Today's the day...

I saw the POTS specialist this afternoon and it was interesting to say the least.

She went over the results of all my previous testing, especially my tilt table test, and also went over my symptoms. She said that everything was definitely consistent with POTS.
_{(Which I knew from my own research, but it’s still nice to have it definitively confirmed.)}

She gave me a neurological exam, which I performed pretty well at, and she doesn’t think any brain scans are necessary at the moment.

One test she is sending me for (outside of bloodwork) is a stomach emptying test. You eat something with radioactive stuff mixed in, and they take pictures to see how long it takes to move through, and out of, your stomach. She thinks I may have a condition called Gastroparesis that’s causing my nausea every time I eat.

Gastroparesis is a partial paralysis of the stomach that makes emptying it relatively difficult. Symptoms (that I have that she feels are consistent with GP) are: nausea, feeling full after only a few bites, weight loss, abdomen spasms, heartburn, GERD,and lack of appetite.

GP is most common with autonomic neuropathy, a type of which is POTS. She said there’s a good medication for it that can also help with the symptoms of POTS, which would be lovely, because nausea is one of my most debilitating symptoms. It’s also one of the reasons that I can’t gain weight.

She also disagrees with the cardiologist about taking Midodrine. She says it’s an option, but she wouldn’t prescribe it at this stage in the game. She would prefer that I try Atenolol (a beta blocker) instead. Starting with half of the smallest dose.

She’s also like me to try compression stockings for the blood pooling.

Amount of sleep:
~8 hours. not restful though with lots of dreams

Diet:
- Brunch: two waffles with butter, chocolate milk (woke up with awful heartburn/upset stomach again. I'm not sure why...so I ate later, around 11:30am)
- Dinner: roast chicken legs with plain pasta
- Snack 1: sour cream and cheddar chips, 3 cups water
- Snack 2: handful hershey eggs, 2 cups water

Exercise/activities:
- tried to do 'beginners' Pilates this morning but just couldn't make it through.

P.O.T.S. symptoms experienced:
so far: nausea, heartburn, stomach upset (upper and lower), weakness, extreme fatigue, headache, pounding chest, blood pooling, cold extremities