Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Hot Weather and POTS

It's summer. It gets really hot outside. Sometimes very humid. Since POTS mainly has to do with the body's inability to open and close its blood vessels like it should, hot weather makes it even more difficult. When it's hot and humid outside, a normal person's blood vessels relax a little more than usual. On the other hand, when it's cold outside, a normal person's blood vessels close a little more than usual to move the blood fast in the body.

Well, with POTS, my blood vessels are already too "relaxed" so they are even worse with the hot weather. This makes it difficult for the blood to come back up from my extremities, meaning there is pooling of blood in my extremities and not enough blood getting to my muscles and my brain. This can cause more pains throughout my body where there is a lack of blood. My body is screaming to have the blood, so this is the cause of the pain. I get headaches and can get very dizzy/lightheaded and experience a lot of brain fogginess because my brain doesn't have enough blood either.

Every symptom I experience is exaggerated with the hot weather, especially when it's really humid outside. I take a lot of deep breaths because my body needs more oxygen in the brain. This is a natural thing your body does on a normal basis, just as if you were to yawn when your body craves more oxygen. If I focus more on my breathing and take it easy during the days when it is very hot and humid, I have found that this can help, but it doesn't take away my symptoms completely.

It is especially hard to exercise even in the slightest of amounts on these days also because your muscles don't have the blood. Joint pains can be tremendous because of the humidity too. It's never a good combination! Ha ha! But I still have to do some sort of activity even when I don't feel well at all. Even if I am stuck in bed because I am too dizzy to stand up, I have to push myself to get out of bed.

I have to ask for help to stand up and walk around. I have to be supervised on these days, which is difficult for my family at times. I have to rely on my mom a lot to help me make meals, clothe myself, and drive me places. I carry my cell phone around with me everywhere I go just in case I feel too dizzy to take a shower or dry my hair with the blow dryer, for instance.

Living with POTS makes a person very cautious of what they do and not do, even when it comes to the everyday sort of activities/chores. I know I'm not going to vacuum my bedroom on a hot day or else I will pass out. I know I should not take a hot/warm shower or even being in the shower for a long time on hot days because I will pass out.

I know my limitations. It has taken me several years to figure out the best plan for everyday living on hot, humid days and on cool days too. It requires a lot of patience, a lot of guess work, a lot of planning, and a lot of help and understanding from family members. Hot weather makes POTS symptoms incredibly life-altering because you literally have to change around your normal routines when it is too hot for your body to handle.

It would be nice to live in Florida where it is sunny so often or in South Carolina where there are so many beautiful beaches to go to. However, to help with my POTS symptoms, I'll have to continue living where I'm at for now.

One day I know POTS will either be cured or there will be a treatment available for all POTS patients. Until then, good luck to you all in this crazy summer season!

3 comments:

  1. I just discovered a weird "cure" for my POTS symptoms: When I start to feel dizzy/nauseous and my heart is pounding really hard, I have a friend drive me around in the car. I know it sounds stupid, but laying down in the back seat of a moving car for about 1/2 hour will make me feel a lot better. I think the motion of the vehicle restores my circulation and gets me over the episode a lot faster. (I always bring a plastic bag to barf in, just in case, but I haven't had to use it yet). I discovered this while on the way to the ER a couple of times -- by the time I got to the hospital, I was feeling better again.

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  2. Thank you. Good to know. I've found I've had to increase the amount of salt I consume while the weather has been hotter. Packets of crisps and squash (dilute drink) with salt on seem to be helping!

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  3. It's been recommended to me by my specialist doctor that increased salt (I add salt to my food and I take salt tablets daily), keeping extra hydrated and exercise is good to keep the blood flowing.
    Laying down with your legs up (like a normal fainting spell) before it gets too bad is also good. Bending with your knees slowly is also something that needs to be done to keep all the blood from moving too fast and making you dizzy

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