Pregnant And Suffering

[trublukrav55]

Hello,

I am currently 31 (about to be 32 weeks) pregnant, and have started to really go downhill. I was diagnosed with POTS three years ago, but I'm still not sure I meet the criteria for this. I have never fainted, but do have extreme heat intolerance, physical pain, fatigue, insomnia, and 'purple-ish' legs that are painful when I'm sitting too long. When I start to feel the pain, it is like I have the flu- body aches, shakiness, and feeling like I want to cut off my limbs rather than deal with it any further. I've been taking Vicodin at the same dose for about 10 years, and have had no problems stopping it completely while pregnant- until another neck injury occurred, and I am allowed to take 3/day as a result of the bulging disc that cuts off nerve signals to my right hand (long story)...

Anyway, I did not feel 'better' in pregnancy, as some people do. I felt exactly the same as I always did, but more tired, as I was abstaining from my stimulant medication (commonly prescribed for ADHD) during the first trimester. Now I'm on a lower dose of that because I tend to fall asleep while driving (risk to me definitely outweighs risk to baby). Suddenly, within the last week or so, I'm in pain all the time. My hands are swollen like they used to get when I first got sick, and my legs are constantly purple and painful. I know my swollen ankles are part of the pregnancy, but my fingers shake and hurt. I'm having trouble walking. I feel like I did when I first got sick at 19 years old, which was an acute 'attack' of these similar symptoms which were then labeled as Fibromyalgia, a diagnosis I never accepted because it doesn't sit well with who I am, and I've found doctors are less likely to listen to me when I carry that label. I've never had body scans done, besides those conducted due to orthopedic injury, only blood work that consistently comes back normal.

I am reluctant to go down the path of doctors and tests again, because I'm less than hopeful I'll get any more than eye rolls and 'go see a therapist' (I'm a Psychologist, so I particularly hate that one...). l am wondering if anyone can shed some light into what is going on... Is this just me being pregnant? Am I sick again? A mix of both? So far the pregnancy has been uneventful, smooth even minus the fatigue. I joke that my reproductive system seems to be the only one in my body that is working correctly. But now with this, I am having trouble getting through daily living tasks, like sitting and walking. Please help!

Thanks for listening, I don't know where else to turn to discuss this stuff.

[rgny]

I'm no health professional and you should definitely run this by your OB/GYN or primary care doc, but do you know if you have an underlying inflammatory condition that may be causing some of your symptoms? Pregnancy produces an inflammatory response even in healthy women and it can be widespread systemically by third trimester.