Back to Part 2
Symptoms, an “alternative” mindset, diagnosis and acceptance
I like to think I lead a fairly healthy lifestyle. Sure, there are nights when I go to bed way too late after having a little too much wine, and days when I might choose a sleep-in instead of an early morning workout at the gym. Or the odd night when I’m too tired to cook and have failed to plan meals in advance and instead, order takeout. But for the most part, on weeknights at least, I’m in bed by 9 and up at 5 for an early morning gym-session, with a pre-packed lunch of salad + protein, and veggies and fruit to snack on, along with the odd square of dark chocolate (we all have to live a little, right?). Maybe it sounds a little obsessive, but I even have alarms set on my computer at work, reminding me to drink enough water throughout the day. And of course, I get adjusted regularly to keep my nervous system in check. At this point, my body is fairly sensitive and even just a few unhealthy meals followed by a couple of missed gym sessions, and everything feels out of whack and just plain hurts. It’s by no means enjoyable, which is why I try to limit those times as best I can. This is why it was so frustrating a few months ago (at the time I wrote this – now close to 1 year ago) when I woke up with heart palpitations and feeling dizzy. I’ve been under some intense pressure at work, where I write grant proposals for a charity and, as the sole grant writer on staff, often times, the pressure falls squarely on my shoulders to bring in additional money to keep programs running. With so many deserving charities out there, the competition is stiff and the pressure is intense. In addition to this, often times multiple grant applications will be due at the same time, so sometimes it feels like I’m always pushing deadlines. It’s those times when I should be paying most attention to a healthy lifestyle, but of course, things slip up and unfortunately this time, stress got the better of me.
As my alarm went off and I hit the snooze button for a second time, my cat gently nudged his head against my nose and then stared at me with his head cocked to the side, wondering why I was 10 minutes late with his breakfast. I sat up and reached for my water on my nightstand, hoping that a little hydration would help with the dizziness. With my cat now vocalizing his displeasure with my tardiness, I stood up as the room spun and my heart beat increasingly faster.
I stumbled into the kitchen, pulled out a can of cat food and prepared his breakfast as fast as I could. Exhausted and breathless, I stumbled back into bed, barely able to see. I texted my co-worker that I would be working from home that day and went back to sleep, hoping some rest would reset my heart rate and stabilize my blood pressure. No, I was not hungover from a night of partying – I have a condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS for short. It’s a chronic condition and form of dysautonomia, meaning that my autonomic nervous system does not always work as it should. Standing makes my heart rate rise as my blood pressure drops, causing dizziness, breathlessness, and often fainting. Although there is no cure, I manage the symptoms through a combination of diet, supplements, exercise, rest, and, being an issue with my nervous system, chiropractic adjustments – together, all of these help my body work as best as it can, usually…
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel defeated by this current flare up of symptoms. With the amount of time I spend checking in with how my body is feeling, nourishing it with healthy sustenance, and monitoring my blood pressure, I had been doing pretty well. In fact, I may have even become a bit cocky, thinking if I treat my body right, then I could control it. However, as the saying goes, “man plans and God laughs” – after a week of low blood pressure and an inability to stand, I submitted to this current flare up – in reality though, it is incredibly frustrating when dealing with any chronic health condition. On the other hand, it can also be humbling when going through these flares, as it makes the days when I am well enough to spend time with friends and family all the more meaningful. Instead of dwelling on the situation, I choose, as best I can, to enable my body to heal and submit, for the time being, to this current flare, usually with some extra fluids and even an extra adjustment when I can make it in. At the very least, I am grateful that I know what is happening, despite the lack of control over my body. Certainly, it was not always this way and is a far cry from my previous mindset. Although I had experienced the symptoms since the age of 9 after a reaction to a vaccine, before I learned about the incredible healing capabilities of our bodies, my first instinct was always to panic and run to my medical doctor, hoping for something to magically make the symptoms all disappear. Eventually, I began ignoring the symptoms, after doctors were repeatedly unable to tell me what was wrong, and not knowing where else to turn, I would simply ignore the signs my body was sending. Now, despite moments of frustration, grounding my thoughts and listening to my body has enabled a sense of peace as part of accepting the illness. While I am still working on finding this peace and acceptance, it was of course, it was not always that way…
A couple of years into regular chiropractic care, I found myself dealing with worrisome symptoms, including low blood pressure and episodes of fainting, which also resulted in a number of concussions. Although I had experienced these episodes since the age of 9 and had seen numerous doctors and undergone countless medical tests, I never received a diagnosis or any real answers. I knew my body was telling me that something was not right. One day while running on the treadmill, I noticed that it had picked up a signal from my new heart rate monitor – there I saw it, on the screen: 220 bpm. Although the number seemed incredibly high, I didn’t think much of it at first – after all, I felt mostly fine and was healthy! I was not overweight, exercised regularly, ate healthily, was not on any medication and had a resting heart rate of 60 – completely normal! There was no way my heart rate could be that high, or so I thought. Off I went to purchase a new battery thinking that must be the issue. With brand new batteries, I excitedly hopped on the treadmill for a quick morning run, this time paying more attention to my heart rate. As I began walking, it flashed in the 90s, then 120s, then, before I even began running, it went up to 160. Still, I ignored the signs that were clearly (and literally) flashing before my eyes, and began running. Five minutes into my treadmill workout, it once again went up to 220. Still convinced there was nothing wrong, as medical doctors had told me for 
years, I continued on until I felt dizzy and my vision began to go black. Although I had been prone to dizziness and fainting, it had never happened with such intensity. I then began experiencing short periods of vision loss/blacking out, and feeling light headed along with the room spinning during mundane daily activities. After fainting in the grocery store one day, I finally made an appointment with my new family medical doctor, who, this time, referred me immediately to a cardiologist. After a battery of tests, I finally received a diagnosis – Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, also known as POTS, a chronic condition and form of dysautonomia. Although there are different subtypes, the main diagnostic criterion is a heart rate that rises 30 beats or more within the first 10 minutes of standing (with or without a change in blood pressure). In my case, I was going from a resting heart rate of 60 bpm to 160 bpm within 10 minutes of standing. While most people stand up and sit down without much of a rise in heart rate or change in blood pressure because their autonomic nervous system is able to regulate itself, in my case, my already low blood pressure was dropping further upon standing, as my heart beat increasingly faster in an effort to raise my blood pressure, leaving me with heart palpitations and feeling breathless and exhausted.
While I was relieved to finally have a diagnosis for symptoms that I had been experiencing for most of my life, it unfortunately also came with a caveat: there is no “cure” for POTS and instead, I was given four different prescriptions to manage the symptoms. Feeling simultaneously relieved and defeated, I instead looked to more natural means – if the medical answer was a variety of medications, perhaps I needed instead a variety of natural solutions. I found myself turning to diet and chiropractic, understanding the role that chiropractic plays in helping the nervous system. However, finding the right combination of fluids and salt to increase blood volume, licorice root supplements to help increase blood pressure, and limiting heavy meals, chiropractic adjustments to support my nervous system, as well as other measures to reduce anxiety and create a calmer existence, including meditation, have been tiring at times, especially during flare ups when it feels as though nothing is working. At the same time, I know these flares are simply an indication that something is out of balance.
Had I not learned through chiropractic care about the healing capabilities of my body, I probably would never have given my body the chance it needed to rebalance itself and heal. As I see others with POTS taking countless medications and then adding additional ones to counteract the side effects and as their health never seems to improve, I wonder why chiropractic and natural endeavors are not promoted as treatment for POTS. In fact, one website informs readers that natural supplements are dangerous due to oversensitivity that is often seen in those with POTS, and even specifically lists chiropractic as contraindicated for people diagnosed with POTS. While I am grateful to have discovered just how incredible my body is in healing itself with natural endeavors, my hope with this blog post is that others with POTS might stumble on it and, enable themselves to open their minds to natural healing rather than submitting to the fear that may have been instilled in them, as it was in me many years ago, by the medical establishment.
