Hi everyone, I have been needing this test for a long time now and am finally getting around to planning to get it. I am usually very strict about pacing, but in this case I just don't know what to expect from tilt table testing so I don't know how to best plan for this appointment, when to make it for, how much recovery time to give myself.
Normally just going out to the doctor nearby will require days of rest on both sides for me to be sure I don't crash from it. And I generally like to have an appointment no more than 1 every week, although I prefer every 2 weeks or more. The tilt table test will be further away from home than most of my usual doctors, although I will lay down in the car there and back. But since I'll be upright I'm assuming for much of the test, and I usually spend almost all my time laying down, I wonder if this will be likely to trigger a crash.
I'm just wondering how others have been affected by this test and what I might be able to expect. Of coure I'm keeping in mind of course we are all different and at different levels of functioning so I know your experience might not be exactly what mine might be, but I thin it will really help me to know how others have done with this.
Thanks for any input you can give. I had a test scheduled but I am thinking to change it and leave a lot more room on both sides of the appointment for rest and recovery if needed.
ETA: I spoke with a nurse at the testing clinic and learned more about the procedure. It doesn't sound very comfortable. I'm thinking I will need more rest than I've allowed myself currently, so I will probably reschedule the test.
Also I'm confused about my symptom of being short of breath with just the slightest incline (small slope, stairs, etc.) and that it isn't looked at in this test, according to the nurse I spoke with, since I thought that was a POTS or NMH symptom? That is one of my worst symptoms because it makes moving very difficult, just one or two stairs and my heart is racing and I'm fighting for breath. Is there some other test that looks at this issue?
Normally just going out to the doctor nearby will require days of rest on both sides for me to be sure I don't crash from it. And I generally like to have an appointment no more than 1 every week, although I prefer every 2 weeks or more. The tilt table test will be further away from home than most of my usual doctors, although I will lay down in the car there and back. But since I'll be upright I'm assuming for much of the test, and I usually spend almost all my time laying down, I wonder if this will be likely to trigger a crash.
I'm just wondering how others have been affected by this test and what I might be able to expect. Of coure I'm keeping in mind of course we are all different and at different levels of functioning so I know your experience might not be exactly what mine might be, but I thin it will really help me to know how others have done with this.
Thanks for any input you can give. I had a test scheduled but I am thinking to change it and leave a lot more room on both sides of the appointment for rest and recovery if needed.
ETA: I spoke with a nurse at the testing clinic and learned more about the procedure. It doesn't sound very comfortable. I'm thinking I will need more rest than I've allowed myself currently, so I will probably reschedule the test.
Also I'm confused about my symptom of being short of breath with just the slightest incline (small slope, stairs, etc.) and that it isn't looked at in this test, according to the nurse I spoke with, since I thought that was a POTS or NMH symptom? That is one of my worst symptoms because it makes moving very difficult, just one or two stairs and my heart is racing and I'm fighting for breath. Is there some other test that looks at this issue?