green Posted July 18, 2022 Report Posted July 18, 2022 Hello All, Long-term POTS-ish person here. I'm doing a lot better than I was at my worst over 15 years ago and no longer have classic POTS symptoms of light-headedness, at all. But, I have a question: do you guys feel worse in the summer even if you stay inside with the A/C? It's an important question for me right now because I'm really dragging at work right now and it's freaking me out. Even though no classical POTS-y type problems, I'm really tired and just sort of spacing out. Also: I've been taking citocoline for the past month. I didn't feel anything, but now that I'm off (per A-B-A self-experimentation where you go on/off to make sure you're really benefiting) it I'm noticing that my memory problems were better and I was PERHAPS doing relatively well in June (if I deserve a handicap for the heat!) Some people may be interested in some research saying citocoline can improve BP stability: https://nnp.ima-press.net/nnp/article/view/436 I'd appreciate anyone who can share their experience with heat - even if you're staying in the A/C. I run in the mornings, but it's cool then. Not sure what's going on! Thanks ahead of time - Green Quote
MikeO Posted July 18, 2022 Report Posted July 18, 2022 19 minutes ago, green said: But, I have a question: do you guys feel worse in the summer even if you stay inside with the A/C? The answer for me is yes. Not sure what citicoline is about but i have documented my neurogenic flares since 2019 when it gets overly hot out despite having central air. eventually the flares will work work out. Quote
green Posted July 19, 2022 Author Report Posted July 19, 2022 >For sure worse in summer. What could be hitting us is the change from HOT/Humid to AC. I was able to goto the beach today. Did not feel great until I was there for a couple >of hours, like my body had to adjust to the temp/humidity. Well, that makes sense - your body doesn't handle the stress of the heat and humidity well and you exposed it to heat and humidity, so you felt bad. I'll be out only briefly early in the morning when it's not so bad and then stay in the A/C all day, but still feel terrible. Quote
Karen Elaine Posted July 21, 2022 Report Posted July 21, 2022 Yes, my symptoms are worse during hot weather/high humidity even when I'm indoors in the AC all day. I get very short of breath and fatigued, as well as just feeling worse overall. It didn't make sense to me either-- why even though I was inside, the weather still affected me. What I've found in my reading is that both higher levels of humidity and lower barometric pressure can lead to slightly lower oxygen concentration in the air (so our lungs have to work a little harder to extract it). And heat, as we all know here, makes it even more difficult to regulate body temperature. I think it makes sense, though, that it's difficult for our bodies to adjust to even small changes in our environment, as it is the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for making all those necessary adjustments. The effect of atmospheric pressure on oxygen saturation and dyspnea: the Tromsø study : "The respiratory system is influenced by weather conditions (Celenza et al. 1996; D’Amato et al. 2013; Ferrari et al. 2012; Michelozzi et al. 2007; Qiu et al. 2013; Spence et al. 1993; Tseng et al. 2013). In a study of 25 million ambulatory visits by COPD patients, temperature, wind speed, air pressure at sea level, and humidity had a significant influence in 1–2% of the ambulatory visits (Ferrari et al. 2012). The weather is for a large part determined by barometric pressure (Barry and Chorley 2009). When the atmospheric pressure is decreased, the oxygen saturation is decreased as well (Horiuchi et al. 2018)." Quote
Sushi Posted July 22, 2022 Report Posted July 22, 2022 @green I live in New Mexico and it is extremely hot and dry. I find that even 5 minutes in the heat seems to reset something metabolically that lasts for the whole day. If I do have to go out, I wear a cooling vest that I keep in the freezer. Choline and citicoline: A friend of mine was the patient studied in the following article. For her, and apparently a sub-set of POTS patients, choline supplementation has been very beneficial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25466896/ Quote
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