Amy Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I want to know the language! I feel like crap does that mean I am a pots hole? I have only been looking at this site for two days and it is certainly reassuring to hear from others who have the same thing or similar experiences. At this point I am just full of questions? I guess everyone must go through this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 It's a play on words--like when you hit a pot hole with your car--except we call it a pots hole--and it can be more like a sink hole We usually refer to being in the pots hole when our symptoms are at their worst and we're just not able to see the way out.Hope that helps. Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I tend to refer to especially bad days as grand canyon days. Don't ever hesitate to ask questions. You can also look through the archives to pick up on a lot of stuff. There just seems to be a lot of people in potsholes or canyons right now, so that's why it's mentioned so much. No matter how far we go tho, we are there for each other. morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitsakatsa Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 Isn' t this so strange, because I have always tried to describe the onset of bad symptoms as a "sinking" feeling. It is so hard to describe the pots feeling to people. This is so great that finally there are people that understand!!! I refer to the feeling as "static" with my docs and they pretty well accept that. I also talk to my self and talk myself through even little things like getting in from the parking lot to work (do you guys do that?) When people ask me what Pots is and how it makes me feel, the best description that I have found and that makes people understand is this: You feel like you have heat stroke and food poisoning at the same time. That pretty much does it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 I guess I feel like I'm on the verge of internal combustion. Implosion, whatever, it's miserable. I just say that my regulator is broken for all the parts that need it. People just give me a blank look and go ahha. Then they leave me alone. morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 I usually feel like gravity has just gotten stronger and is dragging me into the earth. It's what that "heavy" feeling I get feels like from my head to my legs, as if I suddenly weigh so much more and I can't hold myself up any more. When in the hole, gravity seems stronger to me.Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunisshining Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 i describe it as "a silk scarf trying to stand up on it's own." Better yet is the code-phrase i use when talking to my parents or sister. We had this book about the body when i was little. one page was about the importance of bones. it showed what a ballerina would look like without bones (like a piece of yarn or jello trying to stand up, basically...a wobbly wavering, rubbery person..but flimsy). so when i'm having days where standing up is basically out of the question or if i do stand, it's not pretty...then i tell my parents "i'm feeling like the ballerina with no bones" or a silk scarf trying to stand up on its own.love u all,sunand yes, i do try to talk myself thru doing stuff (if i'm in the dining hall and feel like i'm going to pass out, i'm like "don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out, find something to grab onto, don't pass out in the middle of everything..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLB Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 The silk scarf thing is really very accurate. I've been feeling pretty bad for a while now. I have to wonder, do potsies ever go into an episode they never come out of? The chest pain has been severe lately - I just found out that a dear friend passed from a heart attack, and 've been really shaken. Scared. Don't mean to be such a downer - I haven't had a very good few weeks here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunisshining Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 jlb,sorry you're so sickbefore i was diagnosed with pots, my longest episode was probly 8 months straight... (by episode, i mean, bed, needed help getting dressed most of the time, no showers, baths but not hot, independent study for the second part of it. the first part i could barely walk at school and would get home and crash on the floor by the front door for at least an hour tilli got up the strenght to make it to something to lie on. luckily, in my old house, there was only one floor and a loft and my room was on the first floor..but still. yeah, my parents would check on me in the middle of the night so much cause they were scared. but didn't have chest pains. i'm sorry. if you've had...eeeewww..a huge mosquito just flew into my room. gross..ii don't want bites, too. ok..sorry, off subject.ummm..what was i saying.....hmmmm......oh yeah..ummm, what was i saying???!!yeah, it can last a long time. but my worst like pretty much unable to function spell was yeah...at least 8 months.but i think you'll feel better. God is there for you!I'll pray for you!love you lots,hugs,sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Posted April 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 Thanks for your thoughts. Like many of you I think I have been experiencing pots for a long time and just didn't know. I am sure I have many experiences that qualify as being in a pots hole. I am trying to climb out now but it is difficult.. A couple of you have referred to chest pain... that is what really started my doc's down the investigative trail was chest pain that seemed to start out of the blue. They could see PVC's on the treadmill as I was saying I was experiencing chest pain, they new it was real as I was able to tells them and them see a real change on the screen at the same time. Because most of those I encountered in the hospital on my last stay new NOTHING about POTS every time they asked if I was having chest pain I always said no because their response would have been inappropriate had I said yes. I get fleeting chest pain often and it is disconcerting. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you better. Hang in there and thanks for supporting me and everyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLB Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Amy, I didn't know what I had for 20 years. The dx was always "anxiety". Go figure, huh? Sun, thanks for the prayers - I need them right now. I'm trying so hard to keep going with life, but it's getting really difficult. Tomorrow I have to give a presentation to a local organization, showing them a seminar I developed for battered women (I'm a BW's advocate in my city), and I feel right now like I may be too sick to do it effectively. How do you all get your spirits up again? Nothing is working for me this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLB Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 P.S. - I read someplace once that the huge mosquitos don't bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merrill Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 JLB, good luck tomorrow! Here's my wish for you: that just the precise amount of adrenaline will kick in tomorrow ... enough to raise your heart rate just a little and give you the buzz you need to make your presentation effectively. You do such critical work in your community ... it has a ripple effect and touches all of us too ... My spirits are sometimes lifted by doing something for someone else. Maybe that will happen for you! Be confident and shine tomorrow; you can crash later. Or maybe you won't! Think positive ... and we'll be here for you either way.take care,m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunisshining Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 hey jlb,good luck tomorrow. i'll be praying for u and sending u moral support? what time is your presentation? i'm on pacific time. yeah, i don't always keep my spirits up - it's not healthy. mister rogers always said "no one can always be happy." and that's true. and i still love mister rogers...sorry, off-topic. oh, the mosquito didn't bite me (yet)...i think it flew outside overnight.as far as the presentation: you will do the best you can do. and the fact that u will still present when you are sick shows how important the topic is to you and how important it should be to others. if you absolutely can't do it, then reschedule. fyi: i was having a temporary meltdown today thinking i was just gonna drop psych and not go and take a test that i was going to fail and that was just going to make me more exhausted..so, parents came to the rescue. at first i got frustrated cause they were saying "do what u want, but i would try to take it." but i'm so glad they forced me to - i couldn't sit up during it, really..i had to put my head down and do the test that way and then that got tiring, so i just leaned back really far in the seat. but i did it. i actually almost feel asleep when i finished and by the time to lady came in to get it from me i was almost drooling. but it wasn't that bad. i think i passed, at least, i hope. but i did it. and i feel tha tmuch more proud of myself. however, if i wouldn't have done it, oh well, i'd still be cool. but i'm just saying that whatever happens, happens and will turn out fine. the lady saw how tired and sick i looked and felt and told me to go home and sleep. moral: your dedication shows even if you feel like the soggy breakfast on dishes in the sink that are still there before dinner.hugs!good luck! love u sooooo much more than lots.love, hugs, prayers,sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLB Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Hey, Merrill. How have you been? Your good thoughts worked! The adrenaline kicked in, just in the nick of time... I woke up this morning with the MOTHER of all migraines. I never had one that bad before. Considered rescheduling, hated the thought, and did a lot of praying. Suddenly. the pain lifted (that never happened with a migraine before.)Found out this afternoon that a couple of friends who knew about the presentation were deep in prayer for me this morning (and now I read here that Sun kept me in her prayers, too ). It was at 1 PM my time (eastern) - it went well. Final presentation is on Tuesday, hopefully I'll have answers soon after that. Sun, you're a hoot:... feel like the soggy breakfast on dishes in the sink that are still there before dinner.Yup, that's about how I feel now - going to go do that crashing thing Merrill mentioned. When will you know your grade on the psych test? And good for you, heading in there and doing it. I feel pretty good, too - it's a neat feeling, accomplishing things anyway, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunisshining Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 sorry about the migraine. those stink! bummer! but i'm glad it went away and i'm glad u got it thru the presentation. i got a 73% on my test. meh. it's better than i thought i'd get. and even if i get a bad grade in the class i can always retake it. but i did it!! yay!!!!!!!!!love u lotssssssss!!keeping u in my prayers!and congrats on the presentation!hugs,sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guvna2004 Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 I refer to it as a WATER WELL, your stuck in it and cant get put, the rain gets you, the cold gets you, the fear gets you, the anxiety gets you, the pain gets you and theres nothing you can do except sit and wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tearose Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 My experience of the potshole is of both comfort and healing. It is a quiet mostly dark place. I am not usually feeling sad. I am usually curious why I am there again. If I do feel cold or muddy or uncomfortable it was that I probably crashed in without warning....but I know that place so well that I don't dread it anymore. I know the way there and back quite well. I decorate when I am there. I heal and get introspective and nurtured there. I rest and figure things out there. On one recent trip there, I had my dinet friends there too! I like life outside the potshole but I understand that in this lifetime of mine, I will need to do some time in the trenches as well.Not in my writing groove today but trying to communicate none the less, tearose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzygirl Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 Kitsakatsa- it is so funny that you mention talking to your self,!!! I have to talk myself into walking from the bus stop to the house all the time!! I say ok Linda only 1 more block to go and its short one, but some days that short walk feels like it is a million miles long.Nice to know I'm not alone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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