Michelle Sawicki

Hi Jessica, Do you have any health food stores by you? I go to one that is about an hour away and they have all kinds of food specifically for people who don't eat sugar, gluten, dairy, etc. I don't eat sweets and they have all kinds of good food for people like me. I also live in a farming community so I can buy my meats, eggs & butter from a local ranch that doesn't use hormones or antibiotics in their animals. I try to eat things without a bunch of additives and preservatives, though I am not completely strict about this. That really has nothing to do with POTS...I just think it is healthier. Michelle

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

Here is a paper that explains a bit more: Carbohydrate ingestion, with transient endogenous insulinaemia, produces both sympathetic activation and vasodilation in normal humans: http://cs.portlandpress.com/cs/102/0523/cs1020523.htm Michelle

Hi Nichole, It sounds like proamatine is raising your blood pressure, which is the objective. Do you feel better? Here is an article discussing the new blood pressure guidelines: http://12.42.224.153/HealthNews/Reuters/Ne...y0514200323.htm Your doctor probably has an idea of where he wants you to be -blood pressure wise-, so ask him about continuing salt the next time you see him. Hope you are feeling better! Michelle

Hi Lisa, I take 12.5 mg Toprol (beta blocker). I have tried Florinef. Unfortunately it actually increased my symptoms. I have tried Midodrine as well and didn't find it to be especially helpful. It made me very tired. Some people find Florinef and/or Midodrine to work great, but I wasn't one of those people. I did take Midodrine and Toprol together. Midodrine constricts blood vessels while Toprol relaxes them, so that is probably why your doctor did not want to prescribe Toprol with Midodrine. Hopefully you'll find something that works well soon. Michelle

Thanks for moving one of the posts over. I know some of you put a lot of time into your posts -especially the ones that told your story- and I'd hate to see them get lost. So feel free to copy and paste them into the new forum. We will keep the old forum up for another week or so for those who want to move their posts over. You do have a point about some people being symptomatic all their lives and doctors just not picking up on it. I do think this is the case with a good number of people. Others, such as myself, seem to have a genetic predisposition and then symptoms are tiggered later in life. I got severely ill with POTS all in one day. For me, I think I also have an autoimmune component to my illness, as I've had a positive ANA and I never get sick anymore...not even with just a simple cold. Michelle