Glad To Be Here

[shan1212]

Hello. I'm a 32 year old mother of two who was diagnosed with POTS last summer when I was in the first trimester with my second daughter. I had bothersome but manageable morning sickness with my first pregnancy, and I thought that's what i had, but then I realized, hmmmm, I'm not even throwing up, and other women throw up all day and can still function! I, on the other hand, couldn't even sit up. In hindsight, though, I think I've always had some symptoms -- in 9th grade I had a racing pulse and was monitored by a cardiologist, but they found nothing (didn't do a tilt table test). I've never been able to blow up a balloon, and when I exercise I cannot maintain a conversation. It's difficult to do exercises where I lift my arms over my head.

I think the POTS became exacerbated when I weaned my first daughter and got my period back. I had several strange episodes where I'd throw up or have diarrhea, and I have always had a stomach of steel . . . would throw up once in 5 years, maybe. Since fall of 2010 I've thrown up numerous times. Anyway, these episodes seemed to be triggered by things like flying or getting my period. Once I even went to the ER because I couldn't get upright, but I couldn't really put my finger on what felt off. I just knew I felt awful and wanted help. They gave me IV fluids. But then I recovered and ran a 10k the next weekend and didn't think too much of it.

When I became pregnant again the symptoms started up again, but this time coupled with morning sickness, and this time they didn't go away after a day. My OB was on the right track and said she thought I had neurocardiogenic syncope and got me on home IV treatment and in to see the cardiologist right away. I never had a tilt table test, but just going from lying to standing my pulse shot up 40 bpm immediately, so I guess I don't need one. I tried 50 mg of metoprolol but went down to 25mg per day because it would make me dizzy upon exertion.

Around the same time that my morning sickness waned, my POTS symptoms improved and it became difficult for me to tell what was POTS and what was pregnancy. I got through the first trimester with a lot of help from friends and family and hoped that after I wasn't pregnant any more, I'd return to my pre-pregnancy state of being ill just every couple of months. It's been 11 weeks since I gave birth and things have been bad for about the last 8, so I'm worried that I'm wrong, that this is the new normal. Now I feel sick some of every day. Some days I feel mostly good, and some days I feel mostly bad. I wake up dizzy and with diarrhea a lot of days. Last week I had extreme fatigue.

I went back in to see the cardiologist, and she tested my thyroid because I lost four pounds in one week (when the only thing that didn't make me feel dizzy was moving constantly, so I just never sat still all day), but it was fine. We don't really want to try florinef because I'm breastfeeding. I'm just kind of frustrated. I also got the Mirena IUD three weeks ago and I wonder if there's any connection with an increase in my symptoms. Has anyone found that? I know hormones play a big role, but since my period seems to aggravate things, I thought maybe hormonal BC would help. ???

Anyway, I'm really excited to be here (well, not to have POTS obviously, but to have found this community) and look forward to participating. I can tell this forum offers people a lot of support and I look forward to being on both ends of that.

[LindaJoy]

Hi, Shan1212,

I'm glad to meet you here. Sorry you have to be, but glad you found this site. You're right in that, if you have POTS, it's a great resource for you, and great support.

Congratulations on your new child. Even in the midst of illness, children are a joy.

I'm so sorry you feel so lousy. It's good that you seem to have doctors who are taking you seriously and are on top of things. So many who have what we do find it hard to find docs who even believe their symptoms, let alone want to do anything to help, or know what to do to help.

Again, welcome, and I'm sorry you have to be here, but glad that you found the site.

Take care,

Lindajoy

[hholmes13]

Welcome and congratulations on your new baby! I'm sorry you've got to deal with all the fun that POTS offers, but I'm glad you found this forum. You'll find the people here really supportive and knowledgeable!

Good luck with everything!