Clarifications (question for Michelle)

[Alexander]

Dear All,

I am back after a period of major exacerbation with POTS which left me completely unable to funtion properly. Hi Michelle, I wish to ask you something!

You have mentioned something about a positive ANS and tat you do not get sick anymore!! I too, have observed that I absolutely CANNOT GET SICK since being diagnosed with POTS!! Where can I get tested for this ANS and what is wrong with exactly???

A second question is whether any of you has found Selective Serotonin Reurtake Inhibitors (i.e. Efexor- anti-depressant) helpful not only for the depression but primarily for the controling symptoms. Some believe that it can help rebalance the autonomic nervous system..

I wish you all the best.

See you

Alex

[MightyMouse]

I'm not one of those who no longer gets sick anymore--I seem to pick up everything that's running through the neighborhood or school. I've learned from my past that it pays for me to get my flu and pneumonia shots every year---keeps me out of the hospital in the winter.

As for SSRI's, I'm very fortunate to have never suffered from clinical depression. However, I am still taking a very low dose of Celexa as per Dr. Grubb's advice to me. He believes that the the SSRI's help the CNS, and that, in turn, has "a mediatiing effect" on the ANS. I have noted a more stable (but far from perfect) bp and hr. Also, my GI functions are better. Again, not perfect, but better than where I started.

No perfect answers out there for any one of us yet--but it's worth looking in to the SSRI's for some potential benefit. Also, don't discount the entire class of drugs if one doesn't work for you; it's possible one of the relatives still may be useful (for example, paxil has horrible side effects for me, but Celexa only had an initial adjustment and I now have ZERO side effects).

Good to see you back on the board.

Nina

[justin]

your first question. i still get sick, too; actually, i think i get sick more when it comes to things like allergies and viruses (although i get less sick with some other things that i used to get lots--e.g. i had chronic bronchitis for several years, and since i've developed POTS symptoms, i haven't had a single really bad episode-huh!)

ssri's. i agree with nina. i took sertraline and it sucked, but when i switched to a low dose of celexa, it helped with my depression, my POTS symptoms, AND i also had zero side effects after a few weeks. actually, i'd say the celexa works better for me than the beta blocker i'm on, if i had to choose between the celexa and the atenolol i'd take the celexa hands down, even though the atenolol has a much greater effect on my heart rate and palps than the celexa. it's just made me feel much more fatigued and generally crappy. pros and cons, pros and cons....

justin

[ethansmom]

I don't have any advice on the SSRI's- in fact, I am still gathering information on this myself. However, I wanted to say that since I was diagnosed with POTS, I seem to catch everything under the sun that goes around. I also seem to get everything worse than other people- the common cold puts me in bed for 2-3 days. You are lucky if you cannot get sick!! I'm curious to see what other have to say about this. . .

[Michelle Sawicki]

Hi Alexander!

Good to see you back!

I did have a positive ANA with a speckled pattern. However, I did not seem to fit into any specific autoimmune illness that has that pattern. Here is some info on what diseases do fit the pattern: http://www.haps.nsw.gov.au/edrsrch/edinfo/autopat.html

If I am remembering correctly, Nina also had a positive speckled ANA (am I right there Nina?) and she does get sick.

But I have had other POTS patients tell me they never get sick anymore either. I guess we are fortunate in that respect.

As for SSRI's, I did try one a couple of years ago. It wasn't the right medication for me, but others have found them to be very helpful. Hopefully they will help you.

Michelle