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Foods -- good and bad


dianaD

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Hi everyone,

I really want to do what I can to try to control this thing (hyperadrenergic POTS). I've heard that caffeine, sugar, and milk products may make you more symptomatic.

How about you? Do some foods make you more symptomatic? Better? For whatever weird reason, large chocolate McDonald's shakes make me feel better. I don't know if it is the cold, the calories, or what.

What foods do you think I should avoid?

Thank you!

Diana

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:D I too have POTS and hyperadrenergic excess. So basically any stimulants make me much worse. I'm surprised that you can drink big chocolate milkshakes. I can't tolerate chocolate much at all. I sneaked a snack size Twix last night at Halloween and got shaky and my heart rate accelerated! I don't drink anything with caffeine in it, so no coffee, hot chocolate, caffeinated sodas, or tea (apart from herbal tea which I have come to tolerate--although I just found some caffeine free tea from Africa--Rooibos Tea--which tastes almost like the stuff I grew up on in England!). Heavy, large meals make me much worse, as a lot of people here will probably also testify. Alcohol in only very small quantities and very infrequently. Eating too much starch also makes me feel bad.

I've learnt to work around these limitations, but I still REALLY miss my coffee!

India

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I can do coffee but only in the morning and drink a mix of half decaf and half caffeine. i can do chocolate as well.

BUT I CANNOT do large carbs, especially with low fat versions. LEAPS the sugar/carbs into my blood stream and i get hypoglycemic and horrendous post prandial hypotension (after meal low BP)

but we are all different. In general. carbohydrates work as a vasodilator for most POTS pts and are like a drug if we eat large batches.

Also Garlic is a major vasodilator AND one of my favorite flavorings but not anymore. The few times I now eat garlic I am extra cotton mouthed afterward, it makes me pee and I am terribly dizzy a few hours after eating. Garlic is good for many things but it ESPECIALLY can lower BP and it certainly does in my case. So that kind of stinks if you love garlic.

I can do ice cream but only in small portions and normal ice cream with fat. I can NOT DO ANY FAT free stuff due to the glycemic index problems. I like to balance my proteins carbs and fat when I can.

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I personally do well with at least some caffeine, tons of salt, and minimal heavy foods. My culprit is more quantity. I cannot eat large meals anymore (but I was never a big eater anyway). I usually just graze throughout the day. Now I don't even do that as I have had a food aversion lately. But, we are all different.

Carmen

PS We had a really interesting discussion on the forum a couple of months ago about food so you might want to do a search. It was more about what helped than anything if I remember correctly.

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I find that too much caffine sends me bad but I still manage weak tea (I couldnt give up completely) and reacently I think I have been having trouble with my blood sugar as I get sick if I dont eat regulary and then if what I do eat is sweet I get bad. Sweets have also started to make me bad.

I have found one thing that really really helps the nausea etc. I make up a fresh ginger and lemon drink by chopping up about 2 inches of fresh ginger root and mixing with the juice of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon of sugar. I then add whats left of the lemon I squoze and top it up with 1/4 pt of boiling water. I leave that to infuse for 15 minutes then serve it 1 part juice mix with 2 parts boiling water. It stays good for several days and is good cold too. The ginger is great for nausea but the lemon balances it well- like traditional english lemonade! My husband drinks it too- he says its quite nice!

Hope this helps

Katie

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Dairy products cause me all kind of problems.......I don't eat or drink anything dairy. As far as meds IVP Dye will put me right into a big time attack.....whenever I have a heart cath they have to treat me for the IVP Dye before they can do anything. Another is epinephrine (sp?) will bring on a very bad attack right away. I learned this the hard way and laid in an emergency room for eight hours because they had no idea what was wrong.

Jack

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I cant have coffee or almost anything else with caffeine, but I am a sweet tea addict so I do drink that on a regular basis and it doesnt raise my hr too much. Not enough to make me uncomfortable. I eat chocolate on occasion, but usually end up regreting it. I agree with the large meals thing. I feel worse when I am really full.

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Hi,

I avoid gluten and dairy. I am not as strict as i use to be, i may have milk in my cup of tea or a slice of cake once a fortnight or something (for some kind of celebration). However i would not have a milkshake or a huge bowl of lasange as it would make me feel quite lathargic.

Like most people have said, coffee makes me feel terrible... i get really irritated and feel unbalanced. Yet i can handle tea (just not too much).

Good luck finding your balance! it can take some time unfortunately.

Ps: i wish macdonalds made me feel better :) *gets all jealous*

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With me it can change - I can drink coffee one day no problem, the next day one sip and my head is spinning.

For me the things I avoid if im feeling sensitive are Cheese, Milk, coffee and seaweed - how weird is that?

But when i go away from my home city i feel better and can eat all of the above no problem - i return and im sick again and cant touch any of these...

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Right now everything that I eat seems to make the symptoms worse. I was on Zantac for my stomach and it wasnt working and my neurologist said that he did not want me on a lot of medications right now. That I was to stop taking everything that I could not live without. The one thing that I do crave is Coffee! I do not know why, I used to have only 2 cups of coffee a day but now I want it all of the time. I do not drink it all day but I want to. Vanessa

Hi everyone,

I really want to do what I can to try to control this thing (hyperadrenergic POTS).  I've heard that caffeine, sugar, and milk products may make you more symptomatic.

How about you?  Do some foods make you more symptomatic?  Better?  For whatever weird reason, large chocolate McDonald's shakes make me feel better.  I don't know if it is the cold, the calories, or what. 

What foods do you think I should avoid?

Thank you!

Diana

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