Julia Panther

Hello, i noticed that you found midodrine really helped you.  My 12 year old daughter has Ehlers Danlos hypermobility type plus POTS and has terrible coat hanger pain when she tries to play the violin (or anything where her arms have to be up!)  She is on beta blockers and they have really helped with her daily headaches, but not with the coat hanger pain... Do you find the midodrine helps with the coat hanger pain?  Many thanks...

Hello, I understand that you are a professional viola player... I teach the violin myself, and my daughter (who is 12) has Ehlers Danlos and POTS and was doing really well at the violin. But now she has really painful shoulders which I think are due to coat hanger headache (muscle ischemia due to her brain getting all the blood so she doesn't faint), possibly?  She hasn't been able to practise for weeks because it hurts so much to lift her arms up... I just wondered if you'd ever had issues like this and if so what you did about them?  She currently is on beta blockers and compression tights, trying to drink lots of water and salty food (but at present doctor telling us not to give her salt tablets...)  I am beginning to wonder if she will have to give up the violin which is really sad as she plays beautifully...