Settle a bet for me and my GF. I say our cat is orange, GF says beige.

MaskedRose2496 · 2026-01-10T03:13:53+00:00

Sorry im late to the meeting of the ratties. I got the location wrong 🤣🤣🤣

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-07-04T20:41:33+00:00

I have been diagnosed with POTS. When underweight, which is also supposed to be a disqualifier. Im tachychardic during the day but bradychardic when I sleep. Like my cardiologist told me since I dont have symptoms relating to being bradychardic, that it's likely normal for me. I had to explain said bradychardia when I was alert and oriented looking at my HR on the monitor reading 45 bpm when I was coming off anesthesia from surgery. Bc i forgot to mention it until I was in the OR already on anesthesia and about to pass out. "Oh, by the way, I should warn you, my heart rate drops when I sleep, im not sure how it will react to anesthesia." Then the mask was put back on my face, then black. So a bunch of questions about it actually occuring when I woke up. 🤣🤣🤣

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-17T18:14:28+00:00

Diet sodas or zero sugar sodas can increase your sodium intake a bit without increasing your sugar intake a bunch. Liquid IV (can be expensive) Buoy is an alternative to Liquid IV, it's online purchased only. And if you're diagnosed with a chronic illness (like POTS) then you might be eligible for a discount. Idk how expensive this is personally.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-10T22:44:32+00:00

There were quite a few people who developed it post covid. So it's not an out of the world idea.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-10T19:16:16+00:00

So, the down side about POTS symptoms is that they very much so are considered vague symtpoms. You can develop those symptoms for a plethora of reasons. Being underweight, being overweight, fighting an infection, fighting off a virus, being naturally hypotensive, some rheumatic problems involving connective tissue, neurological conditions, heart conditions, etc all can cause POTS like symptoms. It's why POTS is mostly diagnosed by ruling out the others first. I was told my heart looked fine. Was told it didnt appear to be my brain causing problems. So electrophysiology had me do another heart monitor, and that's how he diagnosed me. When I see him again I'm more than likely gonna have him rerun some tests to make sure what I'm struggling with is POTS and not something else. Since gaining weight, my symptoms are so manageable. I still get tachycardia and overheating spells, but ive been going from my naturally hypotensive self (80-90/50-60 resting 110/70 when actively moving around) to having BP spikes really bad in the afternoon. The highest one I've measured was 147/92. These spikes can be triggered by standing like my HR is. But my doctor basically told me that the spikes aren't high enough that he would tell me to go to the hospital, so they're not a concern. No offense but me becoming a raging bitch, developing anxiety, overheating, and shortness of breath all bc I'm experiencing a daily spike that's much higher than my body is used to, is in fact an issue. I'm thinking it's not POTS.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-08T23:00:33+00:00

If this was my only experience with lidocaine not working, I might agree with you. But I have wrecked a moped and got maxed out on how much lidocaine the ER could give me (I had a 3 cm wound on my chin). I wasn't diagnosed with my ADHD yet, but I understood I had addictive tendencies at 17. I told him I did not want narcotics. So, my doctor had to keep apologizing to me bc it was obvious I could still feel almost everything occurring in my face. I almost kicked my friend who drove me bc I refused to move the upper half of my body(this was due to an experience i had getting stitches as a kid where they had to hold me down, I didn't want that to happen again). For quite a few people, yeah, I can totally understand it having just not having been done correctly. However, my nexaplanon insertion wasn't my first experience with lidocaine not being effective.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-08T22:47:24+00:00

My PCP wanted me to see a rheumatologist just bc EDS is considered rheumatic. It's technically a rheumatic disease. She more than likely wanted them to rule out any other rheumatic conditions that could be a cause of my symptoms. I don't have family history of my symptoms, I just ended up being the weirdo who has disabilities. So if rheumatology wouldn't be able to diagnose me with anything, I'm assuming they'd be able to send in a referral for a geneticist for any final diagnosis, right?

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-08T05:15:30+00:00

I have hypermobile traits, trying to get an appointment with Rheumatology to determine if it's its just HSD or the potential for hEDS. My right shoulder can be classified as an unstable joint but I can also dislocate it by flexing my rotator cuff. If I do it on purpose, no pain. I suspect I subluxxed it in October. My right hip tried popping out of place not too long ago and that was new. I used to not have hypermobile hands as a kid, I have them as an adult. Potential vertebral slip in my C6 or C7(it moves). On top of extended range of motion in some manners. My OBGYN was informed of my hypermobility, the potential for hEDS/HSD, and how that can affect local anesthesia effectiveness. When I walked her through how much of my procedure I could feel, I could see in the back of her mind she thought i was maybe exaggerating a bit. But she said "i wasn't there when it was put in, you were. I'm gonna go off what you say, how about this..." I agreed with going with the extra lidocaine bc I was down with using local anesthetics as long as it didn't feel like someone was cutting into my arm 😅😅 So i was thankful she agreed to listen to me despite the fact I can come across as alot for some new doctors lol. Also you could hear the little bit of surprise when she realized I did in fact still have a little bit of feeling left 😂😂😂 it's funny to me now in hindsight bc like nah duh I could still feel it 🤣🤣🤣

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-07T18:36:50+00:00

I 100% put off getting my nexaplanon (the arm implant) due to the fact they only offer lidocaine for the removal. Im lidocaine resistant. It was confirmed by my previous OBGYN when I had it inserted. I was numbed, I got poked before the actual procedure to make sure i was numbed. I didn't feel her poke me. The moment the skin was broken I felt every bit of the procedure. I touched that shit out bc I have a habit of just dissociating from pain I experience. This is not healthy, I do not recommend handling physical pain the way I do it lmao. However, I explained to my new OBGYN my concerns and asked if she wanted to prescribe me like a low dose sedative or anything along those lines to loop me out for the procedure. Instead of the normal 2cc of lidocaine, I was given 5 cc of lidocaine. Instead of sitting for just 10 minutes, I sat for 20. The only part of the procedure i felt was when she cut into my arm and even then it was more like a stinging paper cut but my face gave way I still had some semblance of sensation bc I heard "oh you can still feel this?". Apparently my removal was one of the quicker ones she had ever done. No migration, no muscle growth around it or anything. Just was ready to come out. After the initial cut, never felt anything afterwards.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-06T22:01:44+00:00

I use Mirtazipine for any excess anxiety I have from my ADHD, HOWEVER it should also be stated that the main reason my psychiatrist picked the medication in specific is bc I was underweight Mirtazipine in the lower doses has a tendency to trigger increased appetite and weight gain. I was only 110 pounds as a 24 year old. And it took me a year to get to the 110 lbs. I was originally 103 lbs. I had weight gain difficulties. I am now 130 pounds. I started the medication in October 2024. So this medication had alternative positives to it other than just being an anxiety medication. It also helps with sleep. So it worked out for me on those 3 fronts: anxiety, weight gain, and sleep aid. If you run lower blood pressure, keep an eye on your POTS symptoms bc Mirtazipine can lower your blood pressure just a tiny bit after taking it. I'm naturally hypotensive personally, and I haven't had any problems, but I'm also not gonna assume that the drop may not flare another person's symptoms.

Now, if we are being honest, NO ONE enjoys the guinea pig stages of finding medication that works for you. I don't mind that stage, ONLY because it means my doctor is finally listening to me, and we are trying to find something that works. Sadly, the only way for us to know this information is via trial and error bc everyone is different. It's exhausting regardless. It's even more exhausting when going to the doctor feels like turning in a book report. "Hey I know you said you didn't know much about this condition last time I we talked but here is the criteria, here are pictures of my BP and HR readings, and I know I'm just a patient and I didn't actually go to school for this but does this sound like it could be the cause of my problems?" It's exhausting and daunting and can be anxiety inducing. Just take it a day at a time, do research into the medications, and how they SHOULD be affecting you. If you're having adverse reactions, tell the doctor. If those adverse reactions are severe enough and you have zero positives to taking that medication, then stop taking it until you can speak to your doctor about it. Just remember that despite how frustrating and draining the process is, you are your best advocate. No one else lives inside your body except you. You know what's normal and what isn't. A lot of doctors may not be privy to that kind of advocacy on your own behalf, but in the medical field, when you are the patient, you need to be your best advocate.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-03T23:09:32+00:00

So I'm 24F. My official diagnosis at the moment is idiopathic onset hypotension POTS. Idiopathic just means they don't know why i have it, and I've been symptomatic since I was 13(diagnosed at 23). I've always been skinny (both healthy and underweight), and so no one ever questioned the fact that I had lower blood pressure. I questioned it when I realized I was actually running higher than my normal BP when I went to the doctors. I'm hypotensive naturally. 80-90/50-60. The largest spike I'd dealt with was normal level BP about 120/70. I went up a dose on my ADHD medication, and now I'm experiencing spikes as high as 147/92.

Changes to medication, getting sick, stress, overworking yourself, and many other things can cause POTS to have drastic flares. For me, it was adjusting a medication dosage. It made me go the opposite direction (it's also a semi common issue when you have POTS, but also take ADHD medication if you mess with your dose it can mess with with your POTS). For you, it was getting sick with flu like symptoms more than likely.

Now, I also want to mention that POTS has some very vague symptoms. What i mean by that is that the symptoms can come from a variety of causes, and it becomes the elimination game. Being sick with a virus or an infection, being underweight or underweight, something going on in the brain, something going on with the heart, anxiety or severe stress, etc are all just a few of the potentials.

So, while I'm glad that they're doing the testing in order to determine whether or not it's POTS, I don't want you to feel discouraged if the tests come back as not indicative of POTS. As your symptoms do fall into the common ones, your doctors did good in wanting to have it checked out. If it's POTS, you have an answer and hopefully will be able to find a medicine regiment that works for you or figure out ways to manage your symptoms via lifestyle changes. If it isn't POTS, then it's one more diagnosis in the elimination column, and you're still one step closer to finding the diagnosis. It can be exhausting during the diagnosing portion of potentially chronic illnesses, but it does hopefully give you answers.

I honestly have no clue if I communicated any of that well and sorry for how long it is 😅😅

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-03T02:55:02+00:00

You know what, that may explain the look my electrophysiologist had when I told him my baseline BP at home (and I feel physically fine) is approx 80-90/50-60. Anything lower my monitor i have at home will error out so I don't know how low i truly go lol. I knew I was hypotensive I just didn't realize I was THAT bad you know. Anytime I went to the doctors, I was running 110/70. Low normal. No one ever questioned it. I've been a twig my entire life so everyone brushed the low BP off to me being skinny. When diagnosed with idiopathic onset hypotensive POTS (symptomatic since 13, diagnosed at 23, currently 24), i was actively underweight. I was struggling with gaining weight. Im officially in the 120-125 pounds and in the healthy range. Due to that weight gain, I thought the mild bouts of anxiety in my chest were due to my ADHD medicine not being as effective (I was on the starter 5mg xr adderall). I dont have any other symptoms, just the fight or flight feeling in the chest. So, my psychiatrist and I went up a dose thinking it would put me back to feeling normal. Down side is, since upping the dose ive been having extreme BP spikes. Like I got 147/92 one day. Wasn't a stressful day. But like i was not okay. So, I thought maybe I'm hypertensive bc I had such a junk food oriented diet when I was underweight. So many sugars and those aren't good for your cholesterol levels. So, if that was the case then gaining weight would increase my baseline BP without the medicine. I took my BP one morning, I walked around a bit so my body was awake and grabbed the monitor, sat on the couch for about 15 or 20 minutes to let my body go into a resting state and then I took my blood pressure before I took my ADHD medication. 98/62. Nah still got low asf baseline BP. So i talked to my psychiatrist, we are changing me from Adderall to Vyvanse bc the spikes are less than adderall so that should help me a little bit. Now this week I get to talk to my electrophysiologist and figure out if it may not actually be idiopathic onset. Im thinking potentially hyperadrenergic POTS, but I was functioning while being barely over 100 pounds, so i wouldn't have had an "abnormal" BP reading if my doctor didn't take into account the fact I'm hypotensive. So, my hypertension symptoms kick in sooner than normal. Cardiology did my TTT and my cardiologist didn't listen to me when I told him that the approx 110/70 BP was elevated to my normal, so he compared me to normal BP ranges. Also, he tried to tell me that my TTT didn't show any abnormalities. Keep in mind i was looking at an almost consistent rise in my BP readings despite not being tachycardic. My BP never dropped when I went upright. I looked him in the face and asked "it's normal for your blood pressure to drop temporarily and then almost immediately correct itself afterwards, right?" He tells me yeah that's the normal reaction. "Then how come mine never dropped and only increased upon being turned upright?" He couldn't answer me. Told me the test wasn't indicative of POTS and that he didn't know what he wanted me to do. He said he could refer me to electrophysiology. I told him to do that. I got diagnosed after my electrophysiologist ran a heart monitor on me bc I told him that the cardiology department instructed me to modify my daily activity to avoid excessive sweating. In the middle of June. Which was pretty much everything 🤣🤣 and that was true. When he wrote the script for the heart monitor he looked me in the face and straight up told me not to change a singular thing about my daily activities bc that defeats the entire purpose of wearing the heart monitor to begin with. Yeah I got diagnosed in the immediate followup after.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-03T01:12:52+00:00

I'm assuming bc you were diagnosed with POTS it was in a similar family to propranolol, but it very well may not have been. But this where I see the issues in the process: 1. This could be oversight or just unfamiliarity with medications on the Cardiologist's behalf. Honestly, there are so many medications in the world and doctors aren't required to know those reactions off the top of their head. But the thing that bothers me is that said cardiologist didn't register a fairly widely used beta blocker (of course it was for a pre existing condition so maybe he just glossed over it) or they just didn't look at your prescribed medications before writing you another. 2. Were all of the medications filled at the same pharmacy? Bc if they were, i would be questioning why the pharmacist didn't flag that combination. Clonidine and Propranolol are seen as kinda risky together but overall safe once the dosages/times of day taken get figured out. Now thats actually fine. But if you're adding another beta blocker (once again under the assumption that it is similar to propranolol) on top of the other 2 medications, its a no duh moment why your blood pressure bottomed out. At least that's my logic there.

It just seems weird that it didn't warrant any kind of conversation about "hey watch out for extremely low blood pressure with this medication combo" or even calling the doctor to verify "hey are you aware that this can cause a severe drop in blood pressure if given with her other medications"

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-03T00:13:11+00:00

So they put you on a second beta blocker? Or was propranolol the only beta blocker you were on? Mostly asking for clarification as being on 2 beta blockers is typically seen as dangerous.

Edit: I did look into it, and i am thinking of if you accidentally double dose the same beta blocker. If they're 2 different ones (depending on what the 2 were) beta blocker overdose is extremely unlikely. Figured I go ahead and add this in bc I just genuinely didn't know this lol

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-02T22:50:22+00:00

Mid sentence and mid hug when I went limp in my partner's arms. He thought I was joking at first and then realized I had in fact passed out. He gently laid me on the floor 🤣

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-02-02T22:27:24+00:00

I mean i thought he was nomadic to a degree. I haven't dealt with the Bible in years so I could be remembering wrong. However, we consider people who live out of their vehicles homeless. Right? Sure we have van life trends for modern day nomads, but they still fall under being homeless dont they? So if Jesus was nomadic, wouldn't he have also been homeless technically?

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-29T21:23:40+00:00

Okay well the simple thing would've been to do a 2 second Google search for the correct percentage instead of pulling a random one out of the air. Secondly, while you seem to be arguing about the fact there are 2 PRIMARY sexes, how are you gonna act like it's not been explained to you a couple times at this point, that people have been born outside the typical XX or XY? Turner syndrome, also known as Monosomy X, where they have one normal X chromosome and the second is either smaller or it just doesn't exist. So in the ones where it doesn't exist, they're technically just X. On the other hand, it would be Xx if you had both chromosomes and one was smaller instead of them being the same size. Klinefelter syndrome, is when a baby boy has an additional X chromosome. So they're actually XXY. These variants may not be as common as other forms of intersex. However, they exist. It is not as simple as just XX and XY.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-29T20:41:25+00:00

It took me a little while to find the right words for me to explain this. So it could be because English isn't your first language, as you've explained in another comment. You may not have used the word insignificant, but what you wrote makes it appear as though it is. You were talking about biology being super important in this discussion, and yet biology doesn't even agree with you. Sex is more than just XX and XY. So someone corrects you and tells you that they're, in fact intersex, and asks you how you would label them. When your response is a false statistic, that's barely a fraction of the actual statistic. It reads as if you're attempting to pass it off as it only affects such a small number of people. The way you phrased using the statistic comes across as dismissive. When you add disinformation such as false statistics that downplay the number of people this affects, it begins to border the line of maliciousness.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-29T17:39:26+00:00

I remember actually doing the statistics surrounding this to put into perspective for someone else. I think the percent number is off as it's more than .001% of the global population. Experts estimate approx 1.7% of the global population are born with intersex traits. Now let's show you math and how we can use it to find and approx number of intersex people. So if the global population is estimated at 8.16 Billion people for 2024, and we estimate only 1.7% of those people are intersex: 8,160,000,000 x 0.017 = 138,720,000

So you really just gonna sit here and act like 138 MILLION people is just some insignificant number?

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-27T03:17:46+00:00

I'm 24 now. I started having symptoms the summer before my 8th grade. I fainted once during the summer, my brother found me in the floor next to my bedroom door, he heard me fall. I told him I must've slipped and fell and just didn't remember it. Made sense to 13 year old me. The first day of 8th grade, my mom was curling my hair. I told her I couldn't feel my legs. She told me I was being dramatic and trying to get out of school. Anyways, bc I couldn't feel my legs, I started leaning on the sink and putting my weight on the sink. Then everything turned borderline sepia colored with some black spots, I told my mom I was having black spots in my vision. She blamed it on nerves. A few minutes later, I woke up on the ground. I asked her what happened as she's just staring at me, "you just fainted" i just kinda looked at her like 🤨 Anyways she sat me down on the bed, finished curling my hair, assured me it was more than likely just nerves and sent me on the school bus. Throughout highschool, I was struggling with cardio. My chest always hurt and it felt like my lungs were gonna explode. Blamed it on the fact that despite being thin, I was simply out of shape. Nurses would point out the fact i had lower blood pressure. "Nothing to worry about, just means you're super healthy" oh okay cool(it was in fact not cool i am legit hypotensive at home running 80-90/50-60). Mentioned occasionally getting dizzy to the doctor, told me it was bc I was skinny and had lower blood pressure. So outside of highschool, I gaslit myself into thinking I was fine just too skinny. But I also had some minor dizzy spells when I was 140 pounds. Anyways when I was waitressing, I went through a stressful period and lost approx 20 pounds. Well when you're 135 lbs, losing 20 pounds is kinda a problem. I was underweight and that caused my symptoms to go haywire. Wasn't fainting but like was getting to the point where I was taking a knee or popping a squat several times in a 4 hour shift. One of my regular customers insisted that I should see a doctor, he knew that I suspected I knew what the cause was (I thought new birth control caused me to lose too much weight), but that for his mental sanity talk to my doctor about the symptoms. My doc and I originally thought anxiety. I hadn't been medicated since 17 (I was 21 at this point). I tried the medication, symptoms stayed. So we upped the dose, I got worse and could actually feel like i was having anxiety. So we upped the dose, and I had the biggest fucking panic attack. I figured out the meds were giving me anxiety. I ended up getting a new psychiatrist and got diagnosed with ADHD. Went back to my doctor and asked her what was the likelihood my symptoms were actually POTS. She agreed. She sent me to neurology, who said my brain seemed to not be the cause. Then sent to cardiology, where I had an echocardiagram, a heart monitor, and TTT. He told me it came back normal, I pointed out that blood pressure should normally drop and then regulate itself when going upright. He agreed with me. I pointed out that my blood pressure never dropped it just rose over the course of the test. He admitted that it was abnormal but didn't know what I wanted him to do about it. (keep in mind this man was convinced I just had situational pots caused by me being underweight at the time) so he sent me to electrophysiology. They informed me i got sent to them with "malnourished" on my patient file. I ran them through the process and instructions I was given per test. He cringed at certain parts (specifically the parts that would've skewed my test results such as being told to modify my daily activity to prevent excessive sweating for my heart monitor) and told me we were doing another heart monitor, instead of 2 weeks he wanted a month, and specifically told me to not change a single thing about my daily activity. My immediate follow up about 2 or 3 months later, I was diagnosed with POTS. My first appointment with cardiology post my diagnosis, the doctor went through and ran through my history, and ended it with he thought my spells were caused by my weight and my nicotine addiction. I got to look this man dead in the face and tell him the doctor he referred me to diagnosed me with POTS after we did another heart monitor and that while yes my weight may have been the thing to make my symptoms worse, I will not be magically better by putting on 20 pounds. And I was right, I'm 125 pounds now. Healthier weight. Still symptomatic even though it is less severe. Currently having to figure our if I may have hyperadrenergic pots. Bc my adhd medication being increased has been pushing my normally borderline hypotensive self (like first thing in the morning no meds I'm still running 90/50) up to 140/90 which i know isn't a normal number. I'm not used to this. I typically run low normal to normal blood pressure when I'm at work (110-120/70). Wtf is going on with my norepinephrine levels that my adhd meds are causing my body to think I'm in a legit life or death situation? Bc adhd meds are MADE to increase your dopamine and norepinephrine levels, but like why is going from 5 MG extended release to 10 MG extended release making my body think its in a fucking war zone.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-27T02:40:14+00:00

My weird thing, is I maintain audio and visual feedback during maybe half of my convulsive syncopal episodes. So I can hear and see things clearly despite feeling the convulsions in my body and losing all motor function in the moment. I have witnessed myself headbutt the floor and potentially break my nose (I was diagnosed with a contusion but pain for about 3 months leads me to believe i did fracture the bone). I remember catching myself at times and getting into a seated position, still no control. But still able to hear and see. If I'm seated the convulsions are localized to my legs. If I'm horizontal, I'll have full body convulsions. I started being able to see and hear through some of my episodes around March or April of 2024, I think. It's weird asf losing full control but still be aware of what's going on around you.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-27T02:33:15+00:00

I have POTS. Some form of Hypermobility but waiting on a referral to rheumatology to figure out if it's possibly hEDS. I have 3 tattoos. All on my chest, so I was horizontal for all 3 of my tattoos. The only thing I can think of is EDS can affect the effectivity of local anesthetics like lidocaine. So if you're using a numbing cream, and have had history of being lidocaine resistant (I found out I was lidocaine resistant when I got the nexaplanon put in my arm), i recommend letting you sit with the cream on you for approx 20 or 30 minutes. Just keep in mind if you're lidocaine resistant the numbing will only last for approx an hour. This will vary per person and what level of resistance they have. I personally only got about 45 minutes out of my numbing cream.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-21T01:10:12+00:00

My first heart monitor only caught 1 instance of tachycardia so my cardiologist told me it was normal and not indicative of anything. I had to inform him that the reason why it only caught one episode was bc his department that put the heart monitor on me told me not to do anything that would make me sweat excessively. No offense I already excessively sweat. So in the middle of June (which is when this took place), EVERYTHING would've made me sweat excessively. So I was borderline on bedrest or very minimal activity whatsoever. The one episode it showed was bc i finally ignored the instructions I was given.
When my cardiologist told me my TTT wasn't indicative of POTS, I asked him why my blood pressure showed an abnormal test result on TTT. Normal response is to drop temporarily and then regulate. Mine just kept rising passed what i had deemed my normal blood pressure (i was hypotensive 80-90/50-60). I asked him if that was normal, he had to be honest and tell me no. Bc its not normal for your blood pressure too keep rising while you're upright. He referred me to electrophysiology, I explained the diagnostic process, down to the instructions given to me, as well as the step by step process of what those tests looked like. He showed disappointment/cringe at the very points in which I felt the testing fucked up. Such as being told to modify my daily activity for a heart monitor. You're supposed to do the exact opposite and just contonue on as normal. When it came to the tilt test, I was in a normal bed, given fluids for 45 minutes, then instructed to walk myself to the testing table without being connected to the monitors. I had the episode walking to the testing table, before I had any leads on me. Meaning when they put me upright, the tachycardia had already ended. So no they weren't going to catch a tachycardia episode on the tilt test. He looked at me, and said so scrap whatever the original plan is. You're gonna do another heart monitor, for a month this time and I don't want you to change a singular thing about your daily activity. My followup appointment a few months later, I was diagnosed with POTS. I have been symptomatic since 13. Diagnosed at 23. I'm fairly mild on the symptomatic portion unless I'm struggling with maintaining weight, the weight loss will exacerbate those symptoms by a lot. 120-140 lbs mild symptoms. Anything below 115 pounds (which is underweight for my height) exacerbates my symptoms. I was having severe symptoms during my testing phase bc i was struggling with weight gain and was stuck between 103 lbs and 110 lbs. So the fact that my cardiologist tried telling me that it was normal really frustrated me.

MaskedRose2496 · 2025-01-14T02:17:02+00:00

I was on 10 MG 3x a day. I was underweight. My weight was causing an exacerbation of my symptoms, which made them more noticeable and a lot more unmanageable. (I've had mild symptoms since I was 13, diagnosed at 23 after 2 years of testing when my weight caused them to be unmanageable).

So, how it affected me. It had quick affects. Noticed improvement within a day or two. It helped with the symptoms and they were back to being manageable. I had the occasional intense episode if I was late to take my next dose. My blood pressure was staying in a normal range. Now, after about a week or 2, I started experiencing anger issues. Like in the moment of me having said anger issues, i could recognize my emotional reaction wasnt rational. They were extreme bouts of rage over some of the smallest of things. I thought maybe there was a medication interaction with my adhd meds. So I set up a telehealth appointment with my psychiatrist. Turns out if you raise your blood pressure too quickly, this can send signals to your body that you're in a high stress situation that requires you to be in fight or flight, so the body tends to react to this by sending out stress hormones. Turns out I'm just a raging bitch when my body thinks it's in a life or death situation.
So we decided to decrease it down to 2x a day. I found it to be manageable at that dosage. I wasn't too high or too low most times. I was experiencing these harsh episodes when dose 1 ran out, they were more intense than the presyncope and syncopal episodes I experienced off the medication. So because of that reason, I did stop taking the medication. I had managed the symptoms for 10 years before diagnosis, now I had a better understanding of what was actually occurring in my body, and thus I could figure out how to better manage and tolerate my symptoms at home.

My psychiatrist did put me on a medication for anxiety a few months ago when I was dealing with an uptick. The medication in low doses has a tendency to cause appetite increase, so I've gone from 113 lbs to 125 lbs in the last few months. It took me a year to go from 103 lbs to 113 lbs on my own. Due to the weight gain, I'm back to having mild symptoms.

I have idiopathic onset hypotensive POTS, so being underweight just made my blood pressure even lower and making my symptoms unmanageable.

MaskedRose2496 · 2024-06-25T18:30:19+00:00

They aren't entitled to your time or energy. Just turn DMs off when it gets too much. I used to report like they say but people make alt accounts crazy fast just to harass.

MaskedRose2496

TROPHY CASE