Finally got myself some compression stockings in an attempt to help with POTS issues. Just wanted to touch base with you guys on how much of what I'm noticing is normal, and how much is my body being crazy as it sometimes is. My doctor is supportive about my using them, but is not a POTS or ME specialist, and not a great source of information on what's "normal" when it comes to this stuff.
I don't have a pair of the high compression ones yet. These are 15 - 20 mmHg, since my doctor wanted to make sure I could tolerate those before moving to the higher pressure ones. I've been noticing some definite differences, but unfortunately mostly not the happy ones I was expecting.
I've noticed that my legs can get pretty sore when I have the stockings on. They ache in various places. I've been lucky enough to get to a point where my legs no longer hurt me normally, so it's very definitely the stockings causing it. They only ache while they're on.
And they go sort of numb a lot, like when blood flow is restricted. This seems to be the whole point of the stockings, and I know that these are pretty low pressure, so I'm assuming that's maybe normal to a degree? They do seem to lower my heart rate a little when my legs feel numb. Don't seem to do much when they aren't (which I suppose makes sense).
I haven't heard people mentioning much along these lines, so wanted to check. I don't want to stop wearing them if this stuff is perfectly normal, but I also don't want to continue until I get feedback. I've pushed through enough weird symptoms in the past to know better by now.
Do your legs go numb wearing the stockings? Do they ache? Has a specialist mentioned anything to you about what they should feel like? Thanks for your input! It's appreciated.
I don't have a pair of the high compression ones yet. These are 15 - 20 mmHg, since my doctor wanted to make sure I could tolerate those before moving to the higher pressure ones. I've been noticing some definite differences, but unfortunately mostly not the happy ones I was expecting.
I've noticed that my legs can get pretty sore when I have the stockings on. They ache in various places. I've been lucky enough to get to a point where my legs no longer hurt me normally, so it's very definitely the stockings causing it. They only ache while they're on.
And they go sort of numb a lot, like when blood flow is restricted. This seems to be the whole point of the stockings, and I know that these are pretty low pressure, so I'm assuming that's maybe normal to a degree? They do seem to lower my heart rate a little when my legs feel numb. Don't seem to do much when they aren't (which I suppose makes sense).
I haven't heard people mentioning much along these lines, so wanted to check. I don't want to stop wearing them if this stuff is perfectly normal, but I also don't want to continue until I get feedback. I've pushed through enough weird symptoms in the past to know better by now.
Do your legs go numb wearing the stockings? Do they ache? Has a specialist mentioned anything to you about what they should feel like? Thanks for your input! It's appreciated.