Tessa

Thank you for the update, Em (DancingLight) Take care, Em. I am so happy that Melissa is feeling better. That?s a good news. Melissa, Keep on fighting. Hold on your strong faith. You know you will be better and will post again hundreds of messages. Take your time to recover and rest a lot. I am praying and sending you good vibs and hughs. Love, Tessa BTW: Glad that the card made it! Hope you liked it

Hi Tearose Good luck on your trip. I am sure you will take everything with you. I will be thinking on you, Hughs Tessa

Oh, I am so sorry. Sepsis! Thanks for telling us, Michelle. I?ll be praying for you too, Amy. Hope you get well soon, Love, Tessa

Hi Rhonda What an excellent post you have started. I was wondering about EBV but never thought it could be related with POTS. On one of my blood tests carried out by my Internist, I had a positive result for Eipstein Barr Virus. Of course I felt scared and shocked. I had no idea what EBV was and was looking forward to hearing from my GP. When we met, he said that the positive EBV I had, was nothing to worry about, as (according to him) it is something that many people have, but are unaware, has no impact on our health and only means that I have gone through the virus when I was a child... But that it is over and not active. Now that you mention this, I look into my blood results and wonder if he was right. It clearly shows: Eipstein Barr VCA IgG positive. Is this the same virus that you are referering to? Hughs, Tessa

Tearose, no, I do not snore. I have a very deep sleep and you cannot listen to my breathe while sleeping. I also doubt if my body will breathe. I usually get up with a light headache, worse if I sleep more hours. The more I sleep the worse my headache is. Though (unless some exceptions) it fades away when I get up, have breakfast and breathe the fresh air... I need to sleep a lot because I feel tired. Sometimes I get up and feel I have not rested enough... But I cannot go to bed too late (otherwise I am sick the following day) and I cannot get up too late... Because of getting a headache, nauseas, etc. That?s part of my life. I wish I could sleep until 11 am when I have the day off, but I can?t. BTW, maybe a silly question but... When you drink a full glass of water all at once... Do you have problems to breathe? I feel as if I am going to drown, unable to do both at the same time (breathing and drinking) and I have to force myself to stop drinking and to breathe. Hope you can find answers with your sleep tests. Take care, Love, Tessa

I had problems with high altitudes before, but when it happend I did not know it was related with POTS. I even did not know I had POTS... The first time it happened, it was just a hill. I could not breath, was feeling exhausted, warm and with a light headache. I had to stop getting up. I felt perfect when we reached the normal level again. (I think that?s around 18 years ago). The last time it happened, we already knew I could have problems with the altitude, though we did not know about POTS yet. We could not visit the highest part of the Mountain, as I started having problems with my breathing, was feeling lightheaded and with a light headache. I was also feeling warm and with nausea. Since I know about POTS, I never thought about what happened to me when going to the mountains was related with POTS. Thank you to recall it to me. Love, Tessa

Yes, I also feel as if my heart rate is less during the night, as well as my blood pressure. Sometimes I think that my body forgets to breath for a while when I am sleeping... Love, Tessa.

I am always thirsty, even during the night. I use to get up with an extremely dry mouth, tongue and throat. It is so dry that I am unable to speak correctly. My tongue seems swollen and it is difficult to pronounce the words. I think I do not produce saliva when I am sleeping or at least not enough. When I wake up I have to make an effort to produce extra saliva to speak. I would be drinking water at night, when sleeping, but I already use the toilet too much... During a normal day I can drink 2 Aquarius (Gatorade is the same) around 8 or 9 glasses of water 1 juice Must be around 3 litres/day. (Even more in the summer). Love, Tessa

Thank you, Em that ?s better news. I hope she starts getting better soon. And for you, Melissa I am thinking on you every day, sending you good vibs and praying for you. Furthermore, I know you are strong enough to get over this, so keep on. You will get better and will be swimming on the Net, again. SOON. Love, Tessa

thank you, Em We are very worried about her... Love, Tessa

Dear Melissa, I did not imagine you were feeling so bad, four infections is a lot to go through, but keep on fighting, you will win this battle too. I am sure. I?ll continue to pray for you. I hope you feel better soon. When feeling tired and alone, please, remember that you have many friends thinking on you. You are not alone, never alone... Lots of hugs!!! Love, Tessa

That reminds me to my last ECG. The nurse said, Oh, one of the leads are not connected because it does not show the figures... She then looked at me and confirmed that all the leads were on my body For three times, the same thing happened. At the end, they thought the electrocardiograph was broken... But it was me... My heart. Then it worked... It is not the first time that this happens. I face a similar "problem" when they want to check my pulse (they cannot find it easily ) and when they check my blood pressure...

I usually have a low blood pressure but sometimes it is worse. The two last times they measured my pressure it was 90/60 (though they found it difficult to measure as they say they cannot "hear" it very well and they have to try several times). Before getting it measured I was having some presyncopal symtoms: nausea, headache, lightheaded, tunnel vision, etc... It is supposed that I had a lower pressure that day before they measured it. It took me a while to recover and plenty of fluids... The beta blocker has reduced my pulse. Now I have 60 bpm, though I still have a low pressure and sometimes symtoms trigger... Tessa

Thank you, Em for keeping us informed. I am glad I can do something. I am going to send a card tomorrow morning, I hope it gets there on time (as I send it from Spain and the Post Service is not very quick) Please, tell her it is going her way and that we keep her in our thoughts and prayers, Love, Tessa

Hi Rita, Do not worry too much. Of course we face things different but I can tell you I have the same problems when I increase stress and/or work. It takes some time, but then it comes all together and it makes you stop. It takes time to recover but you can recover. Rest a lot, take plenty of fluids, a good diet, the prescribed medicines and your body will recover. Take it easy. Keep the faith. Hope you feel better soon, Love, Tessa

Dear TearsInMySoul, I am so sorry that you have gone through the pain of losing another baby. I will be praying for you and your family. I agree with Katherine that other diseases can affect pregnancy and that you should be evaluated. Thank you for sharing your feelings, I hope you can find some peace in your Soul and faith to continue. As you mentioned, you are not alone, we are here for you if you need to express your thoughts. Take care, Love, Tessa

Thank you for telling us, Michelle. I am so sorry, so soon after her last one... She is in my thoughts and prayers and hope she recovers soon, Love, Tessa

Hi Maxine. Do not feel embarrassed. You explained something that happens to many of us. In a similar way or not, we know how frustrating it can be. I assume that some of us had a hard time last night. I cannot join a party and have been at home with my husband, waiting for the new year... A quarter after midnight, we were already in bed. I could not even drink a cup of wine... I cannot stand alcohol, as it makes me feel worse. I love music and I love dancing, but I cannot dance (years ago I had a terrible day in bed on the following day after dancing, with headache, nauseas, etc.)... Furthermore, he lost his mother almost a month and a half ago. She was a sweet and loved Mother-in-Law and we both miss her. So, besides it is difficult for me to enjoy a Party, it was not the best moment to party... POTS can be really frustrating, I know. And I agree. Do not be afraid to share it with us. We are here to talk about how we feel too. You are not alone, Maxine. Take care, Love, Tessa Happy New Year 2007! I hope you have a healthier new year.

Happy New Year!!! I hope you have a healthy and lovely start of the year 2007! Take care, Love, Tessa Will write next year...!!!

Hi and welcome to the forum I have experienced the same problem as you describe and I went to the ER. I also recommend you going to the Emergency Room or your doctor. As mentioned by others on the forum, chest pain may mean many different things and each person is different. The best way is to get it checked by someone who knows about it. Furthermore, it is not a bad idea to drink fluids and to rest. I hope you feel better soon, Take care, Love, Tessa

Had the same problem with the finger clip. They could not find my pulse. They tried all my fingers, my feet and finally put it on my right ear. I was going to undergo an endoscopy and they needed to find my pulse... I had it with sedation. I was supposed to be conscious during the endoscopy but I did not know on that time that I had POTS and I did not know that my allergic reaction to a local sedation some years ago, was a sign that something was going wrong when using sedation and/or aenesthesia... I kept sleeping during the whole process and I did not awake until a couple of hours later. It seems they were suprised about my reaction... Even worried, because they tried to awaken me, but no reaction... And they just left me there sleeping... Can you imagine my husband waiting outside for a test that was said to be around 25 minutes and more than 1 hour later, I was still inside, without getting information? It is also very difficult to get by blood pressure checked up. It seems they cannot hear it very well... No idea what they mean with hearing. (Maybe the pulse)... Love, Tessa

I have exactly the same problem. You couldn?t have described it better. On my last blood test, blood flow started slowing down and stopped. (and it is not the first time that it happens). They had a hard work trying to get it done and then I started feeling very dizzy and lightheaded. It was the first time I felt so bad. After the test, they helped me to recline with my legs above my head level and asked me to stay there for 5 minutes. As I was feeling lightheaded, first I refused but then I noticed that I could not walk and thought I would faint. Around 5 minutes later I was feeling better, had breakfast and went back to work. While I was working I started feeling worse: chest pain, dizziness, lightheaded, nauseas, headache, blurred vission... I was really scared. I phoned my husband but he was miles away and I had no way to go back home. I refused telling it at work, because I do not want them to know my health problems... And I stayed there, trying to cope with it. I had a litre of Aquarius with me (a sort of Gatorade) and I started drinking it, as it was the only thing that could help me. ... In fact, I drank it all and ate some salty nuts... Plus almost 2 glasses of water. It took around 4 hours to start feeling better and although I was still dizzy... At the time of going back home, I was fine. But it had been really scary. Should I have gone to the ER? On the other hand, when it happened, we had no idea about it being related with POTS and did not know about the possibility of having a low blood volume.. I am still waiting to find a cardiologist who knows about POTS and I hope.. Oh, yes, I hope, that in the meantime I do not need to have another blood test done. Love, Tessa

Merry Christmas to all!!!! I hope you have a healthy day and enjoy special moments Take care Love, Tessa

Thank you, Nina for sharing such a positive experience. It certainly helps us to keep the faith... I am glad you found a good doctor who is a also a nice person. Take care, Love, Tessa

Hi Jacquie I am glad you found a doctor who knows about your health problem and wants to help. That?s good news, not only for you, but also for those who expect to find such a wonderful doctor too. It gives us hope and I feel very happy about you. It seems you are on the right way now. Love, Tessa BTW, excellent information Melissa. Thanks for giving us knowledge. (I am happy to find you active again on the forum).