EABarnard

Thank you so much to both of you!I appreciate what you have shared with me so so much.

Hi ladies. So I have had POTS going on 3 years. It has been going very well and under control but now that I have gone into my 3rd trimester of pregnancy, I am feeling terrible. My gynae doesn't really know or understand my condition. I just wanted to know if a worsening of POTS symptoms is to be expected? If so...any advice? Also please give info on how you felt after having your baby? Am really starting to feel nervous and afraid that I won't have the energy to look after my new baby. Thanks so much!!

Hi Gemma Sorry to hear you have had a bad flare up. This has happened to me and I cannot deny that it has been linked to me over doing it and not listening to my body. My flare ups have generally landed up with me hospitalized but the doctors can't tell me if there is anything else underlying it. Have you done more than you would usually do and were you starting to push yourself maybe? I know it doesn't really help but just try and take it easy on yourself. It really upsets me if I go down hill after doing so much better but I guess we just have to take it a day at a time and listen to our bodies. All the best and really hope you will be able to get back to your activities!

Thanks gjensen! I appreciate your kind words!

Hi all Does anybody on the forum suffer from Wolff parkinson white and POTS? If so, has anybody had ablation surgery for the WPW? Did this affect your POTS at all and if so how? What medications have you found useful/not useful? So many questions I know! I am feeling so overwhelmed at the moment. Since my last post of being admitted into ICU for shortness of breath, the doctors discovered arrhythmia due to what they now believe is Wolff Parkinson white. It seems the medication I was on for my POTS was making the WPW worse. Is it possible for WPW to be missed on ECG and only picked up now after numerous ECGs, holters etc? I have been put on new medication for the WPW. The doctor has given me verapamil but the problem with this is that it leads to further hypotension and with my POTS...I need not say more...I really feel horrible. From being fairly in control of my POTS to now not even being able to get up without support, diarrhea two to three times a day and just complete exhaustion... Has anybody else ever had these two together and if so please give some info!

Hi all Thank you so much for your replies. I had another really bad episode yesterday and have been placed into intensive care for cardiac monitoring. The doctor has said that my heart rate was developing an arrythmia and believes that the breathing symptoms are all related to my very high heart rate. What a scary experience!I feel exhausted from the whole thing but I am so thankful for the advice of coming to hospital. I have been trying to figure out what could have caused such a flare up and feel extremely blessed to be under the care of a new physician who wants to get to the bottom of it. I am very slowly and painfully learning that I need to listen to my body and not ignore the warning signs it gives. Thank you all for encouraging me to take ot further. It's so easy to start thinking that it is all in your imagination! Very thankful for this forum

Hi all. I am new to the forum and I really need some advice. I was diagnosed with POTS in May 2013 after an event that happened to me in December 2012. I won't go into the details of it but after lots of tests landed up with an electrophysiologist who made the diagnosis. I live in South Africa and in general I would say that very very few people have ever heard of POTS. I know we all experience this with doctors but it is really quite bad here. I am only on a medication called ivabradine. It works directly on the AV node as I have terrible reaction to beta blockers. My doctor said I could try manage all other symptoms conservatively. I must say that I don't believe my medication makes a huge difference but I am learning to live with all my symptoms. Until last night when suddenly I felt as though my chest was closing up. I am not sick and don't have asthma but if I can imagine, it felt abit like an asthma attack. I have been struggling to breathe since and have a constant tight feeling in my chest. My dizziness feels worse and body temperature goes from extremely cold to extremely hot. The feeling gets worse when I stand. I refuse to go to emergency for any tests as they will only give me medication for what they believe is a panic attack...this has happened to me before. I am abit concerned and just wanted to find out if anybody has experienced this. Please help with advice in any way that you can. I would really appreciate it!