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Congrats, Amber! I hope the job treats you well, and you and your students have incredible amounts of fun and good memories! Don't forget to record us a recital or three! Best wishes, Cam

Heylo! Well, I'm back from a rather interesting hospital visit for the GI stuff. This was also the first time I've ever been admitted into a hospital (that I can remember - baby years don't count!), and had general anesthesia. The laxative didn't work until I had nearly 3 liters (of 4) in me, which took about 3 hours. That was odd. The endoscope showed gastritis with no immediate cause. Biopsies were taken, and I'll know in a week or two. My stomach looked pale white and mottled with red dots all over, except in one place where it had a giant red sore (not an ulcer). I'm expecting involvement from some naughty critters (bacteria, virii, or parasites), or lots of acid. The "other-end" scope was completely clean, and couldn't find the source of the bleeding. I'm all kinds of sore right now. Especially in the lungs and airways - they had trouble keeping me breathing during the procedure, and they did a number on my lungs. My heart also played tricks on them, generally making the doctor a nervous wreck. When I woke up (shaking fiercely, incontinent as heck, and coughing up a storm), the first question a nurse asked me was, "So how long have you had asthma?". I replied, still blinking away the blurry vision, "I don't - I was tested". That was even more odd. They wheeled my bed over to the recovery area about 2-3 minutes after waking, and I immediately jumped (well, carefully slid off the bed when the rails were set down, and waddled) out of the bed and went for the bathroom (it was entirely opportunistic - the bathroom was ten feet from where they parked me). They tried to chase/help me in there (probably because my file was stamped "moderate fall risk"), but I was too quick for them. I even surprised myself, just being a few minutes awake from the procedure. They vigilantly stood guard at the door, knocking frequently and asking if I was O.K. or needed help. It didn't make it any easier to preserve my dignity with excessive flatulence and incontinence with the nurses just on the other end of a door, which was very surprisingly good at letting acoustic waves pass through. It was an uneasy truce when I exited. It was a very nice experience, in all, for my first hospital visit in my entire life. I've never been a patient in a hospital before, nor had general anesthesia. The doctor was late (he's European, or so the nurses blamed), so the nurses, general anesthesia Doc, and I just casually chatted and gossiped while listening to Mozart in the operating room. I think the only thing I hated about the whole experience was having to be pushed around in a wheelchair after admission. I'm trying to stay out of one of those. I get my results in a week, which should point to either acid or critters causing the gastritis, with all other symptoms being from the POTS. Sore as I may be after yesterday, I feel great after getting this done, and an answer just around the corner. Thanks again for your support and ideas earlier. It helped make this a nice visit! Happy thoughts and wellness, Cam

lolo, Glad you're getting a brand new CPAP machine! Those things really make a huge difference on a person. My mother has one for sleep apnea, and I can tell when she's been off it for a couple days (like on vacation). For one, her snoring causes a low magnitude earthquake. I hope it helps a lot with your fatigue! Stay happy and well, Cam

Willows, I get this, too. It almost feels like a wave of tingling/tickling pins and needles. Mine usually starts in the chest/neck/back, and radiates to the extremities, then back to the chest. Then there's residual tingling/tickling in random patches of the body. They actually feel kind of nice, for me. I get about a dozen a day. Also, sometimes they cause some muscles to uncontrollably and strongly contract until it fades (causing my head to tilt to one side, or my to go sideways, or sometimes clenching my fist or curling my toes). I dunno where they come from, or why. I do know they're not shivers from cold - they feel completely different. Cam

You two, Amber & tearose, are absolutely right. Everyone's right, even! Thanks for calming my nerves over this - you're right about "better safe than sorry". And I promise not to throw a hissy-fit, Amber. Well, during the hospital part, atleast. I reserve the right to throw a hissy-fit at the gallon of NuLYTELY (or however much I get) I have to down on the 11th. I better have reading material available, and lots of it. Here's to an uneventful and boring day on the 12th. Thanks everyone! Cam

Thanks for the tip, Alicia! I'll keep it light the day before the fasting. I guess it is a good thing it'll be in a hospital, and it's not terribly over-reacting on his part. Just mine. I think after it's done, I'll go get my favorite meal at the local deli. Thanks, Cam

He's so sweet to help you like that. Thanks for the wonderful story - it brought a smile to my face. Best wishes, Cam

Well, on the top side, I can't swallow anything small (pills) without a large amount of food to push it down. I get "collisions" in my esophagus, where it feels like my first bite of food collides with acid that's coming up (or just plain stops going down). It gets stuck and hurts a lot, and I usually take small sips of water to finally push it down - it will stay stuck if I don't push it down, or may even come back up with a lot of pain. Even then, it takes a while for something to hit my stomach after I swallow. I constantly regergitate my food for hours after eatting, or acid if nothing was ate (water if I drink water and/or take tums). And I have a chronic cough that nothing has been able to explain, yet, and it gets worse with the more acid I regergitate. The "other" side just has normal IBS-like symptoms with a probable fissure, so nothing bad. It'll probably be something simple and easiely remedied. I did remember reading another person's experience with the colonoscopy prep, and I know to stay hydrated as best as possible. Thankfully, I have hypertension, so I shouldn't be as affected from it all (I hope). But I still worry about getting put out for it all. I'll bring a little sticky note with exactly everything the interviewer general ane-person needs, so I don't studder trying to think of the words. And a phone number for my Neuro, too. Sounds like it won't be bad at all, from Goldicedance's experience. Thanks for calming my nerves. Thanks, Cam

Heylo! Ok, so... today I paid a visit to another new doc for my GI issues that the other doc's thought were weird and not explainable by POTS. He didn't know a thing about POTS, but I gave him the quick run down on the mechanisms responsible for causing the symptoms, and my other diagnoses. He freaked, to put it lightly. So now a simple Flexible Sigmoidoscopy and EGD was turned into World War III. He wants the procedure done in the hospital, with a general anesthesiologist present at all times, and to be around nurse staff. He also wants to put me out completely, rather than the normal mildly sedated. He's also doing both procedures at the same day, while I'm out. This is all supposed to happen in two weeks, so I'm getting very nervous. I tried to convince him not to do all this, but he was adamant. I guess some of the things I mentioned to him were giant red flags, it all went so fast. I was also supposed to take two enemas of some kind of ... cleaner dissolver thingie for the other end test in two weeks (90 minutes before going in). I screamed. A lot. With much arm flailing. I opted, instead, to do the prep for the full colonoscopy - the 24 hour fast with the EvacuBlast (Newlite?) liquid. Probably not the best thing to do, considering the POTS, but I was under enough anxiety for one day. With all that said, are there any questions I should ask the anesthesiologist, or things I should bring up? Anything I should prepare for when it's done (after being sedated), like worse than normal fatigue or feinting for a few days? Please share your experiences and knowledge so I can go into this mentally prepared. I get very worried and nervous when in unknown situations like this. Thanks and hugs, Cameron p.s. I still think he's over-reacting, which is making me over-react! *breaths heavily into a bag*

A pool. In the shade, with cool water and an extra large shallow end with lots of seating space. Also bring a catering company to cook/serve, so we can sit!

Pat, Good thoughts and prayers to you, and your family & friends. I hope all goes well. Stand tall and proud, and keep happy! Hugs, Cam

It's amazing the variations in the mixtures of the body's chemicals can have. My body operates at a cholesterol level of around 220-280, and a triglyceride level of 400-450 (HDL 20-35, LDL 110-140, VLDL: 50-80). No amount of diet changes or lipid pills will greatly change this, it's just how my body works. I had a doc explain to me that high cholesterol isn't necessarily a bad thing - if it's not being caused by food/liftstyle habits, or not causing / caused by symptoms of something else. I dunno if she was right, but I trusted her on that, and the others agreed. They must be conspiring against me... Heh. As was mentioned above, Fish is supposed to help balance cholesterol (something to do with the omega-3 fatty acids?). Best, Cam

Sara, I'm very snarky and irritable when in an episode, and it's hard to keep a lid on it. But I definitely don't mean to be snappy at them. I always wondered why it's like that. Cam

Richard, I'm on Propranolol, which is a non-selective BB, like Ernie. So far, I'm up to 100mg, and the target my neuro/cardio peoples want me at is about 240mg to 300mg (they're inching me up really, really, really slow. 10mg/week). My BP doesn't go up a lot, like yours, but it can either go up or down 20/10 (S/D). My HR instantly goes up 70-90 points, generally. And I had hypertension to begin with, so I had wiggle room for the BB's and my BP. As far as if it's a smart thing to use BB's... so far, in my experiences, they have helped keep my HR slightly down when standing/walking so I don't start wheezing all over the place. I haven't had issues with my BP dropping too low, yet. I hope it works for you! On the bloating - I dunno, never had that happen with standing. Sounds uncomfortable! Best, Cam

For me, I just have the normal postural tachycardia, and I also have numerous Atrial Tachycardias with Aberrant Conduction (they look exactly like the life-threatening kind of V-tach's, except there's a tiny, itsy-bitsy P-Wave initiation just before the heart goes nuts, which makes them relatively harmless). Plus, I have a possibly Short or Long QT Syndrome that the Cardio EP couldn't figure out, yet.

I hope your trip goes exceptionally well, and best of luck! Drive safely!! Maybe I'll go pester Dr. Grubb one of these days, too. Best wishes and safe drive, Cam

Tearose, In my experiences from the distant past, when I did employ a therapist in my teenage years to help cope, they can sometimes be of great help and wonderful steping stones to greater things. However, the service they offer (again, in my experiences) cannot compare to the support of family and friends, but they help expedite that connection with them, or create it when absent. Therapy, from my perspective, is a wonderful tool to help get through rough times by using a person who has a wealth of experience, knowledge, and/or wisdom. My therapy sessions were about teaching myself and my family how to emotionally support each other, and how to help one another cope. This is something that will usually naturally blossom in a friendship and family, but she gave it a nudge (and kick) in the right direction. She also provided me with activities to help balanced out my life in all aspects, and taught me how to focus on the good things of all situations. Again, this is all something we can learn on our own (with lots of trial and error!), but her kick-in-the-pants helped me learn it quicker. I only visited her for a couple months. She was a firm believer in "teaching a person to fish", and left me with the knowledge and wisdom to help find the light in dark places (even though I still stub my toe a couple times on the way there). Therapy is like... visiting a trusted friend who has a knack for listening, lots of nifty pearls of wisdom, and a wealth of knowledge in psychology/sociology. Best wishes, Cam

Jess, I just started Provigil (200mg) yesterday. My Neuro wanted me to take it to increase my energy so I can do laying-down exercise of the legs, and my 5 minute walk per day, plus to stay up and active as much as I can (do things I want, like playing the acoustic guitar, watching movies in the theater, and going out to dinner... so I'm not getting cabin fever or depressed). Also used to help me with my sudden, random, severe urges to fall asleep during the day - especially when I'm trying to read. I get those strong urges all throughout the day, and I always get a (tension-like) headache trying to resist it. I usually take it when I wake up (6-7am), then I'm wired for about 5-6 hours, and then usually get a strong urge to fall asleep (with a nasty headache if I resist it) after about 6-7 hours of taking it. It'll ease up a bit for the rest of the afternoon, occasionally waxing and waning, until I sleep at about 11pm. It has been quite effective at keeping me up and about in the morning, so far. Even breaks through my usual 1-2 hours of groginess/sleepiness if I take it right away after waking. As far as side effects - I've only noticed two. It makes me jittery and restless (I can resist/suppress this urge, usually), and it also significantly increases my chances of having incredibly painful Atrial Tachycardia's with Aberrant Conduction (Usually have 1-2 per day, but now having countless amounts - probably around 20 or more a day... atleast one or two an hour). This is still the best medication I've ever tried, hands down, second only to the Beta Blocker I use. It's completely taken away my fatigue and sleepiness for half the day, and the other half is still better than without the medication. Even takes away the sleepiness I get from the beta blockers. Best wishes, Cam

It's very expensive. I think on the order of $10 a pill, and my insurance covers 2/3rds of it. So far, it seems to help. I'm even considering finally being able to get out of the house on my own, now that I may have the energy. I just don't like the fact I have to pay $10 every day I want to be active. Best thing I can do is make it worth every penny. But it's giving me hope that I'll have the energy (and no strong urges to sleep all the time) to finally persue something I've always wanted - Martial Arts (purely for exercise of the mind and body, not for sparring). Thanks for sharing your input, everyone! I really appreciate it. Cam

A very beautiful and vibrant feline, absolutely adorable. Thanks for sharing! Cam

I've tried to do the online and in-person dating thing, but it seemed every individual I met was looking either for a person that could party 24/7, or was incredibly shallow and vain. I either couldn't keep up with them, or they refused to date someone who was "broken". I remember one date, in particular, I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with a really nice gal. We decided to walk around the in-door tropical forest (this was before I was diagnosed) - it didn't go over very well, and I ended up looking ill, sitting down all the time, and nearly passing out from the heat in there. I blamed it on first-date jitters, but kept going because she was a really nice and sweet gal. Unfortunately, I didn't get a call back when I called for a second date. As was mentioned above, it's hard to break out of a social/gender stereotype that we're socialized into, sometimes. For males, they tend to need to be "strong" and such, which really comes back to haunt those with disabilities in the end. We have to find an open-minded person who's not afraid of commitment to someone with a disability. I'm still waiting for that perfect gal to sweep me off my feet, and I know I'll find her eventually. Patience, determination, and hope; all I need, and I'll find her. Hugs, Cam

I hope you feel better soon, and hang in there! I'll think good thoughts for you. Hugs, Cam

Heylo everybody! Just wondering if anyone else here has had Provigil in their treatment. It's a non-amphetamine stimulant being used to treat my fatigue and sleepiness. If you've used it, just wondering what you felt about it, or any concerns it might have brought up. Thanks, and stay happy! Cam

Usually around 96oz a day, or close to that (6 fills of a 16oz glass). Sometimes a glass of tea thrown in.

I hope so, because I really have no intention of staying still. I think it might be temporary, until my standing HR isn't so high. According to my Holter monitor report, when I go on my mile walks, my HR is in the 180's. So it's probably temporary until the beta blockers get to helpful levels. I'll ask her for more details about her treatment plan for me - I tend to be incredibly absent-minded and never ask what I should at the doctors. Thanks for the welcome! Cam