Hi! I am new to DINET and I have been reviewing the past posts on high altitude and how people respond to it. My background: I have been diagnosed with POTs for 1.5 years now (was sick for 3 years) and living in the south has been absolutely miserable. My official diagnosis is idiopathic pots, hypermobility, and small fiber neuropathy. No matter how much progress I make, the heat and humidity here ALWAYS set me back. This summer I was finally well enough to travel and went to stay with family in Colorado. They live at about 8,500 ft altitude which was obviously a huge difference from where I live at about 600 ft. I searched the forum before hand and saw many people have negative reactions to the higher altitude and really haven't seen where anyone has said symptoms actually improved with it. Well I found that my symptoms improved greatly. Not only did my blood pressure stay at normal level without having to take my midodrine, I slept better, was more active during the day, I wasn't overheating for once, and actually felt less foggy headed. Now I did not try my actual workout routine out there but I did take regular walks outdoors and was fine. Now my heart rate was higher but I was assuming I could bump up my beta blocker to counter that. I also doubled my water and salt intake to prevent dehydration with the drier air and seemed to be fine on that count too. I guess I am just curious if there is ANYONE else out there who is like me and has actually had a positive response/improvements while being in a higher altitude? I am planning ion trying to move out to Colorado before next summer and I am a bit worried that I might be missing something that could go wrong with my health being out there? My biggest issue I still struggle with is overheating and this was so much better out there I want to make sure I am not overlooking other things. Thanks for any advice or stories on this.
