Failed The Poor Woman's Tilt Table Test

[tigerbomb]

I've been feeling incredibly lightheaded, foggy, and fatigued lately, and it keeps getting worse. I know there's an orthostatic element to it, but I didn't think I met the criteria for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, because I haven't noticed tachycardia.

I have a real TTT scheduled for next Tuesday, but I was getting anxious about it (that's kinda how I roll). So, yesterday, I decided to do the poor woman's TTT to get an idea of what it would be like. I don't have a BP monitor, so I just planned to track my pulse.

I laid on the couch for about 10 minutes, checking my pulse periodically. It stayed in the low 80s, which is pretty typical for me. Then, I stood up and leaned against the wall. WHOA. In the first minute, my pulse jumped to 180. In the next minute, it was up to 230. My extremities were starting to go cold (?!), so I stumbled back to the couch and sat down. I felt awful for a few hours afterwards.

Now I'm thinking I probably have POTS I'll keep y'all updated on the official testing.

[arizona girl]

Shocking isn't it! A neuro at UCLA is the one who first asked me to do poor Women's at home. I got an automatic cuff and charted for 3 months before seeing her again. Not only did my hr go up but so did my bp and then I sometimes awoke with low hr and hypotension. I was swinging up and down like a ride at disneyland.

I never felt my heart racing, I only felt fatigued on standing and better when I lied down. I was shocked, I think when your body has always done this you don't always recognize it, because it has been normal for you.

I now can tell when it's popping up, so that helps and my labetalol helps with the rises when it's acting up. I'm hyperpots so the labetalol is better with risers like me.

Good luck w your ttt, where comfortable shoes and clothes that show your legs so they can note change color of the skin. If you can get them to check your supine and standing catecholamines during it even better.

[tigerbomb]

Yeah, it's amazing what you can get used to. I spent the majority of my life being assured that there was nothing wrong with me, so I learned to ignore most of my physical symptoms. Now, I'm finally learning that healthy people are not constantly nauseous or in pain, and my "fast heart beat" is technically tachycardia.

I'm glad you've had good luck treating! Thanks for the advice regarding the TTT. I'm going to call the office and see if they'll do the catecholamines.