becky

yes perse, he did actually say, clever girl!! w****er! and i got the letter through to confirm the appointment and it's the same guy that i spoke to who is interviewing me - this should be fun!! on the subject of feet swelling, i am looking at my ankles at the moment and feeling very girly because for the first time in three weeks they are back to a normal size, i could wear girly strappy sandals (if i wasn't so accident prone!) not sure what caused the swelling but unlike normal they were actually painful and then my calfs started to swell up, i was not a happy bunny, i was walking around amsterdam in flip flops which were cutting into my feet! yuck!

ha ha, i have one for you, an advisor at the job centre said to me this week, "do you have qualifications to do admin work?" to which i replied, yes i have 13 gcse's 3 A levels and i've done my ecdl, "wow, aren't you a clever girl" was his reply, i said - yes i'm sick, not stupid!! that shut him up. i particularly love it when eople say to me, well you're young you'll get over it! becks x x x

hi just wanted to tell you that you are not alone, i have had a different brand of paroxetine than i normally take and i went crazy, i felt really dizzy and really irritable, i couldn't control my emotions i kept on shouting at people and i couldn't stop crying, and my tachycardia was dreadful, but i went back to the pharmacy and the said that i had to go to my doctors and get a new prescription because they couldn't change it and they didn't have any of my normal brand anyway - after that they specifically ordered my brand for me, don't think they wanted to deal with the mad screaming banshee that i had become again! my cardio said that because of my pots i am much more sensitive to slight changes inbetween brands. becks x x

hey, just to add a me too, had a pelvic and kidney ultrasound a month ago and that was normal but my endo thinks i may have gallstones so i have an ultrasound on wednesday, to be honest i really hope that it is because at least then it will go away, i've had the pain for over two years and it's constant, i have had "attacks" though and got my boyfriend to call an ambulance because i was in such extreme pain and i couldn't get up of the floor and i was bent double, when the paramedics came i was drenched in my own sweat and white as a ghost, within half an hour it had eased off but i was left for the rest of the week feeling as though i'd been kicked. i'll let you know how it goes. becks x x x

howdy willows, fellow uk person, i love acidophilous, (sp?) i drink those little actimel drinks or asda's own cos they have it in it, but my mum takes the capsules and gives them to me whenever i'm home and they do help, and whats better is they don't cause tachycardia which most anti spasmodics and ibs tablets do. hope they help you big hugs becks x x x

hey, i've had pain in the same place for about two years as well, my endocrinologist thinks i may have gallstones so i'm having an ultrasound in two weeks, the last ultrasound they did was on my pelvis, liver and kidneys and they all came back fine, so i'm kind of hoping for the gallbladder one so i can stop having the pain. my doc says i have the three f's, fat, female and fertile!! (there are four f's normally, the other one is forty!) he's a tosser! becks x x x

ha ha ha ha ha, thats the funniest thing i've seen in ages!

ha ha, i remembered another one when you pass out in a fast food restaurant and someone steals your burger!! (yes this did hapen to me, i was more upset about my missing burger and chips than i was passing out!) you are considering becoming a glamour model because you are so used to taking your top off for ecg's you may as well be paid for it! i've emailed this to my mum and she thinks its hillarious! x x

hi again, i had a recurrent uti for eight weeks (thank god it's finally gone) i had seven doses of antibiotics some made me worse though. i always get really sick if i have a uti, fainting constantly can't even sit up, can't put my feet down for too long, you know the norm. but two of the antibiotics that they tried made me even worse, in the end i had augmentin and that cleared it up without too many side effects, the thing was though when i went to the docs or hospital they'd say that i had an infection but it wasn't very bad so maybe my pots makes me react badly to even slight infections? becks x x x

glad you got to the docs babe, was worried about you yesterday! dam doctors! hope your uti clears up quick,thats what landed me in the hospital last time and i've still got post viral fatigue (ha ha ha, don't think the doc that diagnosed that knew about pots either!) big hugs becks x x x

ha ha ha, i laughed so much at this and so did my boyfriend, especially the salt sachets bit! i have one, on a night out your friends dance around you on the floor rather than their handbags! macdonalds think you are a kleptomaniac cos everytime you visit their salt packets go missing people think you are doing tequilla shots in the day but you are really liking salt off your hand and downing water!! you get asked by numerous doctors/medical students where you studied medicine!! this is such a funny topic, i always laugh about my pots it's one of the few things that keeps me going, my very dark sense of humour!

hi, i was just wondering what the symptoms are for endo? i'm due to see an endocrinologist on thursday and he thinks that i have PCOS however my hormones are all normal as far as i know, i have excess body and facial hair and i have been lactating for two years. i have also had terrible stomach and back pain for over two years which now seems to be getting worse, with the last two attacks putting me in hospital - the doctors are telling me that this is down to everything from post viral fatigue to PCOS. the pain is always around my belly button and on the right hand side a bit lower and feels as though i'm being stabbed. the pain in my back is so severe that they put me on a surgical ward last time because they were convinced i had a severe kidney infection - but as yet they've found nothing. The only test i've had for my stomach was a pelvic and kidney ultrasound which came back clear, do you have to have a laporoscopy to diagnose endo? If anyone can answer me i'd be so grateful, i am so down at the moment, my stomach and back pain seems to be aggravating my pots and i can't stop passing out or having palpitations, i feel like i'm going backwards, and as for mydoctors, well you can't swear on this forum so i have nothing to say!!! thanks becks x x

hi all, over here its difficult to find gatorade cos most places don't stock it and powerade is really minging, anything that brightly coloured can not be good for you!! so instead i take rehydration sachets, mostly blackcurrant flavoured, you can get them in pharmacies, they are for upset stomachs and contain electrolytes. This was something that my mum suggested cos i kept getting dehydrated and passing out. apparently they are really good cures for hangovers!, so it's not just me that drinks them my boyfriend does too, they taste like salty blackcurrant juice, hmmm yummy, not! but it's only 200ml and they really seem to help me. i don't think that they have artificial sweetners in, but they do contain some sugar. Also on the topic of aspartame (sp?) be careful with powerade because it contains phenylaine(sp? sorry!) it's an artificial sweetener but it is also a mild laxative, i am really sensitive to this so can't drink it because i end up dehydrated all over again, if you get me! hope that helps some becks x x x

this is only what i tried and it worked for me, after being prescribed zomig, and pizotifen and codiene non of which worked i tried accupuncture for six weeks twice a week and it got rid of my migraines for a long time, i'm only just starting to get them again after two years and the aren't as bad as they were. but i have also had a lot of tests to see why i get migraines and there is no logical reason for it, i don't have a hole in my heart, and i don't have any abnormal veins in my brain like most migraine patients have. becks x x x

hi, i had the depo provera shot when i was 22 -23, it made my pots much worse, i felt absolutely dreadful all the time on it and some months just had constant bleeding. it took over a year for my periods to get back to normal. we don't have the patch over here yet so now i take Microgynon 30, i thought that i would just give it a try as the last pill i had i had terrible migraines and i wasn't right on it. so far though so good, been on it for seven months now and my doctor has told me to continually take it for three months so i will only have four periods a year. that sounds good to me!! all in all it seems to be working fine and i haven't noticed any bad side effects. becks x x x

Hi, This is really wierd, i'm on florinef too and my cardiologist has just prescribed me salt tablets, i'm to take six grams daily i don't drink that much though i sleep a lot so kind of forget to drink! he prescribed them cos i have started fainting again but this seems to be because of a recurrent water infection (had it eight weeks now and counting, have had six lots of antibiotics and it still won't go!) i'm hoping to see him in the next couple of weeks and get him to explain to me why i have to take such a large dose of salt and what that will do to help. beck x x x

Hi, i just wanted to say welcome, i too have suffered extreme ear pain whilst btravelling that unfortuntately carried on for some months. i hope that you find what you are looking for on this forum it's o informative becks x x x

hi there, i had the same problem with my employer three years ago, i got fired but i took them to court for disability discrimination and won! i know that this is not the answer for everybody and that is really hard option, ad the laws are different over here. My advice would be to look into your rights and likemorgan said see what benefits you are entitled to, but don't quit until you have found out all of that information, and even then think about it. i'm thinking of you, and if you need any thing, like to talk to someone who took the b******s to court let me know! love becks x x x

WOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of you babe!! you have overcome such dreadful circumstances and you are a true inspiration to me especially. my mum also says hi, and how amazed she is at you. love you loads and loads and loads. congrats on the scholarship, has this got anything to do witha certain famous attractive scottish actor? Ok can we party soon? huge hugs and sloppy kisses becky x x x x x x x

Hi again, funny you saying about dizzyness and needing the toilet, whenever i faint as soon as i come round the first thing i need to do is go to the toilet, but i never needed to before i passed out. anyway, my docs don't know what pots is either, i've changed doctors twice because the ones that i was with when i first was diagnosed still thought the cardio was wrong and that i was depressed and making myself faint!! the second doctor convinced herself that i was on paroxetine (one of my pots meds) because i was really depressed! when will they get over themselves! so my new doctor didn't know what pots was but knew it was rare so he said oh i'll just check on the internet, he googled it and obviously this site came up so he had a read and was like, wow, you are going to be an interesting patient. he straight away got me my medication without questioning it, the last doctor wouldn't prescribe florinef until she had spoken to my cardiologist. he gave me some tablets to help with ibs, he took my bp and hr and was really cool. I know its really difficult when they won't listen but you have to persevere (sp?) and let them know that you know your own body, if all else fails complain, complain, complain!! that's what i do. becks x x x

Sorry i am about to just have a bit of a winge, i have had a terrible week. i have hayfever which i am really not happy about because i was not a hayfever sufferer until i got pots, my nose and eyes feel horrid! i just want to scratch, and my mum, bless, says i look really rough, i know i feel rough i don't need to know i look it!!! i have had a sore throat for two weeks which i thought was just a virus and would go away but it kind of started to go away and now it's back and even more painful and i can't swallow and i have been taking loads of painkillers but they aren't making it better, yuck! so i know that i should be drinking loads but it just hurts so much that i'm making myself dizzy by not drinking enough. i'm just really mad cos i have been so well for months and now i feel pants again! ok enough wingeing, it could be so much worse, i haven't fainted!! So i'm at home this week looking after my sister because she has mumps, a throat infection and something wrong with her thyroid that means that lots of her hair is falling out, she is also not a happy bunny, as our parents go on holiday for a week tomorrow and i get to look after kerry! it's going to be a long week. becks x x x

Thanks for starting this thread, i only started getting hayfever whrn i got POTS, can anyone tell me why that is? i think that tree pollen is what causes it for me and i had no idea what to take. having a dreadful week. i think i'll go and ask my pharmacist. a lot of the drugs that you talk about we can't get in the uk. becks x x x

Howdy, did i hear my name mentioned? i had the addisons test by an endocrinologist at the hospital a couple of years ago when i first got sick. this was the same endocrinologist who told me i was"a silly young girl" for passing out, yeah persephone is right the nhs *****! i don't have eds and i'm definitely not underweight, in fact quite the opposite! i like the term curvy!! i have also been sent to see two pscycologists, cos according to my doctors it was all in my head too! god it must be something in the training! sorry if i'm a little off today, got really bad sore throat, can't swallow properly and i have hayfever! my nose feels like someone has been putting pipe cleaners up it. anyway, welcome new uk potsy, whereabouts are you? love becks x x x

hi love, just wanted to say, i'm really really really proud of you! when you finish we'll party! we might be partying on the floor but it will be worth it. by the way what a gorgeous building. speak soon beck x x x

Hi, this thread is really interesting, i first started to have stomach problems in school when i was about twelve, the doctors had no idea what was wrong with me and i just thought i wa anxious because i was being bullied but it was even worse when i was at home, so maybe not. i was diagnosed with IBS last year when i finally tackled my embarrasment and went to the doctors because the pain in my stomach was so severe that i couldn't stand up and i had all of the usual potsy symptoms with it (tachy, sweaty, dizzy, passing out) they prescribed me some tablets, i can't remember what they were but they didn't work so i stopped taking them. now i don't get the pain anymore (or not as bad) but i still shift from constipation to diarreahea (sp? sorry) every day, i don't think that is normal!! my new doctor who i saw yesterday and is lovely (had heard of pots but didn't know what it involved so he looked up this web page! how sweet!) gave me some peppermint tablets to help settle my stomach a bit,as he said he would be reluctant to give me anything stronger for fear of upsetting my current meds (oh my lord a doctor who admits he doesn't know everything!) i have taken them and so far so good, no pain but nothing else either, so we'll see how it goes. becks x x x