AllAboutPeace

Wow, that's great! I love seeing doctors step up like that !

Thank you for your responses! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced it. It was the only time I even came close to feeling like the old me - like someone flipped a switch - and then it was back. I have sneezed since then with no affect, but I haven't sneezed that many times in a row. I don't have access to any docs who know anything about POTS, so I'm not sure if a specialist would have any ideas about it. That's probably when I'd get that "you-must-be-out-of-your-mind look". Hmmm, I'll have to get educated on the neurotransmitters. One of these days I will be desperate enough to go for the pepper

I read a past post about some people having an ANS "reset" after syncope. I know this sounds crazy, but I had a "reset" after a sneezing fit. My POTS came on suddenly and has been with me for the past 4 months (I rarely leave the house except for doc appts). There was one day in January however that I woke up 'potsy' as usual. I dragged myself out of bed after a symptomatic night to go to the bathroom and was short of breath, as usual. I took my blood pressure which was low - as usual. It was no different than any other day, then I sneezed about 8 times. Once I realized that I actually survived the violent sneezing (I'm sure you are all aware how brutal that can be when you already feel awful- chest, head and overall pain), I discovered that I could stand without my heart rate shooting up. My heart rate and blood pressure were perfect! I repeated the supine/ standing bp and hr all afternoon and it remained perfect for 8 hours! Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have gone out to participate in society... It has never happened again and other than that one time, I haven't had breaks in the symptoms at all. My internist was quite curious to see my journal for that day and all of the bp and hr numbers - but of course he couldn't explain it. He did joke though, that maybe I should be adding pepper to my salt and water regimen! Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this?? BTW...I'm new here and appreciate any feedback you might have

I read this post after doing 15 minutes on the recumbant bike this morning. I pretty much rolled onto the floor and stayed there for at least an hour until I was able to lift my head up. It's hard to find the balance of how hard to push yourself. Thanks for the extra motivation! Now if I can just keep my Labrador Retriever from trying to sniff under the pedals while I'm biking... My doc looked into Levine's program for me, but last week when he was getting my supine/standing heart rate/ blood pressure (which he has done a few times before), my resting heart rate wouldn't go below 95 so I didn't qualify. I couldn't believe it!!! My resting heart rate is low 60's (or 50's). It was a crazy one time ocurrance - hasn't happened before and hasn't happened since. I was crushed! So now, I'm trying to figure out my own program and I will be trying to learn from all of you. I am new here and I have to say that I have been inspired by all of your stories - your courage and strength is amazing! I've been reading lots of posts over the past few weeks and I can't even express how comforting it is when someone else puts into words what I have been feeling. Thanks for sharing all of it!