skyblu

Well I tried a mix of orange juice, water and salt. I think it'll do the trick although I find the orange juice to be a little too sweet even diluted with water. But OJ does have lots of Potassium so I guess it should work as well as the Gatorade. The only advantage of Gatorade is you can take it with you everywhere.

I think I might be allergic to the dye in Gatorade and was wondering if anyone had a recipe for homemade Gatorade. I was thinking orange juice with a little salt added might do the trick? Thanks.

I drink both. And when I drink Gatorade I mix it with water.

I use enteric coated fish oil capsules. It definitely makes a difference. I was originally prescribed fish oil years ago for inflammation when I was nursing my son (now 15). I couldn't stay on them long term, due to the problems people have mentioned/ Going to the coated ones a couple years ago and spreading the dose out over the day made a difference. The problem with a diet heavy in fish is mercury. How many mg of fish oil are in the enteric coated ones? Glad they work better for you....I might try them if I can find a cap lower than 1000 mg.

I do OK when I eat fish so I think I'm going to stick with eating salmon a few times a week. I can't figure out why I can handle eating fish but can't take fish oil. Makes no sense. I'd be willing to try fish oil caps again if they made caps with less than 500 mg of fish oil.

I decided to try taking fish oil caps because they're supposed to help prevent migraines. I took one 1000 mg capsule for the first time with lunch today and got really dizzy afterward. The dizziness lasted around 4- 5 hours. I've read fish oil caps can lower BP but this was more of a vertigo type dizziness than my usual lightheaded feeling from low BP. Plus....my BP was fine. So who knows....I'm sure the dizziness was from the fish oil capsules and not just a coincidence.

Just a thought but Benadryl can cause unpleasant symptoms in some people. It does with me. I get shaky, I break out in a cold sweat and in general I feel very weird and creepy on it.

Thanks...I just emailed her.

Sounds really scary. I once passed out in the shower and have come close to passing out after a shower. I think it's because of vasodilation which is a result of the water being too warm. Are you making sure your showers aren't too hot? I'm alone during the day and keep the phone by the shower and always near me just in case.

I received an odd email from Ernie this morning which leads me to believe her email account was hacked. The email said she was on England and she was requesting money to get home. I haven't emailed or called Ernie in years but I'm sure she didn't send this although it did come from her email account. If anyone on here still has contact with Ernie you might want to let her know someone has hacked into her email account and is sending out this email to her contacts. Thanks

Thought this was interesting http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/27/jordan.rania.treatment/index.html?hpt=Sbin Jordan's Queen Rania undergoes treatment for irregular heart rhythm By the CNN Wire Staff September 27, 2010 2:24 a.m. EDT STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Jordan's Queen Rania was recuperating in a New York hospital Monday after she underwent a medical procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm. "The procedure went very smoothly and Her Majesty is well and in good spirits," the Royal Court in Amman said in a statement Monday. She will remain hospitalized for two nights while she recovers before returning home later in the week, the palace said. Rania was in New York with her husband, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Rania's procedure involved placing a catheter through a vein to the heart. An electric current was then used to stop the disturbance of electrical flow through the heart, the palace said. As a result, the heart's normal rhythm was restored, it said. The procedure is used to treat premature ventricular contractions -- extra, abnormal heartbeats that begin in the heart's two lower pumping chambers. These extra beats disrupt the regular heart rhythm, sometimes causing patients to feel a flip-flop or skipped beat in their chests, a definition on the Mayo Clinic's website says. The site says premature ventricular contractions are common and occur in most people at some point. Most people with premature ventricular contractions and an otherwise normal heart don't need treatment.

Wow...it must have been very scary to have experienced an arrhythmia and to have been so symptomatic at such a young age. My cardiac issues have developed gradually. Started with PAC's and PVC's in the early 90s' but they didn't happen that often. Through the years it's definitely gotten worse. I think I started getting PATs in 2000. Or maybe I always had them and wasn't aware of them. I went into an afib during a sinus surgery in 1998...they had to stop the surgery until they got my HR under control. It was during the part where they pack your nose with lidocaine or something similar. The anesthesiologist came up to me when I was in recovery and told me I really gave them a scare. LOL...I was so sedated during the surgery I don't recall being afraid. I can also go months with no cardiac symptoms as well...no PAT's or PVCs and then they start up again in full force. I guess all I can do for now is to wear event monitors sometimes just to make sure nothing else is going on.

Wow...it must have been very scary to have experienced an arrhythmia and to have been so symptomatic at such a young age. My cardiac issues have developed gradually. Started with PAC's and PVC's in the early 90s' but they didn't happen that often. Through the years it's definitely gotten worse. I think I started getting PATs in 2000. Or maybe I always had them and wasn't aware of them. I went into an afib during a sinus surgery in 1998...they had to stop the surgery until they got my HR under control. It was during the part where they pack your nose with lidocaine or something similar. The anesthesiologist came up to me when I was in recovery and told me I really gave them a scare. LOL...I was so sedated during the surgery I don't recall being afraid. I can also go months with no cardiac symptoms as well...no PAT's or PVCs and then they start up again in full force. I guess all I can do for now is to wear event monitors sometimes just to make sure nothing else is going on.

Thanks for your input, Nowwhat. Yes...the ventricular tachy can be dangerous but fortunately it sounds like your brother isn't having regular episodes of them. Interesting both of you have cardiac issues. I go through bad and not so bad periods also. For example up until the past few months I was able to go through periods with no episodes of PVC's or PATS . But then I can also go through cycles where I'm getting PVC's all day long. I know my attitude about them has changed. About 3 months after my brain surgery in 1995 I started having PVC's nonstop...all day long. I remember talking to my cardiologist's nurse who told me to avoid all triggers including alcohol. At the time I enjoyed some wine before dinner and refused to top drinking it. If I recall she told me I could end up in the ER and I just laughed it off. But the funny thing is the wine relaxed me and the PVC's actually deceased and stopped while I was drinking a glass of wine. Not being fearful of them back then was in someways a blessing as I sometimes think the fear can make things worse.

" SVT also is called paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) or paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT)". From Web MD. When I get an episode it feels like my heart stops beating for a second and then I can feel it racing in my chest so fast that I doubt I would be able to count the beats on my pulse. Then it goes right back to normal beats. I'm assuming it's a PAT and not an afib becasue it feels similar to past PAT's that were documented on an event monitor. I don't get symptomatic because it doesn't last long enough. Afterward, my heart always feels a little funny. Like things aren't settled in my chest. I had one driving the other day and it shook me up enough so that I missed my exit and had to turn the car around. Like I said. I'm always afraid it's not going to stop. I'm also having more episodes which concerns me.

Thanks..you bring up some good points a well and things for me to consider. Sometimes I think I'm more worried about ending up having the PAT's for hours on end and needing to take medication than I am about the actual episodes.. But yes...for now they're considered harmless and so far I'm not symptomatic when I get them because the episodes are so short. I can't even imagine what you went through with episodes lasting for hours and days. Was it always that way for you or did you start out with short episodes that got longer? You're not sounding negative at all....you're being honest and I appreciate it.

Thanks Nina. You bring up some really good points. I don't know the exact cause of my dysautonomia. I have been a fainter since childhood but back then it was only if I stood too long or had a fever. Otherwise I was perfectly healthy...athletic and didn't give the fainting too much thought. Back then I thought it was because I had low blood sugar. In 1992 I started getting some cardiac issues... PVC's and some minor tachycardia. Again...not a big deal as I was assured they were harmless. I continued on with my life and physical activities and did nothing different except avoid things like cold medicines and too much caffeine. In 1995 I had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor that was located pretty deep in my brain. I think that's when the dysautonomia kicked in because I was never the same afterward and have been on a slow decline since. Most of my docs believe the brain surgery caused it but they don't know why. The cardiac issues appear to have gotten worse since the brain surgery so it's hard to know what's tied into what. Or perhaps I'm just more distressed by the cardiac issues now. It's hard to sort it all out.

Yeah...I can't imagine what it would be like to have to deal with going into afib or atrial flutter on a regular basis. My step brother who is in his late 50's had an incident of atrial flutter out of the clear blue that lasted for several days before he drove himself to the ER. They had to keep him over night although I'm not sure how they got his HR down because getting info out of him is like pulling teeth. In fact I'm not even sure it wasn't an afib. Anyhow he didn't seem anxious or upset by it. He was on meds for about a year and was able to continue running and going to the gym. He was told it could happen again but he's not concerned. I wish I could be more like him and not worry about what might happen. I've become so used to my PVC's that while uncomfortable they don't freak me out anymore. Unless I go through cycles where I'm getting them all day long. I'm hoping I'll eventually get used to the PAT's as well. If my cardiologist had a crystal ball and he could assure me the PATs will always be benign and never last longer than seconds I'd probably feel less concerned about them. I started having PVC's and irregular HR several years before I got dysautonomia. Which is why I wonder if it's a separate issue and how much of it is caused by the dysautonomia.

Thanks Lieze. Hmmm. the EP study even without the ablation sounds kind of scary. Actually when I have an episode of SVT my HR is up pretty high..too high to count. They've documented episodes on an event monitor and all they've said is that they're impressive. \ When I said my HR can go up to 90 I was referring to resting HR not when I'm having an SVT episode. I can be tachy and still be in regular rhythm. LOL... I know 90 isn't tachy for most of you but because my resting HR is low when it goes up to 90 for no reason it feels uncomfortable. It sounds like the ablations only help with some of the problem and I could very well still have PVC's and some erratic HR even after an ablation because of the dyautonomia. This may sound silly but I'd love to be able to have a cup of coffee like I used to or even a beer without worrying I'm going to trigger an SVT. Kind of a stupid reason to consider an ablation. I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet with an EP but after hearing about both your experiences I'm now not so sure I want one. I hope your friend is doing is OK...is she someone who used to post on here?

Thank you both for sharing your stories. sj75, I'm so sorry your POTS is worse since you had your ablation. And that it didn't get rid of the arrhythmias. I wish your outcome could have been better. Lieze...the sensation you described about your heart stopping then taking off is exactly what happens to me. I'm always so relieved when the fast HR finally stops. Like I said ...it only lasts seconds but it feels like forever and I'm always afraid it won't slow down on it's own. I've gotten so used to PVC's but this is much scarier in my book. A few questions for both of you. Is there a way for them to diagnose extra pathways before the ablation? Also..is the recovery after the ablation for someone with dysautonomia longer than for someone without ANS issues? What kind of post procedure side effects and issues did you have that got better with time? I can't believe I've gotten to the point where I'm even considering an ablation. Thanks again.

I have dysautonomia but I don't have POTS. I do have OI but my HR never goes up much more than 25 -30 beats. My BP sometimes crashes if I stand for too long. My BP is erratic but typically it runs low. I do get spikes on occasion. I was on Florinef from 2001 -2003 and had to stop because it spiked my BP too high. I'm currently not on any meds except Ativan for sleep. My resting HR is between 52 and 64 although it sometimes gets in the 80's or 90's for no reason. I have to avoid most things with stimulants like coffee, alcohol and certain meds. I'm OK with one cup of weak tea. I go through periods where I get a lot of PVC's and lately I've been getting more PATs. Because the episodes don't last for more than 12 seconds my cardiologist isn't concerned about the increased frequency of the PAT's. I'm starting to wonder if I should consult with an EP to see if an ablation would make sense. I know they can make dysautonomia worse but I'm wondering if that's just with people who have POTS? Has anyone on here had an ablation. I'd like to hear about your experience...if it helped or made things worse. Thanks.

I get the no eppi numbing shots as well (carbocaine) and I too have noticed my heart races when I first get the shot. I think in my case it's anxiety. I always end up needing a second shot before the procedure is over but it beats having novocaine.

Interesting. I smoked regularly from about age 13 to 20. The funny thing is that I never really liked it all that much and would often feel "sick' afterward. Like I was about to pass out. I'd get lightheaded and weird from it. I think I kept trying to like it and kept on doing it because all my friends did. Years later I read it can cause low blood pressure which was most likely the reason I was having a problem with it. I have been a fainter my whole life and using a substance that lowers BP was the last thing I needed. I wouldn't smoke it now if you paid me.

I'm at an age (53) where everyone I know smoked marijuana in high school and college. If marijuana were the cause of dysautonomia then lots of people would have it.

I was told at Mayo to always take salt with your food and the best way to do it is is put a lot of salt on your food. You don't need salt tabs. Before I went to Mayo I was doing salt drinks which a doc in Denver recommended. The docs at Mayo said the salt drinks were useless, that salt won't be absorbed properly unless it's taken with food.