meadowlark
Senior Member
- Messages
- 241
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
Hello all:
I posted a query at the end of another thread [Are these symptoms POTS or just ME] that went unanswered--for the good reason that the thread had wound down by the time I came along with a postscript. But I'd like to repeat the text here, due to a surprising visit to my doctor.
"[I assume I have orthostatic intolerance because] I can't stand or walk for more than three minutes without becoming lightheaded, dizzy, and almost fainting. Lifting my feet is like hauling cement blocks, and I feel like I need to gasp in order to breathe. Going outside alone is certainly not safe.
I've also found that my arms hang very heavy when I am standing .... my hands, like my feet, feel like they weigh a hundred pounds, my wrists ache, and lifting my arms twelve inches in the air (to, say, take a book from a shelf) exacerbates all the symptoms. It's as though my arms feel "faint." Has anyone else felt this in their arms along with other POTS symptoms?
Usually, the arms react after I've trudged around the apartment or stood for a few minutes to wash some dishes. For several days this week, though, I find that after waking (in other words, I've had no exercise for five hours or so, and haven't stood up for even a second), simply holding a book as I sit (tilted) in bed causes the arm symptoms listed above, followed by fatigue throughout my body and the need to gasp. During this, my body feels as though it is swollen up (in fact, there's no swelling) and I have the sensation of being hugely pumped up, like on overinflated balloon. The sensation is a bit as though I would "bang" like a balloon does and disappear if someone pricked me with a pin. I am forced to lie still, with my arms completely limp and my hands holding nothing, for five or six hours to recover.
Does this sort of feeling ring true for anyone? If so, does it sound POTS-related, or is it just completely off the wall?"
These symptoms were very acute for the week after I made this post. On Friday, I saw my doctor, she immediately took my blood pressure, which was at 189/112. Very high, and not what I expected.
Next week I am having the usual EKG and blood tests, but I'm stumped and a little scared. Not that I think I'm going to have a heart attack while I lie here ... but it seems so strange. Other than being forced into a mostly sedentary life for 18 months, I have none of the lifestyle risks for high blood pressure, and my ME/CFS suggests that blood pressure would be normal and drop low, not soar into the danger zone.
Has anyone ever heard of someone with ME/CFS with high blood pressure?
Thanks.
I posted a query at the end of another thread [Are these symptoms POTS or just ME] that went unanswered--for the good reason that the thread had wound down by the time I came along with a postscript. But I'd like to repeat the text here, due to a surprising visit to my doctor.
"[I assume I have orthostatic intolerance because] I can't stand or walk for more than three minutes without becoming lightheaded, dizzy, and almost fainting. Lifting my feet is like hauling cement blocks, and I feel like I need to gasp in order to breathe. Going outside alone is certainly not safe.
I've also found that my arms hang very heavy when I am standing .... my hands, like my feet, feel like they weigh a hundred pounds, my wrists ache, and lifting my arms twelve inches in the air (to, say, take a book from a shelf) exacerbates all the symptoms. It's as though my arms feel "faint." Has anyone else felt this in their arms along with other POTS symptoms?
Usually, the arms react after I've trudged around the apartment or stood for a few minutes to wash some dishes. For several days this week, though, I find that after waking (in other words, I've had no exercise for five hours or so, and haven't stood up for even a second), simply holding a book as I sit (tilted) in bed causes the arm symptoms listed above, followed by fatigue throughout my body and the need to gasp. During this, my body feels as though it is swollen up (in fact, there's no swelling) and I have the sensation of being hugely pumped up, like on overinflated balloon. The sensation is a bit as though I would "bang" like a balloon does and disappear if someone pricked me with a pin. I am forced to lie still, with my arms completely limp and my hands holding nothing, for five or six hours to recover.
Does this sort of feeling ring true for anyone? If so, does it sound POTS-related, or is it just completely off the wall?"
These symptoms were very acute for the week after I made this post. On Friday, I saw my doctor, she immediately took my blood pressure, which was at 189/112. Very high, and not what I expected.
Next week I am having the usual EKG and blood tests, but I'm stumped and a little scared. Not that I think I'm going to have a heart attack while I lie here ... but it seems so strange. Other than being forced into a mostly sedentary life for 18 months, I have none of the lifestyle risks for high blood pressure, and my ME/CFS suggests that blood pressure would be normal and drop low, not soar into the danger zone.
Has anyone ever heard of someone with ME/CFS with high blood pressure?
Thanks.