Lemons2lemonade Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 I never had pots before I went under anesthesia. Wondering if anyone on here has never had anesthesia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 ive had it three times - once when i was in the middle of a bad pots episode and surprisingly my POTS was BETTER after I recovered from the operation - but i took this to be my immune system decided to do its job rather than messing up my vascular system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakota Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 My daughter didn't have POTS before her first surgery. After her first surgery, she developed mild POTS and was still functioning, just mild, strange symptoms, and we didn't know what it was. After her second surgery, she got slammed and has had relatively severe symptoms ever since. She had a third surgery, but we knew she had POTS and she was given IV fluids prior to the surgery. Thankfully the third surgery didn't make her any worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 I've had 8 abdominal surgeries, leg vein surgery and one repair bones (re-attach foot) surgery - can't say that the anesthesia caused my POTS to be worse - but, the stress of the surgeries and recovery most definitely did. I think partially because of the in-activity and having to recover from such horrible surgeries and trauma. With one of my surgeries, before my POTS diagnosis - they said I nearly died on the table - bp dropped off and they nearly couldn't get me back. That one was maybe the hardest to recover from. What was supposed to be a few hours of surgery - turned into nearly all day. Doctors were really worried and the recovery nurse wouldn't let me sleep because my bp kept tanking and she kept saying I would die if I couldn't stay awake. She really bugged me - all I wanted to do was sleep and try to forget that my insides had just been removed and it felt like a fire was lite inside of me. (That one was really bad.)Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekliz Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 I actually had anesthesia yesterday for an endometrial ablation and so far no problems. They gave me 1 liter of lactated ringers before the procedure. Started another liter before and during then gave me 2 liters afterwords. Dr. said my BP.and HR were.completely normal before, during and after. No problems for me but then again I do not have a.severe case of POTs, very functional and no passing out. Just tachy and fatigueGood luck!Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brethor9 Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 My POTS consistently got worse after each surgery. Had 3 epidurals, local and general with my pregnancy...not too long after symptoms started creeping in...I really started to get worse after my hysterectomy a few years later and then had complete system crash after a gallbladder surgery in Feb 2011....since then I just cant seem to get on top of it I did have 1 neurologist mention the link to anastheticBren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemons2lemonade Posted May 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 What I am looking for here is a connection between anesthesia and pots. I remember reading that surgery is a large cause and was wondering if perhaps it is not the surgery but the anesthesia that is causing problems. I have been under general anesthesia three times. And after my first (wisdom teeth) I was so sick for days. It was the only other time in my life besides pots that I felt so terrible. My dad had to carry me out of the dentists office to the car. I found this idea yesterday when I was rea reading up on acetylcholine-- one important neurotransmitter of the nervous system including the peripheral and autonomic divisions. It also inhibits cardiac tissue, and is responsible for lowering hr. I have thought time and time again about how similar pots is to being poisoned--sweating, confusion, fast hrs, loss of conscious, dizziness etc. Many poisons like botulism for example are so deadly because they block receptors. Then the heart fails, along with ceasing respiration and kidney function etc. I was interested to read that general anesthesia works in a similar way. " Stage 2 anaesthesia, also known as the "excitementstage",is the period following loss of consciousness and marked by excited and delirious activity. During this stage, respirations and heart rate may become irregular. In addition, there may be uncontrolled movements, vomiting, breath holding, and pupillary dilation. Since the combination of spastic movements, vomiting, and irregular respirations may lead to airway compromise, rapidly acting drugs are used to minimize time in this stage and reach stage 3 as fast as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Interesting idea. I'm not sure we as the patient would be able to determine whether it was the anesthesia or the surgery itself that caused the issues. Since all of us seem to have had reactions and worse periods after surgery - what caused it....not sure. I don't know if there would be a way to conclusively determine it either. Because depending on the type of surgery it was and how each individual handles the stress of the surgery would be a determining factor also. Probably an anesthesiologist who sees us with POTS and knows before hand how we react would be the one to determine what could be our reaction to it. The only surgery of all the ones I've had that they knew I had POTS and EDS was the one to re-attach my foot and I came through that beautifully. They were really aware of my health and what they were dealing with and there were no problems - except for a hard recovery. Felt fine coming out of anesthesia and fine the rest of the time - just in tons of pain. The only way I think it affected my POTS was being in a wheel chair for over 5 months without being able to walk at all. That deconditioned me and when I did start to be able to walk - POTS was bad - but, because of having been immobile for so long. Made me sure I didn't want to be in a chair full time.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Dr Goodman told me that anesthesia is a known cause of neuropathies such as autonomic and small fiber neuropathy so I think there is already an established connection between that aspect of surgery and our disorder.Seems that, like every other aspect of this disorder, we don't all react the same to anesthesia....probably because POTS is like ice cream...every flavor is ice cream and yet they're VERY different from each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Seems that, like every other aspect of this disorder, we don't all react the same to anesthesia....probably because POTS is like ice cream...every flavor is ice cream and yet they're VERY different from each other.LOL Chaos, now I want a little cherry garcia ice cream- thanks for the chuckle! Have to agree, no telling who will be affected and in what way. Interesting about the connection with neuropathies - wonder how that happens?Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Maybe we should start a poll....see what flavor of ice cream a person would chose to eat and see if it correlates to how they react to meds or exercise. LOL Maybe we can "prove" a correlation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Yeah, Chaos - that would be fun - I'm game - for me either Cherry Garcia, Chocolate or Vanilla Bean. Only one problem - who would be the expert analyzer for it? Ben or Jerry ???? LOL Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Dr Goodman told me that anesthesia is a known cause of neuropathies such as autonomic and small fiber neuropathy so I think there is already an established connection between that aspect of surgery and our disorder.Seems that, like every other aspect of this disorder, we don't all react the same to anesthesia....probably because POTS is like ice cream...every flavor is ice cream and yet they're VERY different from each other.Although the research paper that suggested that neuropathy is a cause of POTS only contained 6 patients and never adequately explained why there was reduced norepinephrine reuptake rather than decreased norepinephrine release... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 There are many autoimmune diseases - that do not relate to neuropathy - that can be triggered after physiological stress including infection, trauma or in this case medical procedure. M.gravis is a good example.If POTS patients exclsuively developed POTS after surgery then perhaps there might be a compelling argument, but the fact is that so many different triggers have been reported, infection, trauma, car accident, lightning strike, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 There are many autoimmune diseases - that do not relate to neuropathy - that can be triggered after physiological stress including infection, trauma or in this case medical procedure. M.gravis is a good example.If POTS patients exclsuively developed POTS after surgery then perhaps there might be a compelling argument, but the fact is that so many different triggers have been reported, infection, trauma, car accident, lightning strike, etc.There are many autoimmune diseases - that do not relate to neuropathy - that can be triggered after physiological stress including infection, trauma or in this case medical procedure. M.gravis is a good example.If POTS patients exclsuively developed POTS after surgery then perhaps there might be a compelling argument, but the fact is that so many different triggers have been reported, infection, trauma, car accident, lightning strike, etc.That's why I question whether or not it's the anthesia or just the trauma and stress of the surgery in the general sense. It may make things worse - but, I had POTS before any of my surgeries.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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