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Hi @Marabi, Would it be possible for you to speak with your anesthesiologist prior to your surgery? You could let them know of your condition and stress the importance of I.V fluids. I recently (only a few months ago), had major surgery under GA, and while I was instructed to begin fasting at midnight, I spoke with my anesthesiologist and he allowed me to take my beta blocker along with clear fluid (so basically only water), up until two hours prior to surgery. I had absolutely no issues with my POTS, (apart from a moment of tachycardia in recovery), and was up and walking within hours of surgery. Home the following day, with an easy, uneventful recovery. I've had other procedures under 'lighter' aneasthetic (two endoscopies), and had no issues with either of these. I always drink as much water and take as much salt as I possibly can in the days before and after surgery. Good luck.

Hi, I found the 2XU similar to ordinary sports tights or leggings - there was nowhere near enough 'compression' or pressure to make a difference. Medical compression tights (class 2) were much better. I purchased mine online from the Compessionsockshop.

On the rare (or sometimes not so rare 😝) occasion that my husband and I have an argument, I too have noticed that my brainfog gets momentarily better. I always attributed this to my blood pressure rising...?

Hi @Delta, I experience this on a regular basis. I walk every morning on my treadmill, and while it is not outside, it is in our gym room, which isn't heated and I keep the door open for air, so it does get quite cool in there. When I'm done, I often struggle to get my air pods back into their little case without dropping them! And forget about writing with a pen or typing at the computer - my fingers, hands and arms feel so heavy and stiff!! I have to say though - my husband experiences the same after a walk (our hands look pale and fingers almost slightly swollen), and he doesn't have POTS or any circulation disorders.

Hi @mostlyelbows, Sorry to hear you are also living in a fog. Like you, brain fog is my most bothersome and debilitating symptom, so I completely sympathise. I'm always in a mental fog, a few seconds behind everyone else and slightly disorientated. The disassociated feeling that often accompanies the fog can be quite frightening at times. I don't faint either, which I think makes it harder for people to understand, as there really are no outwardly signs of illness. My POTS takes on a relapse - remitting pattern, and I've found that once my other POTS symptoms improve, so does the brain fog. I've had years between relapses in the past with no brain fog whatsoever. It is, however, always the last symptom to leave and tends to persist for a good few months to a year before disappearing entirely. With this relapse (3 years and counting), while I've seen gradual improvement with the majority of my other symptoms over time, the brain fog seems to be a constant, without showing any signs of improvement. I've tried the majority of medications typically prescribed for POTS, and the only thing that I've found which seems to make a slight difference are salt tablets (specifically Vitassium Saltstick and Chews, not just salt loading on food), with extra water intake. I've found the brain fog to be absolutely life altering and debilitating, so I totally understand how frustrating it would have been to have a doctor brush off this symptom. I hope you see some improvement soon.

@Machair Sorry you are experiencing these episodes. They are awful and unsettling and I know exactly what you are describing as I've experience them too. I've had them with all of my flares - probably the worst at the beginning of this most recent flare. While I still wake up with a racing heart some mornings, I haven't experienced a 'night time episode' for a while (at least a year or so now). I haven't changed anything, so I don't have an explanation as to why.

Yes. My voice is hoarse after any social gathering. I also get dizzy after talking a lot, even mid sentence. Sometimes a burst of laughter is enough for me to see stars.

Yes! I've had this happen to me on many occasions! I now find that I will avoid strong odours, (if possible), due to this effect. Awful when you're out and have to walk past a building being painted, or put fuel in the car...! We once had a stain remover in a spray bottle that had quite a strong chemical-y smell. I must have loosened the lid by accident once, and it had fallen on its side in the laundry cupboard and spilled its contents. When we returned home and I walked into the laundry - the smell hit me and immediately my heart rate rose (high), and I felt like I would faint. My husband had to clean it (he had no problem with the smell), and we had to open all of the windows and air the entire house out before I could go back inside. Do you find that you generally have a heightened sense of smell? I do, (I can often smell things that others can't). There are times where I've walked past the fruit bowl in the kitchen and knew immediately that an orange or lime had gone mouldy (it just had that mould smell - sure enough, once I check, there will always be one piece of fruit with even the tiniest dot of mould.

Yes, absolutely. I have trouble with word recall, losing my train of thought half way through sentences and stuttering if I’ve been upright for too long or am overly tired. There are also times I have to repeat certain words because I’ve mispronounced them. Also trouble swallowing, but again, only if I’m tired or have been standing a lot. As MattyT wrote, I’ve been finding lately that I have been asking people to repeat certain things as it’s just taking me a few extra seconds to comprehend what is being said. I attribute this to brain fog / lack of circulation to the brain.

I had shaky vision when I first got sick, although mine was up / down, rather than left / right. It wasn't constant, would only last a few seconds, and I would experience it both upright or while laying down. Quite often it was after waking. It went away as I started to feel better. I also had episodes of 'wavy' vision, particularly when looking at a computer screen and I was trying hard to concentrate. Very similar to what you would see on a hot day when looking at an asphalt road at a distance. I also experienced the eyes zoning out / staring sensation. I would also be 100% aware of what was happening around me, but it was almost as though I just didn't have the energy to focus my eye muscles and it was easier to just let them relax into a stare. It was another symptom that disappeared as I started to feel better. It will occasionally return if I am feeling tired.

My experience is very similar to yours, in that I also had symptoms most of my life which got worse during pregnancy, then severely flared immediately postpartum. I was given Metoprolol, which helped to keep my heart rate down, and also IV fluids while still in hospital. Once home, I increased fluids and salt, and tried to keep upright and / or walking around as much as possible. My worst symptoms lasted a few weeks, then residual symptoms slowly disappeared over time. I also had the same symptoms that you describe - trouble breathing at night, pins and needles (mainly left side), and many more. I'm sorry you are experiencing a flare up in symptoms. I hope you feel better soon.

@PistolI have tried exercising later in the day - unfortunately I will still have a foggy morning. It's funny - before this relapse, (when I felt almost 100%), I could never exercise in the morning as it would tire me out for the rest of the day. I would generally have more energy later in the afternoon or evening. Now, I feel like I benefit from moving more in the morning - almost like it gets my blood pumping more efficiently. With this relapse, my brain fog seems to lift during the day, but I'm physically more tired in the afternoon.

I wake okay, (sometimes with HR high), and can get up and moving okay, however my brain does take a few hours to catch up. After my morning (treadmill) walk, I'll go into town to buy a coffee and dread bumping into someone I know as it usually takes until lunch / afternoon for the fog to lift. Conversing in the morning leaves me extremely fatigued (and embarrassed, as I'm often stuttering and mixing up words. I cannot get my brain and mouth to work together!!) I don't really have this problem in the afternoon / evening.

I walk, (fast), every morning for 50 minutes. I'm still symptomatic, but will (cautiously) say that I am seeing a very gradual improvement in my POTS symptoms. (This has been my longest flare - over two years - so improvement has been very slow). I stopped all exercise for seven days after I caught COVID a few months ago, and found that within four or five days my POTS symptoms increased (although this could also have been from the COVID virus). So I started walking again, and apart from some lingering fatigue, my POTS symptoms returned to my baseline (which is to say, still daily, but not as bad as when I wasn't exercising). I think I would be worse off for not exercising.

I also also experience this. In these instances, my dizziness tends to feel almost vertigo-like, and is more pronounced if I try to change position. I've never checked my BP during one of these episodes, as they never really last more than few minutes. I wonder if it has something to do with the body's way of adjusting to the positional change from being upright to horizontal...?