Sleep & Symptoms

[BuffRockChick]

How many here had worsening of symptoms with less sleep?  Is this an expected trend for POTS?

I've been stable for about a week.  Last night I was up late and this morning I felt unwell after brushing my teeth.  Checked HR and it had increased >60 bpm in 3 minutes since getting up.  I seem to have a pattern of periods of increased symptoms after periods of sleep deprivation, but I'm not entirely sure if that's a correct correlation since I'm going from memory of events long before I knew about POTS.

[StayAtHomeMom]

I have noticed with myself I always feel crappier when my sleep is bad. I am not sure what my heart rate does but my symptoms are significantly worse. It helps if you can establish a regular sleep pattern. Personally I use melatonin to help on the days I can't sleep. I also try to allow myself 10 hours a night minimum.

[Finnmin]

My husband usually gets a morning migraine or more severe brainfog than usual if he doesn't get 8 hours of sleep. He also gets sicker if he sleeps too much!

But something odd that we've noticed is that he feels a bit better if he has to wake up to an alarm clock and get up fast to go somewhere. Normally after waking up "naturally" without the alarm, he's unable to function for two hours. But unfortunately we can't use the alarm trick to skip his horrible morning fog, because the evening will be sicker for him if he's less sick in the morning... Like there's always a payback time for every second of ease from his symptoms.

[BuffRockChick]

@Finnmin, your husband's symptoms are so much like mine!  It's uncanny! Waking up with an alarm sets off a jolt of adrenaline, fast functioning yes, but serious payback!

I have noticed if I wake early, without an alarm, I feel much better!  If I wake after 6:30 I feel terrible, and the later I sleep the worse I will feel.  I would then lay in bed for a couple hours before feeling functional.   My hypothesis is that early waking feels better because of more cortisol earlier in the morning, but waking with an alarm triggers adrenaline?  I have worse symptoms, similar to waking with an alarm, when my children wake up before me and start getting into trouble!

I wake early without an alarm when I have caffeine the previous day, although I'm not sure how much or what time gives me the best effect.  Too much caffeine give me an awful adrenaline feeling all day and I get crabby - exactly what I'm trying to avoid.  I started sleeping on the east side for the house for brighter morning sun, and taking magnesium and melatonin at night.  It's also next to my kids' bedroom so I can catch them trying to sneak downstairs and send them back to bed.  

I didn't have the morning/waking problems while on methylphenidate for ADHD, and my POTS symptoms were a lot better.  I ended up having severely suppressed appetite and weight loss and couldn't continue.  I was on too high of a dose.  I am concerned about beta blockers increaseing risk for diabetes, so I might request trying methylphenidate again - at a lower dose and with a more experienced prescribing physician. 

I suspect I have hyperPOTS, so stimulants improving symptoms makes no sense to me at all, but whatever, maybe I don't have hyperPOTS. I'm impatient for more accurate diagnosis!

[SarahA33]

This is a common complaint among POTS sufferers that I've seen on the forum throughout the years. I had terrible insomnia for years, very sorry you suffer from this. Here are some past threads that might help:

 

[green]

Yes. I have much worse brain fog if I do not sleep much at night. Also, I frequently have weird pains and fluttering in my chest. These heart sensations are worse when I do not sleep.