It'sMyLife

For the past week, after every meal (no matter the size) that I have before lunch time I am bombarded with POTS and hypoglycemic symptoms: weakness, tachy, winded, shaky, and sweaty. I have not taken my blood sugar since I don’t have a monitor, but I have taken my bp. I usually have a narrow pulse pressure and mild tachycardia. This happens within minutes of finishing eating. The symptoms never completely go away until around lunch time. Some of the things I’ve been eating are Balance Bars (peanut butter protein bars), bagels with peanut butter, bacon and eggs, pancakes and bacon, and waffles and bacon (usually only put a tiny bit of syrup on these). I have also tried oatmeal with a little brown sugar and it usually does the same thing. Oh, and cheerios and milk without adding any additional sugar to it. Can anyone give me any info as to why this might be happening? ETA: This has happened to me in the past but usually when I have a lot of sugar too early in the day. Now, it's everything I eat.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with it. Just goes to show that POTS presents itself so uniquely with each individual's body chemistry. I should have added that I have a type of POTS that causes a dysregulation of bp where I get high spikes. The last day it was taken before I started the Bystolic (in-office poor-man's TTT) it spiked to 180/106. So, I wasn't leaving the office without a med to get that down.

Thank you for the info and advice. Thanks especially to nowwhat! for sharing so much with me.

Thanks so much!! ETA: I went through the criteria list of the five listed. I don't really meet the criteria there... seems like all my flexibility stops millimeters to a centimeter short of the criteria. Who knows. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the docs think.

Thanks, Sugartwin. Now, I need to know how to convince my PCP to put in a referral for a geneticist. I don't have very elastic skin but have been told since I was a teenager (when getting sports physicals) that my hypermobility puts me at risk for a dislocation if I don't do strenth traning on my joints. In addition, when I was a child I was on crutches two or three times for my hip joint coming partially out of socket (while doing a cartwheel the one time I remember) and leaving me very sore. Do you have any advice or articles you recommend to take to my PCP when asking for this referral? Thanks so much!

Basically my question is in my Topic Title. If I wanted to be "tested" for EDS, where would I start?

Thanks so much, Pokey! I just asked my psychologist for a script for something to give me more energy and I don't think he really understood why I was crying to him about being so tired. He said we all wish we could stay awake 36 hours a day. The nerve! So, at this point I will ask my EPcardio after I get my referral to see him again. Thanks again!

I'm taking it right now and like it better than the rest of the beta-blockers I've been on. It controls my bp and pulse pretty well and doesn't seem to give me as much fatigue as the others. Good luck!

I'm taking it right now and like it better than the rest of the beta-blockers I've been on. It controls my bp and pulse pretty well and doesn't seem to give me as much fatigue as the others. Good luck!

Well, I can add that my symptoms all started with my mono infection over 10 years ago and has never gotten better. I've never been myself since then.

Thanks, Rach, for the wonderful input!! Ava watches either PBS Kids or movies on DVD. The only voice that really gets on my nerves in Caillou on PBS kids. He has a real whiny voice and it makes me nuts. I find myself mocking him and praying it's over soon. lol

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

After reading back over my post, I worry that it may have come across as judgmental. I apologize if I offended anyone. I was merely giving credit to those who've managed to tough it out enough to have more that one child. Also, I also cannot imagine how hard it would be to come down with this after having multiple children. I would love for my DD to have a playmate, but cannot imagine living through another newborn phase (which in our case lasted forever!) while taking care of a pre-schooler at the same time. In addition to that, my DD has food allergies and some oral sensory aversions that add extra challenges to parenting with POTS. So, I'm terrified of dealing with two food-allergic children--esp if they end up having different food allergies from each other. Meal planning alone wears me out! Thanks again for the support and experiences, parents!

It just amazes me that anyone dealing with POTS has/had more than one kid. I can't even imagine having another kid right now with POTS.

Thanks, Carmen!

Thank you for the encouragement, Notgivinup. I appreciate it.

Thanks, Kari! It's funny that I just got your post because DD is watching PBS right now. I have finally succumbed to the "t.v. babysitter." I did not let her watch t.v. before age 2 because I have read that research is showing that kids who do so are more at risk for ADHD and it runs in our family already. I still fought it after letting her watch t.v.--trying to limit it to an hour or two a day. But, more recently, I've been sick with a cold several times in a short period and now she has a cold. She has a few favorites that she asks to watch now. lol Most of the time, I'm happy we don't have cable so that she only gets to watch the PBS cartoons. There is so much junk out there! Overall, things are getting a little better. She is getting past her (long, if you ask me) stage of not playing on her own. So, she has stopped having to climb all over me and yell/whine for mommy to come play with her and she'll actually play with a toy/craft for more than 3-4 minutes. It's like a huge sigh of relief! I will be starting a new job on Tuesday and it will be full time. I am very excited and nervous at the same time. It is a change from my career field of dental hygiene. It's a sit-down job and I'm optimistic that it will be much less fatiguing. My biggest worry is how I'll get anything done around the house, but really, it probably won't be hard to get the same or more done that I am pitifully getting done while having to look after DD all day anyway. lol I am excited because now we might be able to afford to put DD in preschool and we are going to consider daycare as well. (Right now she stays with a SAHM who used to do in-home daycare.) She def needs more interaction with other kids and, more importantly, more activities than I do with her. Daycare was not a good option for her when she was younger, but as she approaches preschool age, I think it's a good idea now.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the info everyone!

Thanks Julie! I guess I'll have to call my EP tomorrow and just ask him if this is what could be causing my allergy symptoms to be out of control. My BP was always fine on the Florinef so I think the dose was OK. But, I think it was just the hormonal effect it has that had my headaches so bad. It was like one looooong menstrual headache.

Thanks for the links, Tachy! Bella- No, I'm not on the florinef any longer. The side effects were unbearable--mostly the awful 2-week headache. But, the acne was bad, too. Thank you for the encouragement.

Thank you for the replies.

Maybe this is what I read then. I have felt like I need my inhaler a few times in the past week and I usually only need it if I get around cats (severely allergic). But, I haven't been around any cats.

OK. Thank you!

Thanks for the replies! Firewatcher- That was very helpful. So, do you think it could be the case that the BB's are keeping the antihistamines from working or not? I know they don't work the same as epi does. Oh, and just for clarity, I wasn't referring to MCAD or the like--only seasonal-type allergies. But, that is good info to have nonetheless.