Pots And Tanning Beds

[stacdliw]

My daughter is getting married on May 19th and I want to get some color, especially on my face, since I'm so pale from being sick. However, I'm afraid that a tanning bed, with its heat, will trigger my POTS symptoms since hot baths and the summer heat does so.

Has anyone had any experience with tanning beds and its effect on their POTS symptoms?

Thanks,

Bev

[Linj10]

I love them! They aren't hot bc of the fan inside and it usually relaxes me and helps my stress an anxiety and makes me feel better. I do 10 minutes every other day

[RunningWild]

I think it's totally unrelated to my POTS, but everytime I've tried using a tanning bed, I break out in a horrible rash that lasts for days. SOOO uncomfortable. Normal sun doesn't do this to me.

[Ashelton80]

Turn the fans on high as soon as you get in there and go at a very slow time during the day so they won't already be hot when you go in. I'm fine when I do this and like the above poster sometimes I feel very relaxed and calm in them. Just get up slowly when you are done and you should be fine.

[CC101]

I used to tan a long time ago but haven't recently. Just wanted to add a helpful tip on top of the fans. When I would get too hot as fans were not effective enough, I would just step out for a minute or so. Bringing wet wipes with you could help cool off your face and neck as well. =)

[Monstrosity]

The noise bothers me so I wear headphones

[roxie]

You could always try jergans tanning lotion. I've used it many times without any streaks of problems. I'm very pale and it gives me a "healthier" look

[Libby]

I hate to sound preachy, but tanning beds are right up there with cigarettes in terms of heightening your risk of cancer. I've seen the units with the melanoma patients on IL-4 (best treatment for stage 4 at the moment...8% cure rate, 92% death) and trust me, POTS seems like a cake walk compared to that.

Use Jergans like i hate bananas suggested. Or bronzer.

[Lethargic Smiles]

I know this is old, but I was searching on tanning beds because I feel so much better when I tan at least once a week. It isn't low Vitamin D because my levels are great even without tanning. I also get it in a supplement and in my almond milk. I know some people theorize the way our body uses vitamin D from sunlight/tanning beds is different than how it uses oral supplementation. It seems some of us do great with sunlight and tanning which, to me, points to possible autoimmune issues, while others feel awful after being in sunlight.

My tricks are:

• Go mid-morning or mid-afternoon, this way you'll miss the people who tan before work, on their lunch, or after work. You'll be more likely to get a cooled off bed.
• If you are able, pay a little extra for the nicer beds. They tend to be ventilated much better. Ask to look at the beds prior to buying a package. Check for fans. The bed I currently use has fans along the top inside of the bed as well as on the end and outside. It is AMAZING for my POTS.
• I don't tell the tanning place I could faint from heat (I think they'd tell me they can't let me tan), but I just ask if I could have a bed that hasn't been used in the past hour if at all possible.
• I go to a place where the mostly do hair, but happen to have tanning beds. It isn't well known or popular for tanning. It actually looks quite run down, but their beds are nice. This also makes it more likely I will get a cool bed because they don't get a lot of tanning customers.
• Try and go somewhere where you can make appointments. It is the worst to go to a "no appointment necessary" type place and have to wait 15 minutes to get in a bed, which is of course hot. The place I go to, I call and ask if I can come in half an hour, so not much advance planning required, but at least I know there will be a bed waiting for me!

I'd love to hear other people's experiences with tanning.

[kayjay]

I would tan occasionally for the positive health benefits. I have had low d- but the only tanning place near me has stand up booths.

I did want to chime in about health risks. I know 3 people who have had melanomia. They all are not people who ever tanned. My college roommate had it on her toe. The other two women had it on their thigh. Something else is going on besides sun exposure.

My skin and health in general are better when I've had sun. It decreases my pain and elevates my mood. I'd be more worried about the ingredients in the tanning lotions and in sunblock than the actual "tanning".

[Cala]

I used to tan every winter. I pretty much had to or I'd "come out of my skin" so to speak. Now I know why but back then I didn't fully understand why it helped me so much.

I didn't go every day, nor tan long. Usually just 10 minutes 3 days a week tops. Just enough to give me what I was missing by being indoors all the time.

It always helped me. Don't go crazy with it though. The leather look is NOT sexy in my book.

[Relax86]

I tanned once a week or so thru my recovery. I like the light. Sometimes I would get overheated but symptoms would be very temporary. I also would use the fan, bring wipes and also my cold water in with me. I'm low Vit D and supposedly don't always absorb my vitamins. I used sunscreen on my face. But in the winter it really helps me. I probably go about 20-25 times/year. It's tough on the budget and I sometimes just fall out of that routine.

[Racer]

The last place I would think to find a "pro tanning" thread.

I would suggest,

http://www.skincancer.org/healthy-lifestyle/go-with-your-own-glow

or if you must go old school,

http://www.skincancer.org/healthy-lifestyle/tanning/sunless

[SarahA33]

Hi guys,

my doctrs aren't crazy about it for their own reasons I think , but they did give me along list of medications that can cause interactions along w/ tanning. Check out the list:

http://sun1.awardspace.com/Causes_Photosensitivity/Drugs/Photosensitizing_medications.pdf

[SarahA33]

You may be able to call your pharmacist and just ask her if any of the current meds are safe to tan.

I went tanning on Penicillin and thought nothing of it. It as supposed to be 7 minutes but it ended at 4 minutes. I was covered in bumps.. heat rash bumps everywhere. it was horrible. That's why I think it's so important to check with your pharmacist/dr to see what they're advice was like.

Sometimes I think my doctor's forget that I'm young and would still like the option to do things like this.

[Lethargic Smiles]

I typically only go once a week in an "advanced" bed for 10 minutes. Sometimes I'll go 2 times, but generally my limitations financially and physically don't allow that! Tanning beds have been found to be helpful for people with MS because of the immune system involvement. After tanning, the immune system is a bit suppressed. I wonder if this plays into why it helps some of us? I also wonder about the body using vitamin D from light differently than that from an oral supplement.

Racer -- Thanks for the links. I don't only tan for the look of it. The effects are what I am mainly going for as I always feel better when I am tanning than when I am not. I'm constantly indoors as the humidity where I live makes being outside unbearable for me for half the year, then the other half it is freezing with hardly any in between. I know going once a week for 10 minutes isn't safe, but considering it is my only vice, (no added sugars/alcohol/smoking/sleep 10 hours a night etc...), I allow myself to enjoy it despite the risks.

Kay Jay -- The woman at the salon excitedly told me about their stand up beds. I had to laugh at the very idea of someone telling a POTSie that standing up in a heated tube for 10 minutes is a wonderful option to have. I agree the ingredients in lotions can be pretty scary. I make all my own body products so can thankfully avoid this.

Sarah -- This is great advice on checking on the meds. At the tanning salons I have gone to they check this for you, but it'd be easy to forget to check on a new med, especially a short-term antibiotic like you had. That sounds like an absolutely awful experience.