stampingamy

I am very itchy too. I didn't think about it being POTS related. Interesting. I have been for a few years, before my POTS dx, but I was having POTS symptoms at the time. (Was chalked up to stress). Anyway, my dermatologist looked at how red my skin gets when I scratch and said my body is giving off too many histamines. She put me on an antihistamine - zyrtec. It helped a lot! My insurance stopped covering zyrtec so I tried over the counter claritin. It helped but not nearly as much. I am now on allegra. It really helps. I am still itchy, especially when I walk, I think with the fabric rubbing on my skin. If I forget to take the allegra, I can really tell my mid afternoon. She also suggested no perfumy soaps or bath and body works type products. So.. all natural for me. I thought it was sensitive skin, hmm.... I also get tingly legs/arms if I have my ankles crossed or sit cross legged. It happens pretty quickly. I have to be careful when I stand with the tingliness as I am dizzier then. Someone mentioned creepy crawlies, I wonder if that is the same as what I refer to as tingly. I thought it happened to everybody. Amy

I don't know for sure if this is "tachy" but for me when I stand up I sometimes feel as if my heart is beating really hard. Not necessarily fast. I have been taking my blood pressure each day, once lying and once standing. Typically in this controlled setting of lying down a few minutes and taking my BP and then standing a few minutes and taking my BP I don't get the hard heartbeat. So I don't know if it is beating faster as well as I don't usually have the blood pressure cuff with me when it happens. So... I don't know if it is really considered tachycardia. Good days to all, Amy

Hi. I am still figuring out my dx. I was diagnosed with POTS about a month ago after a TTT. I am doing daily BP monitoring, raised the head of my bed, drinking pedialyte at night, and wearing knee high compression stockings. No prescription meds yet other than the SSRI I was already taking. I go back to my neurologist with all the BP readings and for an EMG in a few weeks. I am reading a lot of stuff from people here and it has been helpful. I am curious though how many people have just POTS or does it typcially seem to occur with other things? Does it eventually lead to other conditions? I am noticing that many of you are dealing with so much more than POTS. Does POTS usually occur with other conditions? Is it unusual to have just POTS? My symptoms seemed to get worse or came simultaneously (vision, dizziness, brain fog) and my primary doctor made good referrals and I was diagnosed pretty quickly at the Autonomic Lab at University Hospitals in Cleveland. The tech doing the test told me his job was to prove that the symptoms were all in my head, but not in my imagination. I liked him right away. It feels good to have a reason for all the things I have been dealing with. But I am curious to get more info about whether it is unusual for POTS to occur alone. Thanks! Amy It is later in the evening and I have read some of the responses below. Thanks for the info. I am not so much looking for what caused POTS, but if it is unusual for it to occur alone. ALL information is good to have! Thanks.

Cindy, I am new to a POTS diagnosis, but in a way have a similar job and have found ways to deal with this before I knew what I had. I am a consulting SLP and do presentations for my about 60% of my job in the fall and spring. However, I am not doing this everyday. This week will be hard as I have a 1/2 day presentation Tuesday and all day Wed and Thurs. I find that not standing still is helpful. Thankfully my trainings on hands on with technology and I am walking around a fair amount. I do find in the afternoon I end up sitting off and on. I am recently diagnosed and had always chalked it up to being lazy. Good to know I'm not lazy. I think being able to sit is going to be important to keep your energy up. I thought the tall stool idea was great. I presented all day Friday and the set up was different. The computer was on a podium and not a table so I couldn't sit as there wasn't a tall chair. The afternoon was harder. I have always had such admiration for teachers. I worked in the schools and would work with the kids for 30 min to an hour, take them back. Teachers are the ones that keep them learning all day long. My neuro has recommended granny stockings (I know compression stockings, but I am in my mid 30s and by calling them granny stockings I keep laughing!), they are only knee high but I have not found them to make a difference. Lots and lots of water seems to be a key for me while I am presenting. And here I thought it was just to keep my voice from getting dry. I find when I don't take the time to fill my water bottle it is much harder to get through the days. However, again I am lucky. I am running the presentation and just give the folks a break when I need to use the facilities. I know that is much harder as a teacher. Getting too hungry is also a problem for me. When I am presenting I make sure I have a good breakfast with protein to keep me full. Standing while hungry, even a little hungry, makes me more likely to get dizzy. I find I need to have snacks. Good luck. Amy

Hi. I am new to the forum and to POTS. Well, I think I have had many symptoms for years but was diagnosed a few weeks ago. What led to the diagnosis was having more of the symptoms all happen at once and it appears more intensely. Thankfully my PCP was concerned enough to send me for an MRI, which was fine but was willing to refer me to a neurologist. He pretty quickly zeroed in on what was going on and I had autonomic testing and the TTT. I am doing an EMG in a few weeks to rule out a large fiber involvement in my muscles but it sounds like he doesn't think he will find anything. I have been reading about this and haven't seen anything about it being progressive but think I was diagnosed because things started happening more and more things were happening at once. Is it just that sometimes when you experience symptoms they are worse than others? At times do you find it is worse than it has ever been before? I don't have a very severe case. I am able to work. It helps that even with my FT job I am really in charge of my own schedule. I am able to exercise. I do get really tired. I have always wondered why in my 20s and 30s I could get 8-9 hours of sleep at night and still want to go to bed at 8pm the next day. Overall I am much better and have more energy in the mornings. As the day wears on I sometimes wear out. Thanks for your help. Amy