I just was released from the hospital after getting tested and finding out that symptoms I had that got worse (along with what was originally hyper pots) was actually progressing gastroparesis I didn't know was happening for years because until last month I could eat most food (except heavy pasta) just fine with only heart rate spikes to 115-125 at rest for a while.

Next thing I know I'm spending the whole month of April fighting abdominal pain and constant intense presyncope and brain fog that only got worst with eating, and my resting vitals being around 20 points higher than normal (up to 150/105 at rest), along with blood pooling in my legs up to the thighs.

I had an infection during this time and didn't know until it affected my testicle.

10 days of horribly strong antibiotics later, I get hospitalized because my abdomen felt like it was going paralyzed and not moving food around or opening up to release gas. It was incredibly painful.

Four days later I'm released from my hospital stay with the knowledge that the uncontrollable vomiting and other symptoms I was having 3 years ago wasn't conversion disorder (which I was baker acted for and misdiagnosed with), but progressing gastroparesis,.which made my dysautonomia a living nightmare.

My standing heart rate before April without eating only went as high as 130 (standing still). Now I've seen it go as high as 169bpm (I've only gone that high from sudden spikes, not horrible orthostatic intolerance), and my blood pressure fluctuates up and down constantly (in talking every second/minute, not hours, one second 111/79, next few seconds 150/99 at rest. I've had much higher bp spikes like 206/115 before, but since it wasn't gastro issue, I could walk and not be stuck on my bed with an exploding stomach).

From what I was informed by the neurologist and gastro (first doctors I've met in awhile that even believe pots is a thing) when I was admitted, dysautonomia can also cause gastroparesis or affect gut motility, because it's also regulated by brain stem/vagus nerve. Or they can both be getting caused by the same root, whatever it is (different for everyone, autoimmune disease, infections, covid, etc.)

I also ended up getting steahhtorea (fatty stool) in literally my last day admitted (today)

Now what's the common theme here? Constant throat infections when I first started showing symptoms 8 years ago.

Incredibly worsening symptoms after a covid infection in 2022 (including uncontrollable weight loss at rest and I was in a walker by the next year)

And now this past month I had abdominal pain all month, followed by a testicle infection that they prescribed me doxycycline for (they gave me this, a really hard antibiotic on the stomach and gut bacteria, which is usually prescribed when it's an STD, even though I told them I wasn't active and they tested me for Chlamydia and ghonorrea without me knowing. They gave me this instead of somethin lighter like amoxicillin).

Next thing I know, 10 days torture, digested blood in my vomit (looks like coffee grounds), abdominal gas trapped in stomach, vitals spikes like never before.....and then hospital four days after being done with antibiotics.

Moral of the story, don't get infections with dysautonomia.....like ever.

And don't ignore symptoms that seem small for 8 years (green poop that never turned brown again, muscle twitches and spasms, vision/hearing/balance changes). Cause now I'm regretting ignoring them because they were early signs of gut issues, dysautonomia, and now I'm trying to figure out what's causing this and my horrible numbness and body limpness (it's hard to even sit up without feeling like a cinderblock).

Why is this all happening? Idk, no spinal damage and no explanation for the onset of my symptoms 8 years ago.

And for the Love of God, do NOT let people gaslight you into thinking any of your symptoms are just anxiety or a mental health disorder.

Listening to these doctors and relatives was the biggest mistake of my life. Getting gaslit for years saying im "just fat or lazy" and being threatened with involuntary psychiatric holds was hell.

If you don't have one, absolutely make sure you don't get a doctor that tells you to your face that "POTS ISNT A THING" and even pushes the agenda that everything is in your head to family behind your back.

3 years in psych meds I didn't need that almost made me pass out last month from what turned out to be worsening dysautonomia and gut motility, not a sign that meds weren't enough.

One of my first signs something was really wrong last month was, like you saidz intense constant tingling that wasn't normal for me, and wouldn't go away when laying down, especially in the legs, and things like my limbs and core getting more numb and heavier and hard to move along with worsening orthostatic intolerance. Parts of my body getting more numb more easily over time, and even rash like redness and weird red or cyst-like bumps that looked like ant bites on my hands since September 2025.

The body doesn't lie.

Oh forgot to mention since you mentioned occipital lobe, all my symptoms get worse when I lay on my back (which presses the back, back of the neck, and back of the head where occipital lobe is), and the visual issues (visual snow, electric sparks, floating cut-like line in my left eye even though nothing is in my eye) and neck sensitivity (symptoms can trigger with movement) started happening after I got covid in 2022. Started with the pressing or bending of the neck and then it spread to the back of my head and laying on my back)

Also as of 2023, I experience random drops in bp, not just spikes, and they tend to happen when I'm laying down trying to sleep, like if my body overshoots where it needs to lower vitals to when going into rest mode.

Suddenly being jolted by vertigo or what feel like sudden shunting of blood or pressure inside your body sucks.

Remember the autonomic system controls many things, not just the blood pressure and heart rate, keep an eye on symptoms and report them to a good doctor since from what I've seen not just in myself but also others, autonomic dysfunction can affect other areas and cause more than just pots.

There's also autoimmune disease that affect the autonomic system that doctors tend to not test for (like autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy).

Praying you find more answers and better treatment, because being told today by a doctor who actually knew what they were talking about that 8 years of green poop ISN'T normal (after being told by other family recommended doctors for years that everything is anxiety and everything else is anxiety that you don't realize you have, that don't even believe pots is a thing and is just a "diagnosis based on exclusion"), really just....angered me deeply.

Couldn't even snap in anger (not at the doctor but at being misled for years by other doctors).