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Is there any medicine help climbing stairs

Messages
39
I have dysautonomia Orthostatic Intolerance
I can't climb stairs it trigger Tachycardia, hypotension, fatigue then I lie down on bed for 3 - 4 hours if I climb stairs
I Take inderal 10 mg
imipramine
Cinnarizine stugeron
Minirin
Is there anything else can I take to help climbing stairs
Thanks
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Personally I avoid stairs as much as possible. If you have stairs at home, it may be best to get a stair lift and this would improve your quality of life greatly.

Climbing stairs not only requires a responsive cardiovascular system, it requires energy that us patients with ME do not have.

One tip though, is if you cannot go around your set of stairs, it may help to take a break and sit halfway up, for a few minutes, then climb the second half.

There are no miracle medication or supplement for this. We desperately need treatments.
 
Last edited:

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I have not been able to climb stairs since the end of 2014 due to dysautonomia/POTS, breathing and muscle weakness. I can now climb one stair with zero issues and for about two years a single stair gave me severe dyspnea and often angina. In my case, the only difference was many months of IVIG. I am hoping with additional treatments that I can climb more than one stair.

But at present even the one stair is amazing b/c I can get out of car (as passenger) and step up onto the curb to wheelchair without assistance or any negative symptoms and I could not do this prior to IVIG. Luckily my apt is all one level and my bldg has two elevators but if I had stairs in my home, I would have to get a stair lift as Kati mentioned above. I literally dream of the day that I can climb stairs again.
 
Messages
15,786
If you have stairs at home, it may be best to get a stair lift and this would improve your quality of life greatly.
I went one further: when we needed to move for the fiance to be closer to work, we bought a new house with a bedroom and shower room on the ground floor in addition to the normal bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. I haven't gone up a flight of stairs in weeks - and that was at a doctor's request for before-and-after blood lactate measurements at a hospital :angel:

At the old house, I spent a year or more sleeping on a small bed in the living room, because going upstairs made me too sick for too long. My fiance had to wash my hair in an inflatable shampoo pillow several times when I couldn't even get upstairs to the shower for a couple weeks or longer. If we'd stayed there, we would have gone for a stair lift as well.

My advice is to get rid of the stair climbing, if you can, one way or the other. It's made a significant difference in my ability to function more day-to-day. I can almost always cook dinner now, feed the birds, do laundry (also downstairs, and raised up to a good height), clean and run the robot vacuum cleaner, sit up all day, etc. I think we tend to underestimate how badly stairs impact us, and avoiding them really can result in an improved quality of life.
 

Keela Too

Sally Burch
Messages
900
Location
N.Ireland
I have used bicarbonate of soda to ease lactic acid problems.

I have since discovered from my sports science daughter, that some athletes use bicarb to improve that final burst in running races etc.

Basically it neutralises the lactic acid that is formed, and so eases the effect of the anaerobic exertion that we use once our aerobic capacity can ramp up no further.

Apparently taking a small teaspoon of bicarb (NaHCO3) in water about 45 mins before the intended exertion is the optimum... this allows time for it to be absorbed into your blood stream, but not quite enough time for it to have been removed again.

I find it easiest to swallow, if you just give the mix a quick stir and swallow it before all the bicarb dissolves. (Taste buds detect dissolved salts ;) ). It doesn't taste that nice. I have also found that the added salt of the bicarb, helped my ability to be upright.

Hope this helps.

PS The common name is baking soda - which is not the same as baking powder.
 

Rooney

Senior Member
Messages
185
Location
SE USA
"Apparently taking a small teaspoon of bicarb (NaHCO3) in water about 45 mins before the intended exertion is the optimum... this allows time for it to be absorbed into your blood stream, but not quite enough time for it to have been removed again."

This is so great to know. Sure wish we didn't have to plan EVERYTHING ahead of time.
Stairs are a great topic for me, too as I avoid mine and really need to move. I keep a change of cloths downstairs. An extra pill box with my POTS meds is upstairs. If I'm in a crash I take my afternoon nap downstairs. I ask visitors to carry things up or down for me which is so important.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
"Apparently taking a small teaspoon of bicarb (NaHCO3) in water about 45 mins before the intended exertion is the optimum... this allows time for it to be absorbed into your blood stream, but not quite enough time for it to have been removed again."

This is so great to know. Sure wish we didn't have to plan EVERYTHING ahead of time.
Stairs are a great topic for me, too as I avoid mine and really need to move. I keep a change of cloths downstairs. An extra pill box with my POTS meds is upstairs. If I'm in a crash I take my afternoon nap downstairs. I ask visitors to carry things up or down for me which is so important.
A stair lift would revolutionize your life. Just the same as a mobility scooter changed mine.
 

overtheedge

Senior Member
Messages
258
i stopped having orthostatic intolerance around the time I started taking sea salt daily, a good bit dissolved in water that is. If you wanted to try this it would probably be best to monitor blood pressure though. I should point out though I've never had any problem with stairs in particular just with feeling dizzy and faint upon standing