Being Sick W/ Pots?

[LastUnicornLady]

Hey, everyone. I seem to have come down with some sort of bug- perhaps it's a cold, and hopefully it's not the flu, but whatever it is, it's not very fun. Do you have any tips for dealing with illness on top of the "normal" POTS stuff? I seem to be feeling a lot worse now than I ever did before POTS, so I suspect the bug is aggravating my already wacky system.

[looneymom]

Sickness will aggravate POTS. Just be sure you are getting in your fluids and salt. Rest and back off exercise if you need to.

If it is the flu, my son did take the Tamaflu last year and I did not see any side effects that made his POTS worse. What I observed seemed to have a calming effect on him. So I thought it was helpful to him.

Hope you feel better soon.

Rachel

[turtlefairy5]

My most recent flare of symptoms was induced by a virus of some kind. I'll just second everything Rachel just posted - make sure you are drinking lots of fluids, eating well, and back off your exhertion level.

I tried to "push through" my illness, and ended up making things a lot worse.

Lay down, and stay layed down, until you feel better. Don't let obligations or should-do's get you worse off. See if you can get friends, family to help, and cancel participating in anything that isn't absolutely necessary.

[Tuesday]

Instead of tea or hot chocolate or coffee, try warming up a mug of chicken broth. I know, sounds weird, but it's soothing and a great way to get your sodium!

Investing in a good humidifier has helped get me through many colds. I tend to go straight from "I might be getting sick" to "full blown sinus infection" in about a day, so this helps immensely.

I hope you feel better soon!

[MomWithPots]

Plenty of rest and plenty of fluids! Being dehydrated is not a fun state to be in when you have pots; I got dehydrated last year with the flu and passed out a lot! Keep water and Gatorade handy. Also heard chicken noodle soup actually helps colds, etc.

Hope you get to feeling better