jenwic

I am still trying to find a place closer to me that could test for POTS. I ran across the autonomic reflex lab at the dept. of neurology at the Ohio state university medical center. I am considering trying to get an appt. there. Don't know if I need a referral or not. On their web site it list as indications for autonomic reflex testing: POTS, orthostatic tachycardia, irritable heart, syncope, orthostatic and postprandial hypotension, among many other things. Have any of you heard of this place? Is it any good. It would be much closer for me than Cleveland.

The Clorox ready mop is easy and saves lugging a bucket of water around. I try to do the heavier chores (mopping and vacuuming) in the afternoon and not right after a meal.

My appt. is June 2. I didn't get a choice to request a certain dr. The website just had me give a field, so I put in cardiology and told them in the memo that I had been told that I had IST, but from my research I thought it was POTS. I had a tilt table test done at Lexington around a month ago but I don't think they did it right and I found out later that the dr. is not covered by my insurance. Dr. Burkhardt is. I don't even know any of the results of my tests yet. I'm supposed to get them when I see the other dr. May 12. I may not go back to him though, and have the results transferred to Burkhardt. The bad thing is that it's about a 5 hour drive for me, so I wanted to see if he is any good.

I went on the Cleveland clinic website and decided to request an appt. I said I wanted a cardiologist and they sent me an email for an appt. with Dr. Burkhardt. Am I on the right track? Should I have gotten a different kind of doctor?

When I bend over to pick up something off the floor I get a really full feeling in my head. It feels like when I was a kid and I would hang by my knees off the monkey bars and the blood would rush to my head. Also, sometimes when I first lay down at night I get a similar feeling. My throat and neck feel "full" and I can feel my heart beating in my neck. It feels like when you are wearing a turtle neck that's too tight. My blood pressure is fine when I check it. Anyone else ever experience this?

I have been taking allergy shots for almost two years. They don't bother me except for the swelling and itching at the injection site. I can't seem to bump the dose up and make much progress weekly (due to big reactions at the injection site), but that's probably just me. The thing that concerns me is that if I ever have a bad reaction and need the epinephrine I don't know how I'd react. All I know is that I have bad tachycardia if I use Albuterol (for asthma) or from the numbing medication in dental injections. I'm afraid the epinephrine would do me in. I'm considering stopping the shots for that reason.

I never thought of broth. I'll have to try that. I've been drinking V-8 or eating soup and saltines. I'm getting kind of tired of those.

I have started eating more salt in the evenings before I go to bed. It seems to really be helping me not be so tachy when I wake up in the morning.

Last night I took atenelol for the first time. About 15 minutes after I took it I had a 4 minute episode of tachycardia. I felt good all night, but when I got up this morning my heart rate was 109. It is usually around 130 when I first get up so I thought, not too bad. However, as the afternoon wore on my heart rate was up more than normal. It is usually in the 80's or 90's but today it was 100 just sitting still. Also, I have asthma and after taking the atenolol I have been wheezier than usual. The dr. told me if the pill didn't agree with me to let him know. Should I try it again tonight or stop taking it and call the dr. tomorrow?

I forgot to add that when they put the table down my heart rate went down to 104 very quickly and then continued to drop.

No, they did not make me lie quietly first. They just laid me down, strapped me in, put the i.v. in, put the heart monitor on, and then tipped me up. I just felt like they didn't know what they're doing. My cardiologist (rhythm specialist) gave me a prescription for atenelol before I even had the test, but told me not to start taking it until after the tests. I thought, what if the test results make you decide I should have a different medicine? So I don't know if I should try the beta blocker or wait to see if he calls. They didn't set up my next appt. until May 12.

Well, today I finally had the tilt table test I've been dreading for months. I went to Lexington, KY to Central Baptist hospital. My dr. had already said that I didn't have to have the injection of isoprotolol (sp?) after I told him how my heart raced when I had a dental injection. My heart rate was already flying when I got there because I was a nervous wreck, then I started shaking all over (after the major adrenalin surges). They strapped me down and told me I had to be upright for 30 minutes. I asked what if I start feeling really bad and they said I would still need to stay upright unless I passed out. As soon as they tilted me up my heart rate went up even more. At one point I told the nurse I bet my heart is going at least 145. She told me it was 156. I felt so bad. I was sick at my stomach and I kept trying to talk to the nurses to take my mnd off the test but I was short of breath. They made me stand the whole 30 minutes and my heart flew just as fast the whole time! My blood pressure varied between 120-130 (the top number) the whole test. Did the rest of your heart rates stay up high the whole time or go up and down? They did not take any blood tests for catechlomine (sp?) levels or anything else. When I asked if they thought I had POTS the nurses said "What's POTS?" I couldn't believe it! They told me they do 1-3 tilt tables every day and they had never heard of POTS. So I showed them some of the articles I got off the internet. I thought I'd better educate them Oh, and they ran my husband out of the room. He was only allowed in there during the description of the test. I don't know if they thought he'd make them take me off the table or what. I'm so glad it's over. I just hope my dr. knows enough to interpret it correctly.

I have recently started drinking at least one large can (11.5 oz.) of V-8 every day. It has 37% rda of sodium in the can. That's more than Gatorade. Of course, no electrolytes.

Thanks guys! It means so much to know I have support and I am not alone in all this.

I went to see a rhythm specialist the other day. I was really nervous and stressed out. My dad was in the hospital pretty bad off. I was a nervous wreck about going to see my dr. All day, even before I went to the dr., I kept having these adrenalin surges through my system that were making my heart rate race like crazy. My heart rate literally stayed up all day until about an hour after I got home. When I was at the dr. the nurse said, "now we need to get you symptomatic. What can we do?" She said this as she was hooking up the EKG. Then she looked down and said, "Oh good! You already are." My heart rate was already 145 just sitting in the chair. I know it was all stress related. Normally sitting in a chair at home my hr would be 75-90 at the highest. Now I'm supposed to have a tilt table test done on Monday and I'm afraid I will freak out again and it will mess up the results. I've never had an episode like that before unless I was sick or had a dental injection or albuterol or something. I got all shakey and sick after the ekg. I even had chest pain. I've Never had that before. When I got home and soaked in the tub it went away in seconds. Any advice for a successful test Monday?

Right now I take 2 puffs of Pulmicort each night. If I catch a cold I immediately take 2 each morning also. The problem is that it takes a few days for the benefits of the extra puffs to kick in and by then I'm very wheezy. I also take allergy shots. I used to take a pill similar to singulair but my allergist wanted to switch to the Pulmicort because the pill had to be taken on an empty stomach twice a day. I also use Rhinocort nasal spray every night.

I have asthma and cannot use albuterol and xopenex. I have tried a few times and my heart really races. Once I took a treathing treatment and my heart rate was up for half a day. I also cannot tolerate Singulair. It also makes my heart race. Do any of you have asthma? What do you take for it? Right now I'm on inhaled steroids only. Thanks.

Sometimes my heart goes fast when I first wake up and I'm still laying in bed. I also have this problem when waking in the middle of the night occasionally. I read somewhere that your blood pressure can sometimes drop low when you're asleep and I was wondering if that could be what's causing it. Anyone else have this problem?

I'm just like all the rest of you. If I watch an exciting movie at bedtime, I can't get to sleep for a long time. My heart rate stays up for hours. My husband looks at me like I'm nuts when I tell him.

Thank you, Sunfish, for your reply. I had never seen the Vanderbilt site before. I really need to know what has been making me feel so bad for 13 years. Hopefully, soon I can find a good dr. and get an accurate diagnosis.

I keep trying to figure out if I have POTS or IST. A few weeks ago I read posts by Carolyn and MomtoGiuliana that gave me some new info. Carolyn said,"...some POTS people don't have any blood pressure issues at all. My understanding is the defining characteristic is elevated pulse upon standing or standing for a while (ortostatic tachycardia doesn't always go with orthostatic hypotension)." Momtogiuliana said,"BP does not necessarily go down with POTS. POTS is defined by heartrate going up more than 30bpm on standing." I have definite tachycardia with rising in the morning (130-135), after eating, with fever, with dental injections of certain types, with colds and viruses, etc. I have started checking my blood pressure when I have these episodes and it seems to remain about the same. Can someone tell me where I can find research or information that says POTS doesn't necessarily relate to change in blood pressure? Also, do any of you know any good dr.'s where I could be tested in southern Ohio? Thanks!

I went to my family dr. today for a sore throat and started talking to him about my tachy spells. I brought in the info that I had recorded above and some info I had gotten off the internet. I declare, I think I know more about it than he does. To his credit, he did suggest another wearing of the 24 hour monitor. I have been to 4 or 5 cardiolgists. The last one was the one who said he thought it was IST. I started having symptoms in 1993 and since then I have have treadmill test, echocardiogram, 24 hour monitors, blood tests of all sorts (including thyroid). When I wore the halter monitor for 24 hours a year or so ago my average hr was 92 and I had 3 ectopic beats (added beats). I am beginning to believe I need to see an electrophysiologist but I don't know of any around here. I am closest to Cincinnati, OH. Anyone know of one near here? Thanks!

I was told by my cardiologist that I have IST, but after reading up on POTS I am uncertain. I started taking my blood pressure the other day with my husband's wrist blood pressure cuff. It also has a heart rate display on it. This is what I found: After big meal 114/69 hr 131 feel normal 113/71 hr 74 standing up after getting out of bed 112/70 hr 149 So what do you think? Thanks in advance for any opinions.

I had to respond because I have gone through the same thing. After I had each of my three boys I went through a period of a few months when I felt nearly symptom free. I thought I was cured at first but then the symptoms started to slowly creep back. I never did understand why I got the nice break from feeling bad after the births. I also experienced the rapid heart rate and heart beat irregularities a few weeks ago. It lasted for around a week. At first I only had the added heart beats and I wondered why they were so much worse than usual, then after around 3 days, I started feeling nauseated and my boys had it too and were throwing up (a virus). I seem to have heart related symptoms before I get sick with whatever I'm coming down with. After the virus left my system, I was back to normal (or what's normal for me

This all sounds so familiar. A few weeks ago I felt horrible for a few days: tachy, heart adding beats and flipping a lot (maybe 25 added beats a day compared to none to 3 on a normal day). I couldn't figure out what in the world was causing the worsening symptoms. Then, days later ,I was very nauseated. I had a stomach virus that lasted for days. At least I was glad that I at least had a reason for why I felt so bad. I don't normally have that many added beats even if I have a virus. When I tried to get up and do anything I was weak and very shakey and tachy. For four days when I tried to take a shower my heart about pounded out of me and my heart skipped all over the place. I had to cut my shower very short then sit on the bathroom floor wrapped in a towel for several minutes to get the strength to get up and walk. When the virus cleared out of my system I felt much better (well.. normal for me anyway). Hope you feel much better soon.