Over-Medicated?

[Racer]

In a few months I went from never taking anything, to a never ending stream of pills. Midodrine 3 times a day, magnesium 2 times, prilosec, miralax... and I cant take any of them at the same time, and the magnesium is taken with food, but I cant eat in the AM... and this is only the start, add four more meds and I will supposedly be feeling great!

The medications work, and they do make me feel somewhat better, but I really have a hard time convincing myself that I actually need medication. I am really having a hard time taking them regularly. I end up skipping doses because I think I can go without, or I totally forget. I just cant imagine adding more medication.

I know I am a "lightweight" when it comes to this, I just cant convince myself to add more medications, even if they will make me feel better.

[angelloz]

Believe me , if something helped I would gladly take it. So far no luck. You can always try to cut back on something when you are stable and adjust accordingly. Good Luck!

[Zap]

I've gotten fed up many times with the terrible side effects, and realized that so far I've been better off (not that I'm doing particularly well) without any Rx stuff. I've had benefits from a few supplements, but that's about it so far.

[Joann]

Racer, if the medications are working then its worth taking them. If they aren't making a difference than I would get off them. Probably the best way is to add one at a time and give it some time. If it makes a difference keep taking it, if not get off it and try something else. I have been given so many things, even before they knew what was wrong.

[looneymom]

If the medicines help you function throughout your day, why would you not want to take them? If you are happy with your level of functioning, then you might not want to try any new medications out there for POTS. This is understandable. So if your your current treatment works, stick with it. If you want to go off something, talk to your doctor first. Going off some medicines too quickly can cause some really strange side effects.

[Racer]

If the medicines help you function throughout your day, why would you not want to take them?

I guess I keep second guessing myself. Do I actually have problems or is it all in my head. I know it is silly, I just hear a friend who called me a hypochondriac. I know I shouldn't let stuff like that bother me, but how do I know when the symptoms are physical or psychological? Are many of my symptoms stress related or are they really autonomic related... I can go on in a endless cycle of questioning myself. My experience, if you ask a doctor "is this all in my head", they will not take your problem serious.

[Guest Alex]

Racer,

at one point I was on: florinef (2x), propranolol (2x) mestinon (3x), klonopin (2x), citalopram, vit D, celebrex, nexium, tylenol # 3 (as needed) iron, vit C, potassium, vit B12 - I was taking over 30 pills a day - definitely not good, particularly since I was extremely disfunctional at that point. I am now (by choice) down to only mestinon and vit D and I can tell that many of my sx were meds side effects. You know your body better than anyone (drs included) so you're the only one who can decide what to continue taking and what to forget about.

In my case, I realized that my drs were just 'trying' things out totally disregarding my concerns - because that was (I was told) the 'standard' POTS treatment....hmmmm. Once I figured out that the pills were actually making me worse, I started eliminating them one by one ...coming off some of these is no fun either.

Best of luck,

Alex