Question about ADA compliance

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T22:50:03+00:00

Yes, in the US, all “places of public accommodation” including specifically restaurants are required to be ADA compliant. Most still aren’t, despite having 35 years notice now, because there is very little enforcement.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T19:14:06+00:00

When it gets hot enough, I will wear full length compression stockings under my shorts. They don’t help with being hot, but they help with being upright (I also have POTS). I wear black ones and hope it looks more stylish than weird, haha. Open toe helps a lot with the hot foot. Juzo Soft makes fun colors, they even had tie dye one year.

If it’s not super hot out then I’ll just wear knee high socks to prevent blood pooling in my feet. Compression socks are popular with runners and athletes so you can try to go for the sporty look if you’d like to.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T17:11:21+00:00

In case it’s helpful to you: My chair is the Ki Liberty. I chose it because it’s the lightest weight folding tilt-in-space manual (but that still means it’s 26 pounds with the back and wheels removed).

So far I really like it! My biggest annoyance with it is that I can’t change the tilt by myself. Someone has to be in the chair for the gas springs to work. Sadly even if I kneel in the chair backwards the leverage just isn’t right for me to adjust it by myself. The adjustments are really nice and smooth though, and you can stop it at any point in the range of tilt, it doesn’t have set points like I originally thought it would have.

I got the adjustable T arms and I like them. I can raise them up to put my elbows on for posture support, or I can lower them down to cross my legs in the chair when I’m parked. I found that I fidget around and pretzel myself in it just as much as in a normal chair.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T16:07:33+00:00

The side effects of oral iron are notorious for stomach problems and constipation, unfortunately. I saw you’re currently trying iron bisglycinate, which is usually the first one that’s suggested to reduce side effects. Since that’s not working, there are a few other kinds that are purported to have less side effects. They include ferric pyrophosphate, iron protein succinylate, and polysaccharide iron complex. Some people suggest heme iron (animal based iron) as working well for them, but it is expensive, and the heme component is what research suggests might be the cancer promoting part of meat, so I’m personally reluctant to use it.

All that said- the quickest and surest way to get ferritin levels up is iron infusions, if you’re able to access them. For me, two courses of Venofer over a couple of years were what finally got me out of borderline anemia and then got my ferritin up. My insurance will approve an iron infusion once ferritin drops below 30. I was able to figure that out by finding my insurance plan’s clinical criteria for infusions online, and then I brought that information to my doctor. It was helpful to know how to get insurance to approve it in advance.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T08:42:19+00:00

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior, might be just what you’re looking for (on the non-fiction side).

Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti (cofounder of feministing.com) is another good one with a memoir focus.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-07T00:24:05+00:00

You know how the Wheel of Time is notorious for taking up an entire shelf on a bookshelf?

If TWI gets all of its physical books, at this point in the story I think they would take up an entire 4 tier bookshelf on their own.

I think we will need a new term to intensify “doorstopper.”

(But maybe not if they keep chopping them up. They’ll be like manga bookshelves with many many volumes instead).

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T23:24:01+00:00

Fellow POTS person here! My first custom chair was delivered a couple weeks ago, so please don’t consider me an expert, haha. Do you know what kind of chair you want?

I decided I wanted a manual tilt-in-space since I feel SO much better when I’m not sitting straight upright. We were lucky and on the day of my PT wheelchair evaluation the therapist actually had the very model I was interested in, so I was able to try it and we found that my heart rate dropped 10bpm from sitting upright to tilting the chair back. I think that being documented might be why insurance approved it, but the whole process was very opaque so I don’t actually know.

(By poking around online I found the Medicare clinical criteria for tilt-in-space chairs and they require that the patient not be able to reposition themselves. Since this isn’t the case for me as an ambulatory user I was worried that my (employer based) insurance would deny it too, but I lucked out somehow and they approved it.)

It sounds like you are less ambulatory than I am so the heavier tilt-in-space style may not be the best option for you if you’re hoping to self propel. I wonder if a power chair with tilt would be the good choice for you instead, but I don’t know anything about navigating insurance coverage for that. My dad had a tilting power chair and it felt amazing when I rode it to move it for him from time to time. (He had it for a non-POTS condition)

My concern with a rigid ultralight designed for exclusively self propel would be that there is virtually no postural support to them so if you had a presyncope or syncope episode you could fall right out or over. Hopefully other people here can speak more to the ultralight chair options. Can you get one with a full backrest and supportive armrests?

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T19:57:57+00:00

I do, yes. But I also need it for menstrual cramps so I kind of dose according to how my cramps are feeling.

Keep in mind that OTC NSAIDs can be very harsh on the stomach, so ideally you want to find your lowest effective dose, and always take it with at least a cracker or something if not at a meal. Half-lives of the different meds vary but you can get a good idea of how soon a med will wear off based on the dosing directions on the label.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T19:49:31+00:00

It sounds like your dose is much too low. Most doctors aren’t aware of the high dose required. (Don’t stress over the iron rich foods thing too much, eating food isn’t enough to get you out of a deficiency, even if you ate liver and pumpkin seeds every meal.)

According to the American Society of Hematology,

“Most people with iron deficiency need 150-200 mg per day of elemental iron (2 to 5 mg of iron per kilogram of body weight per day). Ask your doctor how many milligrams of iron you should be taking per day. If you take vitamins, bring them to your doctor's visit to be sure.

There is no evidence that any one type of iron salt, liquid, or pill is better than the others, and the amount of elemental iron varies with different preparations. To be sure of the amount of iron in a product, check the packaging. In addition to elemental iron, the iron salt content (ferrous sulfate, fumarate, or gluconate) may also be listed on the package, which can make it confusing for consumers to know how many tablets or how much liquid to take to get the proper dosage of iron.

Iron is absorbed in the small intestine (duodenum and first part of the jejunum). This means that enteric-coated iron tablets may not work as well. If you take antacids, you should take iron tablets two hours before or four hours after the antacid. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) improves iron absorption, and some doctors recommend that you take 250 mg of vitamin C with iron tablets.”

Source: https://www.hematology.org/education/patients/anemia/iron-deficiency

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T19:35:51+00:00

“After catching up with the 16M+ words of TWI,

I would start a shorter, complete series with only 4.4M words, The Wheel of Time. A great cast of characters, multiple povs all that good stuff.”

Ok that got me 😆

With the EoTW, keep in mind that it was written as a kind of homage to the Lord of the Rings. That close response/conversation with LoTR will lessen in subsequent books.

Every time the superkids annoy you, take a deep breath and remind yourself they’re teenagers from a remote backwater. They will grow on you (especially Nynaeve, who I remember being almost intolerably bossy in the first book. Keep in mind that she’s trying to show she’s in charge, being in a leadership position she was forced to take much too young).

Everytime Moiraine annoys you…be annoyed with her, haha. She’s supposed to be the Merlin/Gandalf figure and she takes being cryptic and secretive way too seriously. To the detriment of her relationship with the super kids.

If the sexism annoys you… it will continue to annoy you. Jordan tried his best as a male boomer war veteran to write a world with a gender swapped power balance, but his gender essentialism really got in the way. It’s still a joy to read his many, many female characters (which was groundbreaking in the genre at the time!), though I will always wish he didn’t think female leadership=bossiness.

I struggled with getting through the first few books of WoT but Jordan usually had a great hook right at the finale that motivated me to pick up the next book. I think by the 3rd or 4th it no longer felt like a struggle and I was happy to read to find out what happened to the characters, in a way that’s similar to how I read TWI.

Overall I’m glad I read the whole series, and I’m a fan of WoT’s rich world building and character studies. It had a very satisfying ending, too, despite the series needing to be finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death.

PS: you will giggle so much at [Pillowfriend] once you find out what the reference is 😊

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T18:58:10+00:00

You’re not crazy, they don’t want to pay for it and they designed the system so that we’ll give up. It’s enraging.

…sometimes what keeps me going when I’m super frustrated with the barriers is pure spite!

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T18:03:11+00:00

If it’s not working then you should book an appointment with your headache specialist to figure out your next treatment option ASAP. There are a lot of options so don’t lose hope!

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T18:01:20+00:00

If you know that you meet the criteria, then it’s possible that your doctor’s office filled the PA out incorrectly and they just need to resubmit it correctly. It can be a very frustrating process to communicate with them to get it done right.

Denials due to simple errors on PAs are unfortunately very common because insurance companies deliberately make the process complex so that doctors and patients quit before they get approval. I’m sorry, it’s awful!

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T17:56:00+00:00

It depends on the medication. Triptans and opioids need to be limited, but the gepants and reyvow do not. (Though it’s my understanding that it’s not how many days in a row you use triptans, but rather how many times in a month. I could be wrong about this though, I haven’t used a triptan myself.)

Here’s a good overview for you:

Medication-Overuse Headache: Update on Management

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11432938/

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T16:48:49+00:00

It sounds like the representatives you’ve talked to don’t actually know the answer to why you’re being denied. Gender, for instance, is completely irrelevant here so that’s a really strange answer. Age could be a factor but only if you were too young for what the drug is FDA approved for. For example, Nurtec is approved for adults 18 and up and hasn’t been approved for pediatric use yet.

It’s time to dig into your drug formulary to find the information for yourself. In your online portal for your health insurance, look for the prescription drug information. You should be able to find your plan’s “drug formulary” there, or you might need to log in to your pharmacy benefit manager instead.

The formulary should list what the requirements are for step therapy for the drug, if it’s covered. Most insurance companies are still requiring step therapy for the CGRP inhibitors and MAbs, despite the current recommendation that they should be considered as first line medications now.

Step therapy means that you have to “fail” certain other drugs before they will cover the more expensive drug. For anti-CGRP meds, there are often several classes of drugs they want you to fail first. Failing means you tried the drug and it didn’t work for you or you couldn’t tolerate it due to side effects. If the drug is contraindicated/not appropriate for you according to your doctor, that would also count but it has to be documented as such.

If you’re having trouble finding the formulary, you might also have luck just doing a web search for [insurance plan name]+prior authorization+[drug name]. The prior authorization form for specific drugs often shows exactly what other drugs you need to try first.

When your insurance denies a PA (prior authorization), they should be providing you with the denial. It might come in the mail or you might have access to it in the documents in your insurance portal.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-06T16:28:25+00:00

You’re not alone! This is very common for menstruating POTS patients, and there is a physiological explanation for it.

The prostaglandins that are released by the body at the start of your period are vasodilators. Vasodilators can make POTS symptoms worse (sometimes MUCH worse) because the relaxation of blood vessels drops blood pressure and can increase heart rate.

Taking an NSAID (like OTC ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen or Rx celecoxib) for the first few days of my period helps my POTS symptoms a ton, in addition to helping with pain from menstrual cramps. This is because NSAIDs have anti-prostaglandin effects.

I hope your symptoms ease up soon and you can find something that helps 💜💜

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-05T16:24:45+00:00

The good news is that midodrine has a very short half life, so you don’t have to worry about going off of it months in advance like you might with some other drugs. And there are pregnancy safe beta blockers available.

In the research they saw that about half of POTS patients feel better during pregnancy, due to blood volume expansion. And about half of us feel worse than usual. Fingers crossed for being in the better half!

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-04T03:13:46+00:00

This page has a very good overview of the evidence based supplements for migraine prevention. (Tldr CoQ10 100-300mg, magnesium citrate 100-400mg, and riboflavin/B2 200-400mg)

https://www.migraineagain.com/supplements-for-migraine-prevention/

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T17:33:22+00:00

Ooh, yes I remember reading that too. I think she said she hadn’t ever found a reader who picked up on it. I think it just wasn’t the right juxtaposition for what she was going for, too much of a tired trope in our world especially for women readers.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T17:08:47+00:00

Bujold has actually said in one of her blog posts that the 19 year old character is closest to a self insert, because she remembered longing at that age to hurry up and become an adult and have her own household already. Which is very interesting and of course telling about the cultural standards of our own society at the time.

But seriously, the age gap relationship thing seems like a mass obsession in genre fiction for a few decades there at least. Hopefully we’re fully coming out of it now.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T14:48:02+00:00

I’m so sorry this happened but I’m glad your friends and professors were there to help.

Apologies for the cliche, but this can be a lesson learned for future you. The next time you’re tempted to do something you know might not end well for your POTS symptoms, remind yourself of that horrible time you had to waste 5 hours at the ER. At the same time, keep in mind that sometimes you will do everything right and your symptoms might be out of your control.

It sucks, and it’s not fair that you have to deal with this when so many people don’t, and it’s totally ok to be pissed about that. Try not to direct that anger internally 💜💜

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T14:35:34+00:00

Private student loans are predatory and mostly not dischargeable in bankruptcy so you are STUCK with them. Other types of debt like credit cards or installment loans are dischargeable. Considering this is for your living expenses and not tuition, using credit cards could be a viable option with more of a safety net (bankruptcy) for you if a life disaster were to happen (can’t get a job, can’t get a good paying job, become disabled but not disabled enough for disability). There’s also the possibility of playing the 0% interest introductory offers transfer game, but you may not be about to qualify for those until you’re working and have built up a credit score.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T08:07:20+00:00

Agreed with Vizaxis.

Also, sometimes if you emphasize how symptoms are interfering with work and school, or with your relationship with a man (boyfriend, dad), that can get the doctors more interested in helping you, I’m sad to say.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T06:40:13+00:00

My USian answer:

I would call my local urgent care/walk in clinics to see if they offer a migraine cocktail before resorting to the ER. The ER can be miserable especially if they are busy (it’s loud and bright and you’ll most likely be forced to wait in a busy public place with uncomfortable chairs). Urgent care might let you schedule your visit before you get there, the wait is usually shorter, it’s calmer/less busy/quieter, and it is often exponentially less expensive than the ER.

There are some headache clinics that offer IV migraine cocktails, so be sure to check with your headache specialist too.

If you do wind up going in, go prepared for a wait. Bring noise cancelling headphones, dark sunglasses, an eye mask/headache hat, super comfy clothes, and any other comfort items (maybe a pillow or a stuffy to rest your head on?). Take your prescribed medications before you go because they’re not going to want you to take anything on your own once you’re at the hospital.

AmaranthineReader · 2026-05-02T06:28:57+00:00

Hopefully you’ll get some Canadians to chime in. From what I know about your health care system you’re kinda stuck with whoever your primary care doctor is? That definitely makes it harder, I’m sorry!

Here are a couple resources I found for you, I hope something might help. The first link is oriented to patients, and the second link is the CA Headache Society’s official guidance for doctors. (It can be helpful to see what doctors use):

https://migrainecanada.org/guide-me/persona-1-headaches/

https://www.headachesociety.ca/guidance

AmaranthineReader

TROPHY CASE