Anonymous #1 17w

An anxiety attack and it can be hard to tell the difference between that and a POTS flare up sometimes

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Anonymous #1 17w

and I just generally feel like I have to lie down like all the time, not like sleepy but Need To Put My Head Down. I’ll take breaks pretty often if I’m doing stuff at home just to lie down for like half an hour

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Anonymous #1 17w

Ah okay. This is one of the things they’re wanting to test me for is POTS, since most of my labs came back normal. Bc I get flushed randomly, get hot with no fever, sweat a shit ton, and my HR and BP shoot up causing me to be hella dizzy but when it’s not happening my BO is low/normal. But I feel like I don’t quite align up with POTS but knowing everyone is different, maybe? They’re bumbling between POTS and something called MCAS

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Anonymous #1 17w

But I don’t have any issues with cold and have never fainted just dizzy/nauseous sometimes

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Anonymous OP 17w

Honestly! All those symptoms could align with POTS, not everyone with it faints, some people do just get dizzy and nauseous and that’s how I was when I first got diagnosed + most people have more heat intolerance than cold intolerance. I do have MCAS too, and a lot of the time they can come together but that tends to cause more allergy symptoms like hives, gastrointestinal issues, food insensitivities. They are both relatively hard to test for, but i really really hope you can get some answers!!

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Anonymous #1 17w

Me too! I ended up in the ER bc my BP shot to 190/130 so I just.. don’t want that to happen again 🥲 is there any meds that make being able to not get exhausted easier? I can’t grocery shop without sitting down anymore

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Anonymous OP 17w

Oh god yeah, that’s not good at all. I tried a bunch of heart/bp meds and nothing seemed to work super great for me. My cardiologist did put me on concerta (adhd meds) to help with the fatigue and brain fog, but you do have to be super careful cause it can cause your heart rate to spike and you have to stay superrrr hydrated. TBH, try adding more salt to your diet if you can! I started having a pickle before I leave the house and that’s helped more than anything as crazy as it sounds lol

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Anonymous #1 17w

Ah my dr said no BP meds for me bc it would drop my normal BP dangerously low. And the ADHD meds make me feel like I’m having a panic attack 🥲 I’ll try more salt. I do know that French fries do help but I thought that is normal? Also caffeine but I try not to do that too much bc HR

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Anonymous OP 17w

Yeahh, that’s what happened to me when I went on bp meds 😭 I started fainting more cause it would drop too low. French fries are one of my favorites and I used to be so confused as to why I was always craving salty foods but they do help so so much. My cardiologist would probably disagree but I love a good energy drink too as long as you’re careful! I try to drink them slow so I don’t have hr spikes, like start in the morning and take sips through the day :)

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Anonymous #1 17w

Ooooh that’s smart! Mine tried to say all my issues were caused my energy drink but I am two weeks with no caffeine and can’t do a whole day without a nap atp and it’s making work so hard

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Anonymous #1 17w

And I’ve def been craving salty food more! Up until recently I’ve always had more of a sweet tooth but I hardly want sweet>salty anymore. It’s so weird?

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Anonymous OP 17w

Dudeee they tried telling me that too so I stopped drinking them but started getting migraines again so I restarted slow and haven’t noticed any extra issues from the energy drinks! But yeah it is really weird, but listen to ur body as best you can!! If you do have POTS the extra salt helps with blood flow and getting the blood to your brain which helps with the tiredness too!

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Anonymous #1 17w

Oh yeah! My headaches are so bad and they make me feel so overstimulated 😭

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Anonymous OP 17w

building off what #1 said—staying hydrated makes a big difference in managing POTS symptoms and if you do have POTS then you likely have trouble getting adequately hydrated via drinking water without the help of electrolytes. sodium is the big one but there’s also calcium, potassium, magnesium and chloride

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Anonymous #2 17w

so for instance, alongside salty snacks, it might also be your best bet to pick up some hydration drinks / powder mixes to help with the rest of those electrolytes—“rapid hydration” or “flash IV” specialty beverages tend to contain magnesium and calcium too whereas i think a regular gatorade just has sodium and potassium

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Anonymous #2 17w

Ah I can’t drink anything where o can taste the potassium unfortunately. They made me guzzle a bunch when I was hospitalized since the IV wasn’t helping and now I can’t drink anything with that flavor without absolutely wanting to throw up 😭 I do try to drink a lot of water/regular Gatorade tho

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Anonymous #2 17w

Idk why regular Gatorade you can’t taste it but any drink that is like Pedialyte or Gatoradelyte or anything you can

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Anonymous OP 17w

rough, i hear that. *might* still be worth checking the labels on drinks to find one with multiple types of electrolytes but which is low on the potassium, maybe? but of course you know your own dietary limits best so i trust your call either way ✌️

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Anonymous #2 17w

Oh I never thought about checking labels lol I’ve just been trying all of them in hopes I’d find one I like oof that’s probably save me some money

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Anonymous OP 17w

felt, it took me a few months past noticing my POTS symptoms to get in the habit of label-checking

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Anonymous #2 17w

Do certain foods trigger it? I’m salty foods help but do some foods make it worse

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Anonymous OP 17w

nope, at least not to my knowledge

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Anonymous OP 17w

I don’t know of anything that specifically triggers POTS, but if you’re getting checked out for MCAS as well, you can try a low-histamine diet! It definitely helped with both my POTS and MCAS symptoms (when one flares up, the other tends to as well) so like dairy, alcohol, and nightshades like tomatoes and eggplant can definitely be triggers. You wouldn’t have to cut it out completely, but limiting those might help a bit!

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Anonymous #1 17w

Oh that’s good to know. My mums side is Italian so I eat a lot of tomato and dairy. So I’ll try cutting back on bothe for a bit to see if anything improves

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