Anyone here with postural tachycardia syndrome?

Post Reply New Topic

After getting out of a long, hot shower in which I simply stood, and moved around a little, I had difficulty breathing and felt dizzy; I noticed red on my ankles and what looks almost like bruises on both ankles.

I took my blood pressure, which was 104/63, and my heart rate, which was 121, not long after coming out (and without doing any strenuous exercise).

Now I understand why I might get so tired after coming out of the shower.

EDIT: After relaxing, lying down, for about 10 minutes or so, my BP is now 98/67 and HR is now 72, a near 50 point drop!

EDIT 2: Note that I enjoy long, hot showers and often think about topics of interest while I'm in there.

^ That's pretty classic!

About sitting for long periods: I find that after enough hours (4+) the same symptoms as standing too long start showing up . Sitting seems to just slow them down rather than prevent them. (It's too bad there's such a taboo about "laying down on the job." )

I took again today after waking up. 0 min is at rest in a lying supine position, having just gotten up. After 0 min is time from standing still.

0 min 93/56 60
2 min 104/66 80
5 min 99/70 81
7 min 99/67 87
10 min 98/70 89

That is a rather low resting heart rate (60 BPM), at the very bottom of the normal adult range, and is in fact borderline athletic (even though I'm by no means an athlete), as shown here:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/resting- ... chart.html

According to the criteria for POTS, "Criteria not applicable for low resting heart rate," as listed here:

http://www.potsuk.org/gp_guide

Also, my heart rate increased by only 29 BPM within 10 minutes of starting standing, falling just short of the criteria for a rise of 30 BPM within 10 minutes.

Nevertheless, I had pain and trembling in my feet and legs and felt a bit spaced out and dizzy. I feel better after lying back down, like at first there were pins and needles in my feet after lying down, but now those have subsided and it feels like my feet are "cooling off."

Thanks. I know what you mean. I cannot stand to sit properly straight up at all, as it is extremely uncomfortable. At my job, I sit in a way where I'm leaning way back on my chair with my legs stretched out in front, which I think makes me horizontal a bit more.

Either way, I'm still exhausted when I return home for lunch and at the end of the day and often have to lie down.

Coming home from work for lunch I notice bruising in my ankles, especially on the outside.

When I had come home for lunch today I felt very dizzy, palpitations and fluttering in my chest with cough, very hurting legs and feet. I measured my vitals and the blood pressure was 103/73 with a heart rate of 90. I lay down and I felt so much better. Though I had been consuming salt normally, I felt a craving for salt. When I got back to work, I made a whole bunch of cup-of-soup, while drinking lots of water, which greatly relieved my symptoms.

Alright. I see the cardiologist tomorrow morning. Here are some results from a test I did this evening, one last test. Alright, I just came back from lunch and was engaged in activity, moving around and stuff, nothing too strenuous. I then stood still, and started taking my blood pressure and heart rate readings. As time went on, the position became less and less and comfortable. Starting at about 5 minutes, my legs started to shake something fierce. I looked down and could see the movement of my legs! After I was done after about 10 minutes, I pulled up my pant legs and pulled down my socks and saw a kind of reddish-purplish tint to my legs and red all over the top of my feet. Here are the readings:

(going from moving around to different positions at 0 min to standing still from 0 min until 10 min)
time BP HR
0 min 116/79 72
2 min 108/70 80
5 min 98/70 87
10 min 107/70 92

Omg yes and I also have ehlers danlos syndrome type 3

Yah I get all sorts of crap like this: sinus tachy episodes, combined with my (normally) very low blood pressure. --> Heart beating fast but not pumping much....

In recent years developed an idiopathic (in other words the doc has no clue why I ended up with it) cardiac right bundle branch block with left axis deviation (Google it) and occasional preventricular contractions (odd extra heartbeat thrown in for fun).

Seen two cardios and they both said: unusual for your age but somewhat normal - you can live with it.

Guess if my heart stops beating I'll book another appointment with the cardio.