Eating & Symptoms

[BuffRockChick]

I have some strange habits I've acquired over the years, like never ever taking a shower, only taking a bath in the afternoon and lying down for about an hour after a bath.  Seemed backwards an quirky for the last decade until POTS diagnosis - now it makes sense.

I have strange eating habits and I wonder if there might be a good reason why.

I felt mildly nauseated this morning but ate ramen anyway.  I laid down immediately after eating and about 15 minutes later felt extremely fatigued, I checked my blood pressure, it was low.  I kept checking it and noticed it creeping up and I was feeling less fatigue as it came up.  

I'm curious if maybe my weird eating habits are to avoid symptoms.  What are your symptoms areound eating and how do you cope with them?

[BuffRockChick]

Update,  3 times in a row my blood pressure dropped significantly after eating.  Then 4 times in a row it did not.  I've been checking vitals when I'm inappropriately hungry or nauseated and I'm not finding a trend yet.

[KiminOrlando]

My doctor told me that our BP drops after we eat because the blood gets diverted for digestion. My automated machine doesn't register my BP when it gets too low, so I haven't been able to document it. I know I can't eat and then get a shower without ending up on the floor.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Kim 

[BuffRockChick]

Interesting!  My bp cuff gives me a lot of errors after eating.  I wonder why it doesn't read.  The lowest I've measured with it was 83/48.  Seems like it should read quite a bit lower than that?

[Finnmin]

My husband sinks into a deeper state of fatigue after a meal than after exhausting exercise. I've noticed that his capillary refill time goes up to 4-5 second in his hands, a sign of peripheral reduction in circulation, because of digestion?(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_refill). He's feeling so unwell on his bed after a meal, that I haven't taken his BP till he's feeling better, but I will try tomorrow.

He's accepted that he has to spend 30 minutes in bed after a meal, feeling terrible, he's a big guy and isn't happy with many tiny meals a day, which would probably help him. 

For him, it seems that fats are worse: butter, cream, fatty red meat, sausages. 

[Debbie Rose]

I never checked my BP but I get rapid heart rate to 120's for about 10 to 20 minutes after I eat a big meal. I now eat small meals as a habit, occasionally messing up but try not to. My showers are brief with temped water or a long bath with hotter water if I lay down for 30 minutes after, or just before bed .

Debbie

[HangingByAThread]

We all have "strange habits"

Have you ever had your blood sugar tested?  You mentioned lying down 15 minutes after eating ramen and being exhausted and I know that ramen is full of salt (a good thing for some of us) but also pretty high on the glycemic scale.  I'm wondering if you were so tired after eating it due to your blood sugar rapidly rising and then crashing - blood sugar issues can also cause nausea.  (My endocrinologist diagnosed me with reactive hypoglycemia some years back after my tachycardia worsened.) 

I've had to force myself to eat small meals all day long (seems like I'm always eating) and really cut out the sugar/starch and I feel a lot better now.  I found a high protein diet really helped me.  One things that bothers me is that I come from a big family of people who love their dessert.  When I go to family functions and everyone is shoveling in the cake and ice cream right after the meal, I have to wait an hour or two after eating until my blood sugar drops in order to have the sweets (and I have very small portions now).  If I eat too much at once I fall dead asleep into what we jokingly call the "sugar coma"  I also notice that when I eat big meals I get very hot but then a while later my hands turn to ice and I get really, really cold and have to pile on sweater or blankets while I'm digesting - sometimes I even get the shakes.  (I can't have fruit juice at all and forget about soda.)

I was warned no baths at all and to take lukewarm showers (no hot tubs either).  This really helped because I used to nearly pass out and see spots in the shower (and lose my balance sometimes) and I didn't make the connection to the water temperature (I used to love long HOT showers but no more). 

[BuffRockChick]

I thought I had reactive hypoglycemia, but blood glucose was fine.  Barely budged with 65 g sugar in a soda first thing in the morning.  That was before I discovered POTS.

[BuffRockChick]

I had another episode of postprandial hypotension.  It was after a big meal.  I don't know why I have it sometimes and not other times.  I know big meals and high carb are common triggers, but I'm not aware of a pattern for myself.  I read that postprandial hypotension is common in the elderly (hah, I'm 32) and those with dysautonomia disorders.

[Lily]

It might help you to keep a food journal for a while, and write down also every time that you have symptoms.  Sometimes you just need to get some data to see the pattern more clearly.