Saline IV

[erinlia]

A few months ago i did a saline IV to see if it would offer me any help with POTS symptoms.  The IV ran for two hours in early afternoon.  For the rest of the day i did feel better!  I could lift my arms without feeling dizzy.  And the pressure in my head and chest was lifted. I had some energy.  The next morning i was back to my normal.  Since then ive tried three times to do an at home IV, and run it slower, overnight.  I was hoping that running it slower would help me for longer.  I used the same amount of fluid, but the at home IVs have not really been helpful at all.  Im not noticing a difference in how i feel.  So what would the difference be?  Any thoughts?  My worst time of day is in the morning.  My one helpful IV was in the afternoon....maybe it would not have felt as helpful if i had done it in the morning?  Maybe i didnt sleep as good with the IV in place?  

[Pistol]

@erinlia I have benefitted from IV fluids for many years. At first I would be admitted to hospital overnight for fluids everytime I was so bad that I passed out each time I stood. Right away I became stable and could walk and talk etc. They used to call it my "cocaine". This would happen every 6 weeks or so. Eventually my doc gave me a standing order for 2 bags weekly as needed, and whenever I was bad I went to an infusion center for the IV and it was better. They ran 1 liter over 6 hours, any faster went right through me. Nighttime infusions resulted in me swelling up and the fluids going into the tissue instead of the blood stream, so I needed to be active for maximum effect. Eventually my doctor realized that a port and home infusions would give me the optimal control and improvement of my symptoms. For the past 4 years I infuse 1 liter of LR over 6 hours twice a week and had no episodes or needed hospitalizations for POTS since! Also - we have found that LR is much more effective than simple Saline, the electrolyte combination in the LR seems to keep the fluid in the blood stream longer. With Saline I would pee a lot, with LR I dont, so it gives me more volume longer.

It is quite a  hassle to infuse fluids over 6 hours during the day but it is definitely worth it for me! You may want to try infusing over 6 hours rather than 2 hours, and see if that helps. I use a plain old IV stand, since I do not have steps in my house, but my sister, who also gets infusions for POTS, has a back pack with a pump and can even go shopping or to appointments while the IV is infusing!

[Sarah Tee]

It might be a balancing act between:

• running it in slowly enough that it "sticks"
• but not so slowly that it is escaping from the blood circulation at about the same rate it goes in.

How about trying it over two hours first thing in the morning? Did the two-hour infusion seem to stick, at least until bedtime? (I mean, in regards to not peeing it all out quickly as well as feeling better.)

[erinlia]

Ok yeah, thanks for your thoughts.  Thats helpful.   Ill try LR. And experiment with time of day and speed 

[Garden Gal]

Second what Sarah T commented. I do feel like it 'sticks' better when not rushed in... but I'm talking like over 3 hours not overnight. What seems to work for me is doing it over 2-3 hours but keeping the IV in.... then if I need to re-do the next day I've got that option. For reference sake an adult has 4L give or take of blood. I expect it depends on your type of POTS though. I would want to do a second liter in 24 hours if you had kidney or heart problems or sometimes high BP like hyperadrenergic pots... but for me, as I tend to have issues with low blood volume, sometimes a few liters spread out by 12-24 hours gets me through a low patch.