stillhoping

Thanks bigtrouble and statesof The compression stockings I bought were too big, so not nearly tight enough. I finally got a blood pressure monitor, I thought I should have one if I'm going to increase my salt intake. The weird thing is now though, after my blood pressure being low to normal my whole life, is that its showing it as kind of high now. Could be that I over did the salt and is temporary. I don't know. I'm feeling better now though. And it turns out my phone has a heart rate testing thing, so I've been using that too. I don't know what are typical heart rate and blood pressure fluctuations though, both for 'normal' people and those with dysautonomia. I started taking CoQ10 and took an epsom salt bath last night, and felt so much more relaxed! I don't know which did it though. And at least for a while it seemed my heart rate wasn't fluctuating as much. I checked into salt tablets, and it seems they upset some people's stomachs though and some of the tablets you can get don't work as well and have sorbitol, so yes, I came to the conclusion too that just adding salt is good enough. Although now since I don't know what is going on with my blood pressure, I'm holding off on that.

Thanks so much for all the replies! ANCY - oh my gosh! I can't imagine having 15-20 syncopal episodes a day! Once a day is bad for me, even nearly fainting leaves me feeling pretty bad for quite a while. Exercise seems to help me sleep better, and I haven't done any yet today, but really need to try. At least I'm feeling better now, this morning I felt pretty bad and this afternoon I had to be somewhere. Thanks corina, it does help a lot to have people to talk to who understand. statesof - that's the stuff I've been working on! I ordered some compression stockings which should be here tomorrow. So you only wear them a few hours a day? I've never worn them before and don't know what to expect. And salt, I know I was told a long time ago I should probably have more salt, but I've still always bought low and no sodium food! Last night I ate a whole can of soup which was pretty high in sodium and I definitely slept better. I still woke up in the middle of the night but my heart wasn't pounding. And even though I had the same amount of fluids close to bedtime when I got up to use the bathroom I didn't go nearly as much. I woke up feeling ok although after being up a few minutes I started feeling bad again. How do you get your extra salt? Salty foods? supplements? Right now eating some salty foods sound good, but I'm sure I'll get tired of them plus so many high sodium foods and also high in fat and are processed foods. I'm not sure what would be a safe dose of sodium chloride supplement though. Interestingly though, a few months ago pickles started sounding really good to me and I was eating some every evening and I was feeling much better then. They don't sound as good to me now though. writerlymom - I'll have to try and start moving around more tomorrow morning. The past couple of mornings I felt too sick and close to fainting though to move around too much too early. Katybug - yes, my body has been jello lately! Its not doing what I want it too at all. Thanks again!

Hello I’m new here and have problems with fainting now and then, and its been a bit worse lately. I suspect I could have a mild case of EDS, hypermobility type, because of the fainting and other things. But my biggest problem seems to be the dysautonomia. Also fatigue and not being able to think clearly are big problems lately too. I’m also having problems with esophageal spasms. Lately, I can’t eat or drink – especially drink anything – after 9 or sometime in the evening. If I do, it doesn’t go down right. And then if I go to bed, I’ll wake up sometime later feeling horrible and then a syncope episode gets triggered. Luckily, I’ve at least discovered that carbonated water is safe for me to drink in the evenings. A lot of anxiety runs in my family too. I’ve also been under a huge amount of stress the past few years now – divorce, my daughter had surgery last year, then my mom fell and broke her hip, etc. In the past I’ve noticed that my symptoms seem to get worse after a long term stress. Short term stress is different and while I’m in the middle of major stressors I don’t do too bad, but after I get passed them it seems my body falls apart. I’m wondering if that is what is happening to me now as some things have settled down a bit in my life. Anyway I’m here to learn more about what others are doing to help with their dysautonomia. My doctor isn’t too helpful and I don’t know when I will be able to see a specialist that really understands these kinds of problems.