POTs Vs PEM

[Seven7]

To all,

I am starting to wonder if it is PEM or POTs preventing me from exercising this time. I do pilates, laying down all the time. Keep HR under 115 (got VO2 test done) and rest every 5 min.

I still get PEM the next day, but also I get that POTs woozy dizzy feeling while exercising. How does one distinguish a POTs episode from I am doing too much?? Or is it the same.

7

 

[Sallysblooms]

POTS has tachycardia that brings the heart rate up at least 30 beats and usually much more when standing. Usually, even sitting it is high, then standing is 120, 130 or more. Severe dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, chest pain, flushing, intolerance to any heat or exercise. Many more, ha. Sounds like your heart rate is not too high. Probably PEM, and also there can certainly be some OI involved.

 

[Sparrow]

For me, I think the POTS is just one on a list of things that can trigger my PEM.

If I'm straining my OI limits, getting that woozy feeling you mentioned, then usually it means that my body is having to work really hard to keep blood pumping up to my head (and generally that it's getting tired trying). And I think that in itself counts as strenuous exercise, whether or not the rest of my body is moving any. I'm sure my heart is using up plenty of energy in its efforts.

 

[*GG*]

To all,

I am starting to wonder if it is PEM or POTs preventing me from exercising this time. I do pilates, laying down all the time. Keep HR under 115 (got VO2 test done) and rest every 5 min.

I still get PEM the next day, but also I get that POTs woozy dizzy feeling while exercising. How does one distinguish a POTs episode from I am doing too much?? Or is it the same.

7

Do you mean you got the 2 day in a row test? Perhaps you have both?

GG

 

[RustyJ]

To all,

I am starting to wonder if it is PEM or POTs preventing me from exercising this time. I do pilates, laying down all the time. Keep HR under 115 (got VO2 test done) and rest every 5 min.

I still get PEM the next day, but also I get that POTs woozy dizzy feeling while exercising. How does one distinguish a POTs episode from I am doing too much?? Or is it the same.

7

PEM may be caused by mitochondrial damage and subsequent reduced ATP production, one of the triggers being exercise. There are studies suggesting this. OI or POTS seems to have vascular origins which may also be exacerbated by exercise. Either could make the other worse, but I have not seen any study directly linking the two.

PEM will show up as being able to do sixty situps one day, then only 30 the next, no matter how hard you try. My muscles can lose their rigidity or strength in the space of a day. I can have a period of being able to do sixty situps for a couple of months then a sudden deterioration for months which indicates a condition that reaches some sort of threshold then tips over.

This is quite different to the dizziness I get from OI, which seems to be more tolerated when I move around or boost adrenaline.

I admit though, that what I took as daily fatigue (as opposed to the more general effects of PEM) for years, was more likely caused by OI. I have to lie in bed most of the time, not because of fatigue or PEM, but because of OI. PEM does not send me to bed. It just stops me from expending energy. Once I realised this, I began to tailor my responses about my illness to other people. I now say that I have OI, rather than fatigue. This has the added benefit receivingmore respectful considerations from people.

 

[marypoppins]

I admit though, that what I took as daily fatigue (as opposed to the more general effects of PEM) for years, was more likely caused by OI. I have to lie in bed most of the time, not because of fatigue or PEM, but because of OI. PEM does not send me to bed. It just stops me from expending energy. Once I realised this, I began to tailor my responses about my illness to other people. I now say that I have OI, rather than fatigue. This has the added benefit receivingmore respectful considerations from people.

Hey, I just found your thread. Very interesting, you wrote I have to lie in bed most of the time, not because of fatigue or PEM, but because of OI - I think that is the case for me too. The more and more I read about POTS and OI I feel I need to get these tests done.

 

[soti]

Hey, just to resurrect this thread... I have POTS, sometimes a 50+ bpm rise on standing. I also have a diagnosis of ME/CFS. However, I just had a 2-day CPET and they came out exactly the same (!) though the second day was harder and my resting heart rate was much higher because of the previous day's exertion.

I know I have PEM. Or do I? Could I be experiencing post-exertional exhaustion and brain fog from the autonomic nervous system going haywire and that's it? Could it be that I only have POTS and not ME/CFS at all?