People With Pots & Eds

[Michelle Sawicki]

Just curious....

[Dizzy Dame]

Whoops, I voted but I don't have EDS. Sorry, I'm a blonde so I have an excuse

[dizzygirl]

i think that i look aroumd the age that i am.. BUT my hands and feet look like they "are" older"..they look haggard I suppose-- my hands especially used to look like well kids hands.. and now with in the past year they look old!!

sounds goofy i know.. but.. they really do!! lol

[DancingLight]

Michelle,

Your question cracked me up!

I am 30 and people always tell me I look 22, 23, 24...but I couldn't vote b/c I don't have EDS. But, most people say I look so young and never guess that I am 30. It cracks me up.

I was in the ER a while back and the ER nurse says, 'You're 30???" You look like you are 22! It was ironic b/c I was sooooo sick and pale and ashen and she still said that.

Emily

P.S. What prompted your poll? You DO look super young and you are sooo beautiful. Just wondering if someone said something to you about looking young.

I was told, when I thought I did have EDS that it was b/c of the way the collagen is you don't get the wrinkles. I have some characteristics of EDS and have the baby soft doughy skin.

[worththewords]

I haven't been diagnosed with EDS but I do have some of the symptoms. It's one of those things that I just haven't gotten around to talking to my doctor about. I give my doc enough to deal with for now.

I didn't vote since I don't have it, but I hear often that I look younger. To which I reply, I guess it will pay off when I'm older.

[SunsetParadise49]

I voted that people think I am around the same age as they are. In eighth grade we had career shadowing and one of the vet techs at our animal hospital asked me if I was a senior and graduating soon, I'm not sure if on that particular day I looked older then a 13 year old or what but I haven't had anyone since that day say I look older!

[MightyMouse]

I'm told I look much younger than my actual age...my mom did too until about 10 years ago. Now I think she looks her age.

Nina

[CDJ]

Michelle,

I am so interested in the results of this question. Only because I have had many expiriences w/this topic.I used to look young for my age but now I have many wrinkles.I am 39 and have been told repeatedly that I should look into some laser surgery. I have lost 40lbs with the illnes so people chime in and tell me that I need to gain weight and the wrinkles will go away.I consulted my dermatologist that i see for my skin issues due to my EDS and he claims that because of my chronically low bp that my capillaries have shut down and will not reopen/(wrinkles will not go away).I know that it is not myu weight gain so I believe this is a symptom of one of my many illnesses.

Thanks for the topic,

Cindy

[Lukkychrm42]

I get carded for R-rated movies, and places that are 18 and up, but that's probably not a huge stretch. Last summer at Vandy, my mom and I went out to get pedicures, and the lady thought I was 15. My mom looks younger than she is, too. When I'm really POTSy and my skin is mottled, just the skin looks much older, but overall younger.

[Michelle Sawicki]

Thanks for your answers, guys! You are confirming my suspicions. I have met some people with POTS & EDS who looked much younger than they actually were. The last gal I met was 27, and she honestly looked around 12-15.

Thanks for your compliments, Emily! Lord knows I try...

Michelle

[yogini]

I am pretty sure I don't have EDS, but I look very young for my age too. I still get carded and I am in my early 30s! I wonder if whatever hormones/genes are causing us to look so young also cause POTS?

[Guest Julia59]

I'm 46, and have been told I look younger. I am diagnosed with EDS, but i'm still on the fence about it until I'm evaluated by NIH during the study. I've gained weight, and am probably the heaviest i've ever been. Size 12 isn't THAT heavy, but i'm uncomfortable---all my weight is in the belly.

When I was thin it didn't seem to matter, people still thought I was younger. But some people will look older if they lose weight. I still have fatty cheeks---even when I was VERY THIN--116 pounds.

I was carded until I was 33.

I just feel old now----and 47 is just around the corner--------------

All this EDS, POTS, chiari, Spine stuff is getting to me.

Julie :0)

[persephone]

How interesting- what made you ask, Michelle? It's getting ridiculous with me- I am 25 this September but I still get told I look 15 or 16 max! My Dad says in twenty years' time I will be very glad of looking younger than my age.

[Jenn202]

I am almost 35 and people think I am in my mid 20's..........

I'm not complaining!! lol

[MomtoGiuliana]

I don't have EDS, yet, I have read that the hyper-activity of the parasympathetic system can slow aging of the skin?

Interesting question--when I was a pre-teen and teenager, people thought I looked older--I suppose b/c of my height--I was 5'8" at age 13. I remember at age 11.5 being out with my 1 year old sister and people thought I was her mother.

When I joined the Peace Corps at age 21, the kids I taught in a rural village in Botswana all thought I could not be older than 15. It was an issue with discipline at times b/c of that! In any case, people age faster under harsh conditions, such as rural Africa.

Sometimes people say I look younger than my age--my mom is also youthful in appearance and so was her father. (I don't think there was any connection to POTS there.) But I had a doctor who wrote in his notes that I saw at a later date that I appeared "older than stated age" (this was when I was sickest with POTS.)

These days I think I look about my actual age (for a middle class white American).

Sun exposure plays a large role in skin aging--perhaps one reason POTS patients look younger is b/c we spend less time out in the sun!

Katherine

[Michelle Sawicki]

Hmmm...good points you brought up there, Katherine. I'm going to run another poll for people who have POTS without EDS and see if we get comparable results.

Michelle

[UnicornIsis]

I voted younger. I have NCS, POTS secondary, and EDS Type III. Never done genetic testing, but my POTS doc said yeah I have it. And considering all the stuff I and my whole family can do, I'm pretty sure.

I've always been told I look younger than I am. I'm 23 and get carded for R-rated movies when I'm standing beside my husband who is 26 and looks about that age, myabe a bit younger. Same thing for the liquor store. I don't drink but we like to get the champagne(sp?) we had at our Wedding once in a while or to celebrate something and I'll take a sip or two and the rest is his or usually some gets thrown out. They'll card me standing beside him and not him. Sometimes its soooo frustrating. I mean if I was under 18 do you really think I'd be married? Come on!! You can see the rings on my finger, especially when they ask to see the ID and I hand it to them. I don't mind it so much inside the theater because the one down here has a lot of problems with the teenage curfew and the kids trying to stay out later. The cops are just doing their job. But it is annoying sometimes. Other times its nice, but for some reason I don't seem to notice those times as much!

My Mom, whose side the EDS is on, also looks younger than she is. Even going grey for the last 10 years she still looks younger than most people her age. People don't believe she's as old as she really is.

Good topic.

UnicornIsis