Having a good doctor to work with, makes all the difference in any
medical situation especially for chronic conditions such as POTS. I
couldn't really wish for a better Doctor who is highly professional,
intelligent and has great 'bedside manner' and humble enough to listen
to and learn from his patients.
Of course when a person is first ill there is always the thought of
what pill can I take that might help. And I didn't lack for people's
suggestions coming from all over. I was very thankful for the
internet to be able to check them out and for a doctor who is cautious
and careful when it comes to jumping on medications. However, there
are several 'potions' that are now part of my regular daily regimen as
well as various changes I have made to my diet....and so far these
seem to be having a positive effect.
I am now on various vitamin/mineral supplements - some that I have
found beneficial and some that my doctor has prescribed which include,
Magnesium, Vit D, Vit C, Omega 3.
and.....SALT - lots of it!
......did you know that we don't all need to reduce our salt!....some
people like me actually have to work hard to increase my salt intake!
(and yes its with my Cardiologist's blessing!)
We all actually need salt in our diet. The problem is that many
people eat too much processed food that has added salt, and end up
with too much salt. But if you don't eat too much processed food then
it is highly possible you need more salt in your diet. I discovered
that a person should have 2300mg sodium (6000mg salt) per day
according to the American Heart Association.
When I actually added up how much salt I was having each day I was
struggling to reach 500mg sodium each day! We ate a diet of mostly
fruit and vegetables, a little bit of meat, very little bread and I
couldn't have much dairy due to an issue with Chronic Bronchitis and
needing to reduce the mucous production in my lungs and so wasn't
eating much cheese either. We rarely had any processed meats or take
aways and we had been told it was good to reduce salt and so we didn't
cook pasta or rice or vegetables with salt either. So I have actually
had to work hard to get my salt intake up and now I use the salt-
shaker at almost every meal! It's actually not easy to keep up enough
salt when you don't want to eat "junk food" or too much oil or
processed food. V8 or Tomato Juice is good and its easy to add even
more salt to it without it tasting too bad. If a person's salt levels
are too low then it can mean their Blood Pressure would be too
low....and mine was certainly low and my husband was diagnosed with
Low Blood Pressure issues two years before as well.
and WATER -
The other issue I have to work at is keeping up my fluid intake as
getting dehydrated is a big problem that contributes to low blood
pressure and in turn can raise my heart rate. And we live in one of
the driest places on the earth....we are in a desert and our daytime
humidity has got as low as 3%!!!! This past year most of our daytime
humidity was below 20%. That's almost like living constantly with the
humidity as low as it is on an Airplane. So I have to make sure I am
constantly drinking enough water - a minimum of 2 litres per day and
some days in summer quite a bit more than this. I have learnt that a
certain type of headache probably means I am starting to get
dehydrated and with some extra water the headache vanishes.
EXERCISE
Exercise is a difficult one as most exercise requires a person to be
sitting or standing and moving energetically - which would all send my
heart rate too high for too long, and give me a lot of muscle pain for
days or weeks afterwards. This would end up being severely
detrimental to my recovery and general health, rather then helpful.
So, apart from doing as much physically as I can without nasty after-
effects, and especially limiting what I do to mostly in a sitting or
recumbent position, I have found other ways to help my body in this
area:
I was able to get a second hand APT trainer machine which enables me
to 'ride a bike' while lying down and not necessarily exerting effort
to do it, to help with maintaining muscle tone.
God has also blessed us with a wonderful and helpful maid/house help
who we sent on a massage course and is now a qualified massage
therapist and gives me a massage every week. I have learnt that like
the APt trainer, massage is a form of 'passive exercise' and a full
body massage is equivalent to a five mile walk in its effects on
circulation and body health. I have also learnt that it is a very
effective means of lowering heart rate and improving muscle tone!
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