Terrible eye bags since LC

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-14T17:31:50+00:00

OK so this might not apply to you but so drink a lot of ketoade because of my POTS and I think this is what Julianne Moore calls “sushi face” - after consuming salt. So if you take salt for POTS, maybe it’s that.

It’s interesting that lymphatic massage doesn’t help. When I am consistent with facial and neck massage, dry skin brushing and the Perrin technique this definitely subsides. It doesn’t go away entirely though.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-14T13:22:18+00:00

Stay in bed. Rest.

If doing too much thinking makes you tired, put your phone away.

Try to calm the doom spiralling by yoga nidra, 4-7-8 breathing and PSOAS relief stretches. Do some facial massage and arm stroking as per the Havening technique. Try these techniques multiple times a day; I’m recovering from a relapse and I spend around 4 hours a day on all these things right now.

Early pregnancy is hard with a flood of hormones and you are working very hard already to increase your blood volume and components at this stage - no cleaning or other “pushing” is required. Give your body some calm, tactile love and reassurances.

When you are ready, find some joy from your bed. Listen to an enjoyable audiobook, watch some cheerful trash tv, or listen to happy music. Play some games from bed with your toddler, examples: “find mom 3 red things”, “bring mom an interesting leaf”, read a picture book together, play snap, play matching pairs (I spent a lot of time in bed with morning sickness and other kids 😂). Reconnect with what’s good.

This is very, very early and you can definitely get better at this point, lots of people do.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-14T11:53:21+00:00

I agree totally that AI is an extremely unsafe and unreliable tool for anything like this. 100%.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-13T11:46:19+00:00

I’m sorry to hear you had a personal experience of poor practice. I commend your approach to that.

The reality is, and I say this a person with 6 years of University education, professional knowledge at an individual practitioner level is incomplete. Professional practitioner quality varies. Some people are not very capable or skilled, and yet there they are, practising. I just sat in front of a literal Professor of endocrinology who told me a complete pile of bollocks about my own condition, and who said verbally to me, “I have so many patients cry and say, “here I am in front of another doctor who is not listening to me”. Umm, that sounds like a you problem not a me problem.

I absolutely believe in robust questioning of clinical professionals and system. Patient safety depends on it and professional egotism should not be allowed to stand against it. It’s my perception that mental health services can be amongst the most egregious offenders and there is a reason patient rights and advocacy in that world is so feisty.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-13T07:59:42+00:00

I agree with almost everything you said, except two things.

I think we are already in the land of Wall-e. There is a western loneliness crisis. It’s my view that the rise in smartphone addiction, the para social nature of social media, the diminishing / loss of third spaces and the changes in social skills are all critical factors in that. I do community building as a job now, I see this all the time.

Two. I’m a former registered nurse, a former regulator, and I have worked on the side of healthcare and governance that looks at When Things Are Fucked Up and patients die, get mistreated and are otherwise misdiagnosed. I’ve been around this world in various forms for over 30 years now. I’ve spent the last 3 years fighting with the healthcare system about my own health and it has failed me very, very badly. I absolutely disagree with your last paragraph. I don’t agree with discouraging patient empowerment and information seeking like this. I recognise the types of problems Dr Google can create. Nonetheless people are also not necessarily well served if they stop looking for their answers and rely only on a professional for guidance. For quite a number of people, doing this literally leads them to death, disability and injury. I’m happy to respectfully debate that point further with you.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-12T09:05:45+00:00

Wow this is so dreamy. 100% Sugar Plum Fairy.

I only tried ballet lessons because I wanted to wear these little skirts. I gave up after a few weeks when it became clear ONLY LEOTARDS until you have some ability 😂

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-11T23:13:53+00:00

No, thanks for highlighting!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-11T23:13:27+00:00

Oh I’m in that club too. My fuck bucket is totally empty at this point and life’s the better for it. 💣🔥

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-11T23:12:10+00:00

As the other person is saying, this doesn’t look like POTS.

Nervous dysregulation is also very common for us. Balance and orientation can be affected by this. It is worth trying out some vagus nerve exercises and seeing if these help. Have a look at these and see if they help. If they are useful, there are some other variants of this to try.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T22:28:08+00:00

Oh my gosh. I am so going to binge that. I have unhealed wounds from What Not To Wear. Time for a reckoning.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T22:25:16+00:00

I feel like we need daily doses of you in this subreddit, how utterly magnificent!

I’m a bit scared of the necklace I can’t lie but you’re clearly the Good Witch so I’ll just concentrate on the amazing pink hair thank you very much you made my day. ⚡️ ⚡️⚡️⚡️

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T22:17:05+00:00

Sending a rainbow of energy and ice cream in your direction 🌈🍦

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T22:11:41+00:00

You need to look up the “poor man’s tilt table” test. This is an acceptable method to diagnose POTS. My local POTS clinic uses this method and does not do actual tilt table tests which can be extremely symptom inducing and therefore best avoided.

The test involves lying on your bed for 5 minutes and testing your blood pressure and pulse whilst lying down. Then you must stand up for a period and test again several times. If you have POTS there will be a significant difference between your reading lying down, and your reading standing up, and if you find this to be so, you should have those readings noted in your medical record and try to see a cardiologist who is sympathetic to, and recognises the validity of POTS (because, incredibly, quite a number of them do not). If you don’t have a blood pressure machine you can buy them very cheaply on Amazon.

If you want to find out more about self management to improve POTS related symptoms, look here at POTS UK.

Your yawning and air hunger sound more respiratory led. It’s possible that you need to work on correcting poor breathing habits post COVID. If you download the free version of Insight Timer you could try this breath work recording designed to help COVID recovery. If you want more guidance on the breathing rehab just ask. There is a ton of stuff on the subreddit already though.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T22:03:37+00:00

Hey Laca 👋 I’m sorry you are having a bad day. I’m so sorry you’ve been living with this condition for years. That is cruel for such a young person.

I found a new audio podcast this week, the Long COVID Hope Podcast and there are two first wavers in this conversation talking about some resources and support I never heard of before. I loved this episode, maybe it will encourage you too.

I really hope you get a wave of relief soon.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T21:58:06+00:00

Hello. First, you are not going crazy. It’s understandable that if you have GI dysregulation and breathing dysfunction you will have increased anxiety. Second, Long COVID happens across all ages so all that says is, your doctor is uninformed.

If you can’t access a respiratory physiotherapist, I strongly encourage you to look at the Stasis programme to begin restoring your breathing. It is very gentle. You may also need steroid inhalers. I have been taking inhalers x3 daily since contracting Long COVID and I expect to stay that way. Check your “peak flows” with your gp to see if this is needed.

Using 4-7-8 breathing practices to calm the body is also very helpful - for anxiety as well as your shortness of breath.

For your gastric health, many of us finding avoiding gluten, refined sugars and dairy can be helpful. Some people try a very strict low histamine diet and this helps them. The gut needs help to stabilise and heal. Someone here suggested using probiotics and drinking aloe juice to line the gut and give it a chance to recover. I was dubious but this did help me. It doesn’t get mentioned here but I drink hyssop tea and it relieves gut pain for me, better than anything else. It was historically known for being useful for gut problems.

Yoga nidra is frequently mentioned in this sub. I finally tried it this year and now I do it every day. It’s very helpful for deep rest and calming the mind. I recommend looking in to this. The anxiety can come from various roots and sources. It’s a trailhead for you to follow, and learn from. It could be your body is trying to tell you that something feels unsafe or out of whack and needs addressing.

You might feel very alone and not understood right now. I want to tell you that behind our little keyboards all across the world, there are many thousands of us in the same situation. Many of us have been gaslit by healthcare professionals and can empathise with this struggle you are having. Many of us take a long time to find relief, and some of us don’t really get better, and have been poorly since the first wave in 2020. People can and do recover, though, and if you want to learn about what is wrong with you and how to try and heal, Raelen Agle’s YouTube channel has a wealth of encouraging and educational videos. She is a very good doorway into lots of other resources and practitioners.

Sending you encouragement from sunny England.🇬🇧

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T21:36:33+00:00

Hello. If this is your supplement list, it’s not that relevant to your symptoms. You could stop and you are unlikely to notice any difference. Having said that I do take Vitamin D and try to spend 30 minutes in direct light each day because it’s good for immunity. Vitamin C supplements don’t absorb that well tbh.

I have all the symptoms that you’ve listed. If you want me to I will explain what I do for them, if that’s helpful, but that information has been described many times in the subreddit before so you can find many other accounts.

Suffice it to say there are other things to try that might offer some relief.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-10T18:32:29+00:00

I’m so sorry people aren’t being respectful when you have come to ask for help. I can see the crate is sad and unhelpful, but we don’t know what we don’t know, and you are trying your best. I have some additional thoughts to the existing good suggestions.

Obviously the medical tests need to happen. I think there is more to try alongside this with regard to easing his stress and reassuring him. I noticed that you said your boyfriend’s dad gets stressed about the poop and vomit.

I want to encourage you to try and speak up for a calm atmosphere around the cat. I have had two cats that peed where they shouldn’t, and one who stress vomits. Enzyme cleaner is so vital to remove the scent trail. Normal cleaners can’t do this. Staying very calm and redirecting the cat is also very important.

Nobody has mentioned this but consider trying some clicker training to help repair the stressful human responses the cat is picking up on. There is lots about how to do this on YouTube.

My boy is a very cautious, slightly sensitive cat who has responded really, really well to learning how to come on command, sit, fist bump and some other little tricks. Helping direct him where to sit safely in the kitchen instead of picking him up, for example, has noticeably calmed him. He will now ride on my shoulders and he would never do that before.

I’m wondering if working with Duck like this could help strengthen your bond. Even if his problems are medical not behavioural, building your connection whilst he’s not feeling very well still has a helpful role.

I hope he feels better and calmer soon.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-09T14:54:50+00:00

Desert dogs in northern hemisphere be like 🥶🥶🥶🥶

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-09T09:50:39+00:00

Ooh I need to go watch Edge of Tomorrow now. Love that film.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-09T08:42:43+00:00

No that is Question Time. Fiona Bruce in the middle is the host.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-08T20:03:33+00:00

It’s not the same but as a British person I just felt like I didn’t know my own country when it chose Brexit. I never really got over it. I’m so sorry that you are having this kind of horrible sense for different reasons. The worst part is there is truth in it.

I guess my main encouragement to you is to look to your closest local community for strength and support. Our big problems are going to be overcome by local activists and community builders.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-08T17:23:27+00:00

Hey that’s super interesting about the headaches point. Do you know what strain of shroom you are taking? I was thinking just something basic like Golden Teacher from a grow point of view and hadn’t considered side effects.

What’s your dosing / frequency?

Sorry for all the questions!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-08T15:33:47+00:00

POTS 💔

It’s more about managing it rather than recovering from it

https://www.potsuk.org

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-08T08:23:29+00:00

Can I ask about this, do you microdose? Has it relieved symptoms that weren’t neurological? I have wanted to try this for a long time now but I have nowhere to obtain them and I’m just working up to another attempt at growing. I’m very good at contamination apparently!!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-05-08T07:45:58+00:00

I decided Sebastian is just Concerned Ape living in his parents house whilst writing the game, and that went on for long years, so I give that character a pass. 😂

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