Related to POTS/Dysautonomia?

[Delta]

Hi, all. I hope everyone is feeling good today.

I'm hoping for some input on the weirdest thing that happened this morning, and am trying to figure out if this is POTS/dys-related. It hasn't happened before. Every day I take a 40-45-minute walk around our pasture. My walk is a little over two miles total. So I took my walk early this morning when it was cool - high 50s around here this morning. When I was almost done, I went to fiddle with my iPod, which I was carrying in my left hand, and discovered that my right hand would barely work.  Fingers didn't want to bend. I went to lift up my right arm, and it felt heavy; it did not want to go up.  Kind of like when your arm "goes to sleep" after you've slept on it, but no tingling, needles-and-pins feelings. Okay, so now I think I'm having a stroke. I started feeling a bit fuzzy-headed, but I don't know if that was just because I was starting to get a little scared. I went straight to the house. By the time I reached my husband, my left hand was starting to feel the same way, but not as bad. Husband noticed both hands were very pale and hands and arms very cold. After maybe 15-20 minutes, I was back to normal. Hubby thinks circulation got messed up because it was cooler out than I was used to and only wearing a short-sleeved T-Shirt, and cold constricts.  Has anyone experienced anything like this? Usually any temperature-related POTS symptoms I get happen when it's too hot! I will definitely mention it to my POTS doc, though. It was scary.

[MomtoGiuliana]

I've not experienced anything that dramatic, but when my hands get cold I do lose some coordination/dexterity.  I think tho that is normal--although maybe it is more pronounced in some people/POTS patients.  The nerves in the fingers and arm do not function as well when cold.  

[Pistol]

@Delta that sounds very concerning and I would not ignore it. I have problems with loosing circulation from sudden vasoconstriction, but that shows usually in pale or blue fingers and toes, chest pain or brain fog. If I lift my arms above my head my arms become weak and heavy. Never have I experienced loss of function or numbness like you describe. It is possible that it could have something to do with your neck or other problems but since this is a new symptom  - and there was really no cause for it - I would encourage you to discuss it with your doctor. Not all symptoms are dysautonomia related - so it is easy to just brush things off. 

[Shiloh]

I have the strange heavy feelings in my arms and legs accompanied with numbness and tingling at times.  It feels like I'm having a stroke.  It's scary and feels crazy.  😫 I do seem to get it more when I'm cold.

[bizbiz]

Hi @Delta, I experience this on a regular basis. I walk every morning on my treadmill, and while it is not outside, it is in our gym room, which isn't heated and I keep the door open for air, so it does get quite cool in there. When I'm done, I often struggle to get my air pods back into their little case without dropping them! And forget about writing with a pen or typing at the computer - my fingers, hands and arms feel so heavy and stiff!!

I have to say though - my husband experiences the same after a walk (our hands look pale and fingers almost slightly swollen), and he doesn't have POTS or any circulation disorders.

[Delta]

@MomtoGiuliana, @Pistol, @Shiloh, @bizbiz,

First off, thanks very much to all of you for responding to my post. I've realized a couple of things, although they don't really tell me what happened. First, I was trying to figure out why I did not notice this coming on sooner as I was walking and I realized it came on suddenly. There is an abacus-looking thing that my husband made - it's attached to one of the outbuildings that I pass on my walks around the pasture.  This is so I can keep track of how many times I go around. When I walk by, I move a "bead" (Don't laugh - it's easy to lose track when you're listening to good music and walking briskly!) And what I realized was that no more than two minutes before this episode happened, I had walked by and moved a bead with my right hand/fingers - no problems! So within that couple of minutes, my right fingers/hand decided to get wonky. So I think that's a "clue" - I just don't know to what!

Second, I've been out in colder weather for longer than 40 minutes and nothing like this has happened. Granted, I was wearing more clothes then, but I don't believe a T-Shirt and capris was inadequate cover for temps in the high 50s, especially since I was constantly moving. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all while I was walking.

No issues on yesterday's walk (low 70s in early AM) or today's (low 90s, late afternoon/early evening). I think I need to wait until the next morning with temps in the high 50s, and see if it happens again. 

@Pistol -  We did notice that both of my hands were very pale, no pink. We didn't see any blue tinge.  But yikes, no, it didn't occur to me that something like my neck might be involved.  You are right that it is easy to assign new symptoms to a known condition when they could be caused by something else. I will definitely be bringing this up with my POTS doc, and my primary.

I will post again when I have updates. Thank you all again for responding to my post!