Unintended Hiatus

My poor blog has been neglected.  It has been a crazy few months.  Starting at the end of February, my POTS was in a major flare.  By the end of March I was undergoing various tests and was back on medical leave from work.  It seems like every week there was something else keeping me couch-bound.

I have a lot of updates with regard to the direction my treatment has taken, but I don't want to list them all in this "grand re-opening" post.  One of the biggest changes is that I am now seeing a Naturopath Doctor in addition to my MDs.  I will post soon on what that has been like and the direction she is taking with my treatment.

Another medication allergy...
won't take that again!

I did go back to my cardiologist on Thursday though.  My blood pressure has been super low lately, and I had been forced to lower my beta blocker doses on my own, while I waited to be able to get into him.*

After our visit on Thursday, he decided we should try stopping the beta blocker and see how it goes.  He did give me a propranolol prescription for use as needed.  I haven't taken my atenolol since Thursday and have not had to resort to any propranolol yet.  I have definitely been having palpitations on and off, especially today, but I am trying to reserve the propranolol for when I feel like it is beyond what I can handle or for full-blown tachycardia.  As of now my HR is sticking to the 80s and 90s, so that has been bearable.

I don't like to post without a photo if I can help it... just text looks boring to me.  It is an occupational hazard of having worked with multimedia for many years.  The photo I included is from my last ER visit in March.  I was in my PJs and slippers when the ambulance came to pick me up... wearing slippers instead of shoes to the hospital is not recommended.  It is all fun and games until you're discharged and walking around the hospital in slippers... filing this experience under "Things POTS Has Taught Me".


* Obviously this is a good point to remind people that you should never change medications or doses without your doctor's buy-in.  However my doctor has trust in my understanding of my medication and my condition.  He has given me guidelines in the past about what I can and can't do, and at what point I should call him.