u/Pure_Translator_3137

I was diagnosed with hEDS in May. I’ve been in PT for about 8 weeks, and the session always starts with 10 minutes on the elliptical. Today, about 7 minutes in, my heart rate spiked from 90 to 177 bpm. I felt lightheaded and weak. I couldn’t breathe properly (I also have super small nostrils so I end up breathing through my mouth when I’m exercising since I can’t get enough oxygen through my nose). I turned bright red. I couldn’t really catch my breath the whole session. Everything I did that is normally doable felt so much harder. Nearing the end of the session I said to the PT that my bpm was 177 and his eyes bugged out but said the elliptical doesn’t always register accurately. I said it spiked from 90ish to 177 and he didn’t seem to think that was true, that it was just the inaccurate sensors. After the session I checked my smartwatch and it confirmed the bpm I saw on the elliptical.

I guess my question is this what Dysautonomia is? POTS? What do I do? I’m feeling concerned.

I’m recently diagnosed with hEDS, but I also have cPTSD. My partner has MS.

I feel a lot of guilt about bringing up pain or symptoms because it feels like I’m being a downer or complaining or trying to compare my condition to hers. She has never made me feel this way; it’s a fear of invalidating her experience the way people in my past have invalidated my experiences. I also have been chronically dissociated for a lot of my life so I never noticed some of my pain or it was normalized until recently.

Does anyone else feel guilty for talking about their experience with hEDS or HSD with loved ones with other chronic conditions? How do you navigate that?