Faintinggoat

23

Thank you all for the warm welcomes. Darlene72: Gosh, fainting behind the wheel must have really scary. I was constantly going to the ER basically every other day, was admitted for 2 days, discharged and the day after I was discharged, I was admitted again. After the second time I was anonymously reported to the DMV and my license was suspended. The suspension resets to 6 months ever single time I faint. I was super made about this at first, but after realizing how dangerous my condition was, and hearing about situations like yours, I guess it was probably a great thing that my license was suspended. IDK what would have happened to me, or anyone else had I chosen to drive and fainted behind the wheel. I'm so happy to hear that you aren't permanently injured from that accident. KareBear: You have it dead on. What you just said is an eloquent explanation of what I was trying to say. It is very bittersweet. Most people have been struggling with the symptoms for ages, so finally knowing what is wrong is this huge relief. Then year learn about the disorder and learn that it isn't something where you just take a pill for a week and then you are okay.Thanks for the welcome! Corina: Thanks for the welcome, I hope to make some great friends and support from this site. KayJay: Thanks for the advice. I was told that I should drink OVER 2.5 liters of water and have 3-5g of sodium a day. So they were thankfully pretty specific about what they wanted. I have an app on my phone that allows me to track when I drink and what I drink, but it also reminds me to drink something every 90 minutes. This helps, and I think that increasing and tracking has certainly helped a lot (going from 7 syncopal episodes a week to 4) but am just frustrated because this is something I have been doing for probably 2 months. Joking about things that are bothering me really helps me to cope with them, hence the nickname Fainting Goat. I have been using it as my internet handle for a while. It started one day when my friend sent me a link for a sign on amazon that said "Caution fainting goat x-ing" and it has just stuck since. Looneymom: Thanks for the welcome! I can only imagine what it is like to be the caregiver of someone with this disorder. Its a struggle having it, but I can only imagine how hard it is to see someone you love and care about struggle with it. Its great that he hasn't fainted yet, that can be pretty scary for anyone, especially for a 13 year old. Hope that things go well for him! Fainting Goat

This is going to be a somewhat long post, but I just joined the forums and wanted to introduce myself. I have recently been diagnosed with POTS and Hyperkinetic Circulation, though the latter wasn't really explained to me. My POTS symptoms got very noticeable about 14 months ago when I started getting dizziness, and fainting regularly. Up until about 2 months ago, I was fainting about 7 times a week. When I had my tilt table, I was officially diagnosed with POTS and was told that until I got further testing that I should increase my fluid and sodium intake. I had nuclear testing about a month ago, and just got the results back. When I got the results back I was told that I had severe hypovolemia and hyperkenetic circulation, and that that I should do exactly the same thing, drink more water and increase sodium to increase blood and plasma volume. I was told that after a while of seeing this course of action through that they would readdress things, and possible change the course of action, if need be. I'm a bit frustrated because I have already been doing all of this for two months and just want to get better. I understand that doctors want to make sure that they have the right diagnosis, and right course of action, but I am getting frustrated that they are playing it so conservatively when its been impacting my life quite dramatically for over a year. Don't get me wrong at all, I am very happy that I finally know what is wrong with me, and that I finally have a doctor who doesn't just think that I'm crazy, I'm just frustrated and needed to get my thoughts out. I am excited to have joined the forums, and am looking forward to network with others who understand both what I have and will go through. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read this post. Best Regards, Fainting Goat