallon of water a day. I also drink a lot of Gatorade. I might have a pop every 3 days or so. Rarely do I have more than one.

I get a lot of brain fog when under stress and my eyes bother me as well.

[Chaos]

Everything you wrote sounds familiar to me. Not sure if it's the "normal" for everyone on here, but it's become a lot of my normal-abnormal state of living.

Yes, you need fluids. May not have to be just water. In fact, my neuro recommends about half water and half electrolyte drinks. I don't like gatorade and haven't found another electrolyte drink that I can handle either. I take thermotabs and drink water. Personally, I have to drink ice water and it has to be filtered because I can't stand the taste of chlorine in the tap water. I've been told to drink 2 and a half liters per day. If you drink too much straight water, you may actually make things worse by diluting out your sodium etc

Probably diet drinks aren't the best because the aspartame can cause problems for quite a few people.

I have not found any particular diet that helps me.

[POTLUCK]

The gatorade was high in sugar ( I am Type 2 DM so try to avoid ) and I drink a ton of water. I have been drinking Propel zero but am realizing that at 50 cents a piece plus tax, they add up, so may go back to water.

Lots and lots of salt. I like it on my food. A lot. Enough, my girlfriend does not like the taste. I do like it though.

Recently I have been eating more frequent somewhat smaller meals. ( basically not going as long with an empty stomach ) and personally find this seems to be hepling. Not sure if they recommend that.

[Chaos]

Recently I have been eating more frequent somewhat smaller meals. ( basically not going as long with an empty stomach ) and personally find this seems to be hepling. Not sure if they recommend that.

I have been told by my POTS docs to eat smaller meals as theoretically it shouldn't draw as much blood to the stomach for digestion. A lot of POTS people have increased symptoms after eating and may experience post-prandial hypotension.

[Dizzysillyak]

The paleo / wahls diet has eliminated most of my symptoms. Many, most of us ?, have food intolerances.

This indicates leaky gut so treating for dysbiosis, parasites, nutrtional deficiencies, candida, etc is typically

required too. An integrative or functional doc can help but the info is on the web too.

I still have oi, but I had ataxia

and white lesions on my brain for 16 1/2 years so I suspect I have brain damage still. My damage is probably

from gluten. The gluten file explains this. You don't have to be a celiac to have problems wuth gluten.

I don't use electrolyte drinks anymore, I just eat fresh raw fruits and veggies. Why put those chemicals into

our bodies ? Water depletes electrolytes I'm cutting back to a level my body needs. I'm using my urine color, odor and quantity, to determine the correct amount of water. I read that Spring water or the expensive filtered water are best. Avoid small water bottles. Only use gallons.

Meds can cause neuro problems so you may want to look at those too. Changing your diet and eliminating toxins, all of them, will help your body function properly.

Hth .. Tc .. D

[targs66]

I found that I really like "watered down" fizzy mineral water. I just fill a glass 1/2 with the fizzy mineral water and 1/2 with filtered tap water. Unfortunately, mineral water can be quite expensive, but our grocery store often carries a cheaper version. I can drink glasses of the mixed water, and it doesn't have any of the additives or sugar of Gatorade or soda. Plus, maybe the little bit of salt and minerals in the mineral water are good for me? I used to drink filtered tap water but I really prefer it with the fizzy water added.

I know what you mean about the "brain damage." It almost feels like a mini transient blackout - I can be speaking to someone and the plot is just ... gone. Or I stop what I'm doing and then realize that I've just been standing (usually clutching something) and staring into space for what feels like minutes. I've started to think that when that happens my HR and/or BP have suddenly dropped, and my brain has gone on "hold" due to lack of blood. I know that panicky feeling - like, "what is happening to me?!??" - but try to stay calm by telling myself it's a temporary thing and will pass. It's really unpleasant, though. I hope you feel better.

[AllAboutPeace]

Linj10,

There was another thread recently that discussed 'writing issues' and how our handwriting has worsened for some of us. My handwriting has been horrible since developing POTS. I was concerned about it at first, but I had a day recently when I wrote quite a bit and my writing was normal (it was day without brainfog as well - so maybe there is a connection).

It sounds like you have alot going on, so you may be feeling more 'posty' because of that. I know stress can have that effect on me.

[anaphylaxing]

I see you have some degree of asthma from your meds?

Have you looked into mast cell activation syndrome? I am doing an elimination diet of sorts to help identify triggers that cause my systems. In addition to foods, stress, heat, and strong smells make me symptomatic.

I try to drink lots of water and get lots of sleep too.

[ramakentesh]

What I have found in my case is that various diets have given me relief for a while - as mine is most probably an autoimmune etiology - but the symptoms always return.

Diets that comprise of consistent inflammatory or immuno challenges may be more likely to instigate an autoimmune reaction is a person with unfortunately genetics, but theories like leaky gut just dont stand up to science or understandings of basic physiology.

I believe that diet can definately help and seems to in my case. But always apply Ocram's Razor to any of the research in this area.

[issie]

An observation and experience with a person I know - This lady was obviously losing her memory and functions of her body. Her kids were preparing to have her put into a home. She couldn't take care of herself and was having terrible depression. It appeared that she was going into very early age Alzheimer's and some sort of neurological dysfunction - because, she could no longer care for herself. Long story short - it was the artificial sweetener that she was consuming every day. It took a couple of years before her complete function came back - but, it did come back with time.

I do think that people can be sensitive to glutten, sugar and dairy. These are some of the first things along with anything in the nightshade family (creates more inflammation) that those with autoimmune issues are told to eliminate. Since, I've done this (although not perfect) I can tell definite improvements in how I feel.

Issie

[Dizzysillyak]

fwiw. I've seen many people eliminate one thing at a time from their diets and add it back in only to decide diets don't

make a diference. From what I've seen this method is recommended by the medical profession.

And I've seen those who take a radical approach and eliminate ALL processed foods, all common food intolerances

and all chemicals out of their diets who say that diet does make a difference.

Of course you might get lucky and hit on the one thing that's been making you sick but chances are

there's more than one toxin your body doesn't like. Our "normal" food is full of toxins.

It could be that people with chronic illnesses can't recover if the toxic load is too high so it takes unloading

our toxins to improve.

Come to think of it, I read an article on this back in 2006 ? It was on prohealth

and the topic was eliminating cytokines for cfs.

Btw. Leaky gut is also called gut permeability and the info is on the web. All functional doctors test and treat

for this.

G nite .. It's way past my bedtime .. D

[ramakentesh]

Many are reporting great benefit for autoimmune diseases in general from diets similar to the Paleo or 50% raw food diets as they seem to contain less immuno/inflammatory challenges.