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This might just be me, but when this happens does anyone else have these weird existential thoughts during the head-rush, like “I am really alive right now” or “I’m going to remember this moment forever”?
I always get the thought, “This can’t be normal. Guess I’m dying.”
POTS got me like
I want to point out that Orthostatic Hypotension is normal to some degree.
If you experience it changing positions while sitting, or notice exercise and heat intolerance, talk to a doctor. In the short term drink enough fluids and get a bunch of sodium and potassium in you.
Edit: Im going to step out here and say that I am personally familiar with a condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It’s somewhat uncommon, and has a lot of potential causes. COVID-19, specifically, can trigger it because of the way it attacks the nervous system. However, the symptoms of POTS are also the symptoms of a BUNCH of other much more serious conditions. It’s a diagnosis by ruling out other things. When they get to the step of testing for POTS it’s hilariously easy. They monitor your heart rate and blood pressure, stick you on a moving table, and tilt you.
On the downside, POTS itself is incurable unless the underlying cause changes or improves. This happens in many people, I was unfortunate enough that they discovered I had unexplainable neuropathies. Either the nerves were damaged when I was young, or they didn’t grow correctly.
The upside is that we can manage POTS symptoms. Avoid heat. Build lower body muscle, increase electrolyte intake, and drink a lot of non-caffinated and non-alcoholic liquids. I take salt pills, drink Pedialyte daily, and have a prescribed (and extremely cheap) medication. It still happens, but it’s manageable, and I won’t die from a head injury anymore.
I used to get this but the hypertension came to balance me out.
The joys of getting old(er), issue 67: You can now “stand up too fast.”
Oh? I’ve had this issue as long as I can remember. Teens for sure, probably before.
It’s actually gotten better as I’ve aged because I eat more consistently and now know I need to eat tons of salt.
POTS?
I actually had to start taking salt pills. I still greyout, but I don’t lose muscle strength anymore.
My cardiologist called it “POTS or vasovagal syncope,” and said he could specify with a tilt test, but since he treats them the same he didn’t recommend the tilt test.
So I could just say “yes,” but instead I give a long-winded answer to say that it’s a technically undefined dysautonomia that I treat like POTS, lol.
I use electrolyte mixes, salt pills, and salt my food, with a goal of 7–10g of salt and 100 oz of water a day. It’s amazing how much better I feel when I hit both of those targets!
That’s also the same reaction I have when I suddenly stand up and a sharp pain on my lower back hits.
And also me when I’ve been standing for too long. I do not exist comfortably on the vertical plane
Does really hot weather seem to cause it?
Do you seem to eat less salt than other people?
Do you have persistently low blood pressure but a heart rate that is easy to spike?
If you stretch just right will it happen?
I don’t want to just say “go see a doctor” but having collapsed at very bad opportunities, it is not worth finding out until it’s too late that you have to make some lifestyle changes to function.
Aye, spot on on all counts, it’s dysautonomia.
Doctor wasn’t much help tbh, compression socks, lots of salt and try to sit down before you fall down, were basically all the advice I got. The nhs is a bit shit tho.
Well, bro, I got some bad news on that front.
I’ve been to two of the best hospitals in the world (not on purpose, just coincidentally and they wanted to check it out in their specialty clinics) and went through some unpleasant testing (one is called a thermoregulation sweat test that they cover you in color changing sand), and that’s the exact same thing I have to do.
I take 4 salt pills, drink 3 liters of water, Gatorade or Pedialyte and a beta blocker. I do cardio. The one thing I am starting to get better at now is lower body strength - my legs are pretty dinky and along with increased blood volume, bigger leg muscles can help ease the symptoms.
The beta blocker thing I got unlucky with though, there’s a few of them that are better for pots but I can’t metabolize them (or maybe I rapidly metabolize them so they don’t work at all, I cant remember).
What was the sweat test like? Did they just end up being like, “Yep, you’re all hot and sweaty now. Looks like you weren’t lying about that.” and that was it?
My heat regulation is completely borked and I pour with sweat if I am moving around for long enough to warm up, it’s awful. I’m on 5 to 10 litres of water a day, depending on if I’m able to get up and do stuff that day or not, I think I’d die of dehydration if I was only on 3.
Guessing all the electrolytes you’re taking help with retaining the water though? I should look into that, there’s only so much salty popcorn I can eat.
The sweat test was awful. You basically wear your underwear, lie down in what amounts to a glass oven, then they spread sand all over your and you sit still for an hour and bake. Then they take a picture at the end.
And purple means sweat, yellow means no sweat. It shows what sweat glands activated by the autonomic nervous system. Then you have to shower it off and it takes forever.
They were very professional about it though, it was a nurse, a doc, and technician. I guess they were doing multiple tests at the same time, but I never saw other people doing it. Which was a relief I didn’t really want to see other purple people
Ugh, I would have been a miserable puddle of sensory overload. Kinda glad the nhs doesn’t have the budget for that kind of thing now.
As far as I know I’m the only one without high blood pressure in my family too, it’s weird how stress can break us so differently despite the shared genes.
Thank you for the Vitassium link!
I was in a miserable puddle of sensory overload. 15 years after the test I started learning that yeah I’m probably ASD, and there’s a strange correlation with ASD and POTS. Neuron magic.
And no problem with that yeah.
It does help me keep volume, definitely. I found ones called “vitassium”. They have 500mg of sodium, 100mg of potassium per pill. That seems to work ok with 3L, so it should help reduce your intake.
It’s kind of weird to think about though. All my life I had to listen to my family having too high blood pressure so I got used to not eating salt.
Well that backfired.
Go see a doctor mate
I appreciate the concern but I already know what causes it, it’s a dysautonomic dysfunction. The other person who replied guessed it spot on, haha.
“Standing up ain’t like dusting crops, boy!”
Been there. The Dark is your friend.
aka … diabetes
Wait, is frequently getting a head rush when you stand up a sign of diabetes?
No it’s not necessarily because of diabetes. It’s called Orthostatic Hypotension and it just means you have a temporary or chronic condition that relaxes your blood vessels too much so that more blood is in the lower half of your body than the upper half when sitting. When you stand up, there’s a drop in blood pressure that drains a little blood from your brain and causes you to get lightheaded or in more severe cases, faint. It’s a similar condition to what pilots get when they’re pulling high g turns that pools blood away from their head. An easy solution is to keep your blood pressure up by squeezing your bottom leg and butt muscles as you get up to keep blood in your head.
lol, squeeze ur butt 2 keep blud in ur hed.
Sounds stupid but this person is correct.
Which head? 😏
I just… uh.
When you’re in combat and nut all over the controls
‘uhoh’
USMC tanker?
It’s what fast moving pilots do.
I started getting this after I got diagnosed with diabetes, because I started eating way less junk food, so my salt intake went down. My blood pressure is usually on the low end now. It’s annoying, and I’ve talked to my doctor about it but she mostly said to drink more water.
I believe it’s more a sign of blood pressure problems or dehydration, but I’m not a doctor.
Maybe??? I think it’s a blood pressure thing too.
