Timbo

If anything goes wrong, let me know. I have installed Invision boards before.

Star, I get muscle twitching too. Its not too bad, I get it in multiple areas but only one muscle twitches at a time. I had a month of eye twitches last spring and I have a pinky twitch that come and goes, but mostly goes. Tim

Paige, I am sorry to hear about your problems. If blood work was done, I think you would probably be able to rule out the kidney ailment that was posted. They do a complete blood count among other things which would show if your kidneys were not working. If someone mentioned this already, please disregard this message. I notice when I wake up in the middle of the night that my body is shaking, especially my thighs. Once I move my legs around it goes away in a minute or two. It was a symptom that started as soon as my POTS symptoms began so it is most likely related. I am sorry that you are going through such a bad time, I have had major palpitation that have scared me pretty good. Just try to hang in there. Hopefully you will get better or your doctor can help. Tim

I don't mean to scare anyone with this, it is an example of how bad some doctors are. This is typical of physicians. I was told the same exact thing when I started having POTS symptoms. "It's just a virus." Physicians are quick to judge something serious as a virus instead of doing tests. I diagnosed myself with POTS and told a series of doctors what I thought I had and none of them cared except for one who did the tests and diagnosed me. On the other hand, my Father had complications after his heart attack that left him basically disabled, he went to see a cardiologist from Johns Hopkins who figured out right away that he was retaining too much water because of the drugs he was taking. His other Cardiologist thought he had a virus.

Thanks for the support. I did some reasearch and florinef can cause shortness of breath. But I think that it is being caused by POTS since I have been on florinef for years. This is the first time I have had it and I have to say it is been the worst symptom I have had so far. It is really irritating being short of breath, this is wrecking my week. I hope it goes away soon. EARTH MOTHER: I tried closing my eyes and imagining the breathing process and it seems to work pretty good. Thanks!

But all the tests were normal. I am going to see my cardiologist again. Has anyone else dealt with moderate shortness of breath where it is very noticable, but not severe?

Please trust me when I say that you do not want to be anywhere near this hurricane of this magnitude. I lived in Tampa, Florida for four years. I know you are planning on evacuating, but some people get fascinated with a hurricane and decide to stay. I remember hearing about a hurricane expert in Miami who couldn't stay away so he and his family stayed in their home during Hurricane Andrew and only one wall was left of their house when it was over. Lucky for them, they survived. This hurricane is worse than Andrew. I am sorry if this is redundant, I know you plan to leave, forgive me if I am being a nag, I just don't want to see you get hurt.

I see some of you have bouts of bradycardia. I am curious if you have shortness of breath with it. I woke up this morning with a heart rate in the 40's and 50's (normal for me is in the 70's) and am short of breath sometimes. When I stand up my heart rate goes back to the normal range, in the 70's. This is happened a few times and shortness of breath is usually associated with it. Does anyone else have this?

I've had tinnitus and mild temporary hearing loss.

I have a hand cranked radio/flashlight that came in real handy during Isabelle. You can get one HERE or on eBay. It is good for power outages. My power was out for a week with Isabelle.

Absolutely. Florinef made me feel normal again. I was on it for a while and it didn't do much until my doctor doubled the dosage. But it has some nasty side effects. I wake up with headaches sometimes but they are manageable. I take an aleve and its gone in an hour. You are not supposed to take aspirin with it. I also add salt to most meals to help it work.

My renin was high as well. They put me on the florinef and it or nature took care of it. I had Addison's First and my POTS doctor did not adjust my cortisol at all. I was told 30mg per day is all you would ever need, but remember my body is producing none at all.

I keep wondering why my POTS is so mild compared to others here. I take cortisol for Addison's Disease and I feel almost normal most of the time. I wonder if the adrenal system or cortisol has a major role in POTS?

I have IBS too. It is not that bad until you add stress as a factor.

I don't drink often, but when I do I notice no real difference.

Better high than ultra low. That is what mine were and it threw me into Addisonian Crisis. I don't have to worry about fluctuations because my adrenal glands are completely destroyed. The only cortisol I have is what I take in pill form. I have wondered why my POTS is mild compared to almost everyone here. Maybe cortisol has something to do with it. Since mine is totally regulated by what I intake, it can't go out of whack unless I skip doses. Just a thought.

Roy, Needles don't bother me, I am going to have a biopsy one way or another. Deb, I have twitching and jerks too. The tremors went away when I dropped my aspirin regimen. I doubt the bumb is causing it, it is several inches away from my spine, but you never know.

I go to the VA for health care because I cannot afford health insurance. I saw a doctor three months ago and he diagnosed me with a lipoma in my back. I went to see another doctor two day ago and she said it wasn't a lipoma, nor a sarcoma, but just unusual fat or muscle growth. Now they are not going to remove it. I am going back in three months to have it looked at again. I am wondering if this bump, about the size and shap of half of a hot dog bun, since it is on my back and near, but not close to my spine is repsonsible for the involuntary movements I have had. She did examine my spine and pressed between the vertibrae which I read is done to find out if any involuntary movements occur, but none did. She kept asking me if I had a spine problem or surgery before, which I have not. I am concerned that I have been told one thing by one doctor and something entirely different by another. The doctor said she does not believe it is cancer because the type of cancer that leaves this kind of bump is painful and turns color and this has not. I did confirm that on several medical web sites. If you were me what would you do? I am thinking of seeking a civilian dermatologists opinion. I am also thinking of demanding that a biopsy be done just to be safe. I will say this, if the female doctor is right, I will thank her for saving me from being cut open for no reason.

When I was put on florinef for Addison's disease I did. I took KDUR's which were huge. I don't take anything now.

I am on cortisone every day for Addison's Disease. I got POTS after Addison's and it was the florinef that made me feel better. I was even on florinef for Addison's but I was taken off of it because it gave me hypokalemia. I was put back on it when I developed POTS and the hypokalemia never returned.

I have flown several times with no problems. Others are not so lucky.

Funny you should mention that. I was in bed all day yesterday with the same symptoms you describe except for the throat thing. I thought I was getting the flu or a bad cold. I kept waking up for a few hours and then felt tired and sick and went back to bed. I was sure it was a virus of some sort. I was achy all over. This was the first time it happened to me.

Jan, Same here. I lift weights as well and my arms get tremors/shaky for a time after then they settle down. I thinkEarthMother is right, the ANS gets overexcited when we stress our bodies.

I just got done working in the yard moving dirt and tamping a scar in the ground down. I worked pretty hard and now my hands feel weird, sorta numb and are my thmub and other fingers are shaking when I try to use the mouse on my computer and a few other tasks. It will go away in an hour or so. As I wrote this it has settled down a good deal. It only lasts an hour and goes away. Does anyone else have this problem? What causes it? Is the the nervous system being stressed?

I have one but you would not want to wear it. I use it for exercise.