gwen

I'm in the st. louis area and work with several drs. at st. lukes in chesterfield. let me know if i can help

this post has been on mind for sometime. ihave many of the symptoms of perimenapause, but so many of them are also pots. The blood tests are great idea and i've made an appt for next week to test. there is a website that has a lot of good info on womens health issues (i don't know if i can say it) and they offer a progesterone cream, vitamins, and something else(brain fog) for a fee which also includes phone checkups with nurses. The self test showed i was in severe catagory. Well which is the chicken and which is egg? my husband is getting very discouraged at my not getting any better. i keep telling him this is not going to permantly get better, just some days will be better than others. I do not want to go out because of, energyloss, now summerheat, audio and visual overload, etc. Today is not a good day. i've learned to deal with it. not a bit happy but it is what it is. i have always had depression, inherited and extreme childhood loss. i've always coped well. Now I can't shake a severe manic episode. My Psyche said it was the first one she had seen with me full blown. i just want to sleep. She is a truly fabulous dr. who has many awards. she csalls and checks on me while on vacation in Isreal!! I am blessed. but after trying just about all drugs out there she thinks i should have ECT. She said if it was her family member she would order it. Well I don't want anymore loss of memory, and the chance of permant. My question is that in a "normal" person it might be indicated but how would this affect my pots??!! I had to educate her on pots itand her husband is one of the top cardioligist around. one day she took my blood pressure sitting. than standing. i showed no blood pressure which i kind of laughed about it, but i could tell it really seemed. unbelievable what she was seeing. so sorry for the long rant but what is peri, what is pots, what is depression cause and is ect safe when there is so many unknown variables?I see her tomorrow and i know she is going to bring it up but i;m very wary with pots component. thanks to all who read this novel :-)

I can't wear underwire at all.Have you tried this or a sports bra thats a size bigger than you when you go out? I don't have much to put in the bra, especially with the weight loss. I wear a bra by Olga that i find at Macy's etc. It even clicks in front. We have a specialty bra shop nearby that has tons of bra and you get personal attention. It started outas masectomy shop but as we all know finding the right bra is not easy before pots. hope you find something:-)

Hello all. I have been a country girl all my life and thought I knew just about everything about bugs that bite. Chiggers find me like a magnet although my husband could roll naked on the grass and never get bitten Last weekend we were sitting in the living room. My daughters boyfriend, also a farm boy, was sitting next to her. The dog who doesn't go out unless we do had gone out for just a second and when she came back in jumped in my dau. lap. a couple of minutes later she said mom the dog must have gotten in the potting soil i have black specks on my shirt. she and i both luckily had mostly white t-shirts on and then as i looked dog over i realized th "dirt" was moving rapidly. it was just rolling off her front paws. i real quick had all three of us strip into other clothes and washed in hot water. Well i have never!!!!! seen baby seed ticks like this. I called the vet on mon. and she said this year has been off the charts!! We were lucky to have a white dog!! she suggested to use a bug spray on ankles and waist when getting up in the morning. I told her I was very oder sensitive and she said to use the milder sprays but deet was really the drug of choice. I don't know if i can handle Cutter. I got the dog washed off and used a lint roller for about an hour on her paws I really want everyone to please be careful even if you live in the city. once a Nest of ticks hatches the are born voraciously hungery! I never saw anything move so fast! they were only the size of a speck. had i had on jeans or a darker shirt I wouldn't have noticed tell they bit. i have tested negative to lyme and don't need that on top of pots. Please be careful!!:-)

I was on strattera for a while for cognitive reasons and it was fabulous!!! unfortunatly it did not help my low bp, so we went to adderal. this helped the bp but i've now gotten to 30mg a day and have horrible side effects on higher dose. the cognitive help has started to fall. My cardie says we can try a combo of both and are planning a start on that next week (visit). I def have to take midodrine and do have scalp itching/goosebumpy feeling but i just made up my mind to tolerate it. so in summery midodrine - amust for bp adderal - a must bp strattera - hope combo will have no sideaffects and i won't be so foggy. zip on bp. hope this helps:-)

When i saw that only 2% have this I immediatly thought Meckels! why? My son had it at age ten. the drs thought it was flu, then dehydration, then appendix, then on naso-gastrc tube. finally they did surgery and the dr. came out smiling and shaking his head. (he had taken a shine to stu) he said it is so uncommen most dr's never see it and the 2% percent included post-mortems!! they took out his appendix just to stave off any future problem from that. you have the start from birth and it contines to grow and usually wrap around part of the intestines eventuallychoking it. my son son (who otherwise never got sick) was in hospital for another week. some how the surgical site got infected (bowel surgery is never completely sterile. he ran into a problem but that doesn't mean melissa will. the dr also saidhe never expected to see another one in his practice, and had a high mortality rate because of not being diagnosed before sepis sends in. I don't want to sound too optimistic in case i jinx something but I really feel this is a very positive thing if it doesn't mess with her pots too bad.:-)

i went to electrophs in dec. did a tilt test. took bp laying down and then stood me up. after 20 min of synptoms but did not faint he called it a neg tilt test. he did do blood test, or take me off meds prior. i agree, write it off. i think we know more here on diagnosing than they do.

i have always had a problem sleeping at night. my father was like that too." an old wise friend told me some people are just wired that way and the best thing to do was not fight it. easier said then done". the world is moving so fast these days that it is harder for those of us that need a slower pace. the last two nights i have woke up with these strange creepy crawly feeling in my arms. it takes about 1.5 hrs to go back to sleep. any body else have a suggestion?please?Thanks

was visiting my kids at univ. and my son parked in a garage on 5th floor. yes there was an elevator, but stairs were closer, so i went along with him, and really didn't feel so hot. then walked 6 blocks to clerks office. by then felt horrible. i dress in layers and i imagine that they thought i was a stripper because i was pulling off one layer after another doing thehuff and puff. so after the meeting i walsked back to stairs with son and i thought after 3 floor he was gonna have to carry me!! i had felt fine when i left home!! i know i need exercise but i don't think stairs are gonna do it. our family always took stairs because it was easy way to exercise. for me i guess no.

i'm sorry so many others have this problem, but in don't feel so low. midodrine wasn't altogether helping my blood pressure and i had read here somewhere that adderal might help. boy did it! my blood pressure is in a much more stable range although i still have spells. but the best side effect was it helped my memory so much!!. still isn't perfect and if i have info overload well ijust have to stop. the dr triedincreasing it from.25 mg but i was having some jaw clenching problem. i do get a hot spell for about twohrs in morning after i take most of my meds, but i just change shirts. insurance doesnt want to pay because i'm 45 but its first reason for taking was for blood pressure. straterra was better for my memory but did nothing for bp. so i'm hoping since i've been on adderal fo a while i'v built up a resistance that will allow to bump up dosage without side affect. hurray for a drug counter indicated fo adults with high! bp!

hi! i think ive always had some depression related to childhood, but 3 years ago with the bottem falling out on my pots we have tried everything. finally saw a shrink (who I love) and is knowlegable about pots after i gave a bunch of info to her. her hub is cardioligist. one of the leading ones in area, and she had conferred with him at no charge. my gp had really tried everything but it took shrink to tweak things. she feels i am regrettably anti deppressant intolerante. I'm not a large person. she also conferred with a dr who she graduated with who said there are things on the way and was interested with the pots/depression interplay. anyhoo, she know has me on Wellbutrin 450 (thetop dosage), lamital (mood stabilizer) 100mg., celexa 60 mg., klonopin 40 mg. before bed. this is along with my pots meds. I am on adderall 25 mg., which i could increase dosage but anymore makes me clench my jaw for some reason. this is a duel drug for pots and depression. I now have 3 drs who know me and my diagnosis, so if something happens I feel i have very reputable back up for my Pots . I did find thevisiting neuro-psychologist interests promising. good luck!

hello south! I live 50 miles ne of st louis. if i knew hoe to upload pics i'd share. We lost power for about 4 hrs last night but its back on now. major highways clear but our sideroads are really slick. sounds like the worst is yet to come. thank goodness for wood stove if nesc. take care. gorgous pics!

hi. i'm a day late,so i hope i'm not prolonging it. I know what you mean about people not getting it. especially friends and family. i wish i knew what to do to make people understand. I think thats what makes the ann. so lonely and deeper. If you had cancer, a death of a person or alcholism (not to begrudge them) people would know to give you some slack. I'm afraid sometimes to mention things to my husband because i know he doesn't get it so how can he grieve it. he grieves from his own perspective. take care and hang in there. i appreciate you input on the board and your wisdom from your journey. ah, the way less traveled?!:-)

hi. I think seeing a dr is problaly the best idea. When my son went to school after a few weeks of all day school I gave him a lucky penny to put in his pocket. When ever he felt like he wanted to see me or be at home he could hold it in his pant pocket. it would be our secret. Kinda pulled it out of nowhere but it worked. Since they are not allowed tobring anything to school and i didn't want it to be something that was a distraction I went with the penny. It turned out to be nap time bothered him. Nap time at home is quiet time. But the teacher played music lightly, and he couldn't sleep. When school was out the teacher said she never noticed it bothered him. maybe a pretty rock or shell would work.

new cookie recipe-super easy. i package of oreos cookies crushed fine, 1 8 oz cream cheese. blend together. now dip in melted white bark and let set. can drizzle with dark chocolate or sprinkles. They totally disapeared at thanksgiving within 5 min.

hi. my daughter had the worst nausa, sweats and retching at the start of her period. Our gp- a woman- said when she was in med school a professor said if only women would take 1 aspirin 5 days before they suspect they would help themseves. well my doc and her 5 sisters also had rough periods, and she couldn't believe no one had ever mentioned it!!! it was like male drs knew something and hadn't shared a mesage on it. My daughter has had excellent results with this. it is a blood thinner but it is such a small dose. hope it helps.

I'm so sorry you are sick! healing thoughts your way!

diet mountain dew does wonders. i assume all the caffiene. also a dr frind recommended eating at least one orange a day. all the white fiber things is great. i do before bed. also a side effect of sugaerless gum is laxative. i can't chew it anymore because of unpredictability. my neighbor who has been going thru chemo said nothing at all helped except canned prunes boiled on stove and eaten hot the dried prunes didn't help. when your desperate you'll try anthing.

J, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened. It's small comfort that I think every one here has had a similar experience, just not in the Army network. I do agree that Pots people get "it" and others really don't. Just about the time i think my husband gets it he surprises me with one of the ususal comments. He loves me tho and I know it. Is there any way that your old dr (a she I notice) could write a letter on your case or go with you to a meeting? Do you have no choice of drs as alternative?(stupid questions but I have no military exp) I agreethat you have been doing more than your share. Bless you. If your unit understands pershaps one of your superiors could go to bat for you. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I do understand the sadness of feeling like your a psych case when the drs obviously not interested in his patient or learning more about medicine. He''s a jerk all the way around. Take care and try to relax and have a good thanksgiving is you can. I'm thinking of you! gwen:-)

10 years ago my husbands aunt had a slight stroke while getting her hair washed at beauty shop. found out from drs this is not unusual!! The tilting of the head can pinch the carotids slowing blood flow. A friend who does hair says they can easily accomadate people with neck issues (she does all the time) but you need to mention it to stylist and ask for a liitle more time. The chemical odors she tries to have people come in about 10: before it starts building up in the shop. If it is a modern shop they should have air cleaners. The younger stylists are aware how the fumes may affect their health in the future too. I call if i feel a bad day coming on and they are usually happy to accomadate. they don't need word getting around that there shop makes people sick. Some stylist will come to your home and feel its part of their job for the community.

I started having the arch of flashing red and yellow lights when all this started. I was afraid I was getting a detached retina and went to eye dr. She asked if I was having blood pressure problems and I hadn't mentioned it to her. she said some high bloodpressure patients also have it. I actually have cloudy day sunglasses because some cloudy days are darker than others. I also wear them in to large stores with all the awful lights.

Hi! Welbutrin has been a life saver for me. It has helped the depression I'm not sure about the Pots. Istarted out on 300mg before bed because one Dr thought it would help me sleep. Now another dr has increased to 450 (the Max) and wondered why i was taking it before bed because it would give me some energy. It didn't help me sleep. I am on namebrand so I'm not sure about generic. I think Walmart has it on 4.00 list? generics are not created equal has been my experince on some meds.:-)

I am so sorry for you and your family and friends. my thoughts are with you.

the weather in st. louis fri dropped 20 degrees in 1 hr. from 81 to 48 by end of day. i have been sick all weekend. didn't put the two together. now it makes some sense.thanks:-)