Ags

Patrick, I just joined today, and wanted to assure you that all of the symptoms you mention in your original post can be POTS-related. POTS has given me "brain fog" severe enough to make me slur my words (POTS meds have helped - they can only treat the symptoms of POTS, but they help, nonetheless). I had severe balance/gait issues before my POTS meds (I was fighting faintness/dizziness with every step). I gave up getting answers two years after POTS symptoms first started (16 years ago), due to dismissive doctors, but 4 years ago, the symptoms got far worse, and I just couldn't bear the brain fog that limited so much (I'm still battling some of that, but it's improving). If it wasn't for a caring rheumatologist who suspected POTS (I did not have any issue she could treat), I would still be struggling - she sent me to a POTS/dysautonomia specialist (took 9 1/2 months to get in, 2 1/2 more months to get tested). I said this in another post, but please consider traveling to Dallas to get tested and get answers and treatment. I travel much less far (an hour to an hour and a half each way) to get to the POTS clinic, but POTS/dysautonomia specialists are few and far between, even in the bustling Chicagoland area. P.S. I hope you'll have your wife read replies - nobody can easily see POTS symptoms, so it's easy for others to dismiss them. I felt horrible all day every day by the time I got diagnosed.

Oh, no, Patrick, The POTS specialist I see makes sure I'm sitting for at least 3 minutes, then standing for that long before taking the measurements. I hope you will consider taking that road trip to Dallas to the POTS/dysautonomia specialist. It's worth the trip. It took me 15 years to get diagnosed, due to doctors dismissing me not feeling well (I had never heard of POTS when I was diagnosed, but had many symptoms since a severe bout with flu 15 years prior). Please keep investigating this, so you can find a diagnosis and the help you need.

If I overdo it, this sounds similar to what I experience the following day. I also have POTS, with most symptoms well-controlled on medications (still working on my low BP and "brain fog"). I am trying to arrange my schedule as much as possible for a low-key at-home day after every busy day, as I am generally useless (and feel somewhat ill) after overdoing it. If you find a solution, I'd love to know - best wishes.