Need Help With Sympton Description

[pat57]

Seeing the Dr. as a follow up, I started a 12 hour shift which was a BAD idea. Took maybe a month to recover from 3 months of 3 12 hour days a week. And I did not recover completely so this is 2nd follow up.

I searched, sensation of exhaustion, sensation of overstimulation, feeling exhaustion and whatever else I could think of. Does anyone understand if I say I feel

like I have a rubberband stretched from my head to my feet and its tight and uncomfortable? When I lay down the sensation is only in the chest and head.

This is the same feeling I have had if I over drank and over partied then overused coffee to get going the next day. Been decades since I've done that- but I have.

It would be helpful if I could find a descpirtion of the sensation- I think! Right now I'm sitting, so its in my arms and head. I have compression hose on.

thanks!

[deucykub]

Hi, Pat:

The first description you gave made no sense to me, since I can't actually relate to having a rubberband stretched length-wise across my body. However, the second thing you said, a description of how you felt after a more common event - that made everything click!

When my fatigue is extreme, I explain it by comparing it to staying up all night when I was a teenager and then trying to function at around 5:00 PM the next day without having had any sleep. It's the "running into walls, can't think, feel sick, can't stand, vision blurring, mind numbing, headache, nausea" kind of tired. Not the "golly, I sure did work eight hours today, and I'm tired, hey honey wanna go dancing now?" kind of tired.

I always have better luck describing a symptom using likely common experiences that the doctor can actually relate to, rather than a description of a situation they have probably never experienced. (and if my doctor's been running around with rubberbands stretch along his body... I may need to be concerned!) hee hee

I hope this helps! Good luck explaining your symptoms. I hope you are able to get them across well enough to get the help you need.

Take care!

[DanniBunny]

Its SO tough describing symtoms. They're something so personal that I don't think poeple who have experienced the same thing always understand my descriptions. What I found helped was writing them down, then reading them back to others, to see if the phrasing makes sense. I agree that comparing a symptom to something the doctor, on any one who might not have experienced any type of dysautonomia, is very helpful. Hope your feeling better after your long day! I was hosting at a pub when my severe symptoms first started and I remember just how awful long days like that felt. Looking back I don't know how I made it through or why I was being so stubborn as to even do it! And good luck with your doctor as well.

[pat57]

thanks guys, I found the correct adjective at POTS place. Feeling wired>

Thank God I have a better description.

partial list

The above are symptoms reported by POTS researchers. Other symptoms sometimes reported by POTS patients include:

* Arrhythmias (irregular heart beats)

* Chemical sensitivities (May have multiple chemical sensitivity and can be very sensitive to medications - may only need small doses)

* Easily over-stimulated

* Feeling full quickly

* Feeling "wired"

* Food allergies/sensitivities (some foods seem to make symptoms worse)

* Hyperreflexia

* Irregular menstrual cycles

* Loss of appetite

* Loss of sex drive

* Muscle aches and/or joint pains

* Swollen nodules/lymph nodes

* Polydipsia (excessive thirst)

* Weight loss or gain

* Feeling detached from surroundings

* Restless leg syndrome

[MightyMouse]

Pat, I get that "wired" feeling often an it's pretty miserable. I tend to set it off by pushing myself past what my body really "wants" to do...for example, if I'm already feeling exhausted but I have to drive home to get to bed, that extra push I give myself sends my body into wired mode. I get the same thing now when I teach classes at night; my body isn't used to staying active that late into the day.

I then feel exhausted, mind and body, but am now awake and restless, mind running without me... I sometimes have wondered if it's excess norepinepherine or other catecholamines surging? Regardless, it's not a fun feeling.

[pat57]

I hear you Nina. Night hours are not our best freinds.

I saw the Dr., and he didn't seem to have any concern re my wired feeling. Except that was when he said shift work causes all kinds of problems. I complained about my legs and am getting my cholesterol checked and an arterial dopper. Plus going to a therapist for Depression. I complained about fatique, he said probable depression, I mentioned the stressors I'm faceing he said stress causes depression. I said I'm irritable- do you think, menopause? He said depression.

He would not let me wiggle out of it. Its not that I disaggree with that but I am against taking antideppresents. They keep me up and are more work for my liver, so -therapist it is.

[Kitsakatsa]

Tired and Wired.

I had a sensation that I could only describe as "static". It is like when you leave the TV on after the networks go off. If my body were a TV, that is what I feel like.

Now, I think I can describe it as adrenalin sickness. If that is not an actual illness, then I just made it one. It is the feeling that I have when I cannot stay lying or seated for more than 10 seconds and I am too weak to stand. It often results in me lying, popping up to sit, falling back to lay, repeat 10,000 times. I really wish that I could find a better way to describe it.