u/TheBaney

Working on getting a POTS dx, I did a holter monitor test and an echo, and have a stress echo scheduled. I'm also being tested for various autoimmune things, labs are indicating Sjogren's or possibly CREST.

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I'm feeling very weak lately, like, my phone is too heavy weak, just within the last couple of days.

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I can't like, live my life like this. We have an annual barbecue coming up that I need to clean the house for and we're going to be moving in the next few weeks. I can't like, just lay on the couch and do nothing.

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How can I get any strength or endurance back? My problem is i feel like it's a vicious circle because in my head, I'm getting weaker because I'm not doing any strenuous activities, but if I do any strenuous activities, I puke, and then I have no calories for energy.

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I'm tired of being a lump.

Like most people, I have a pretty standard history of being ignored dismissed by physicians. I was nervous going into my cardiologist appointment and I'm concerned I'm reading too much into how demeanor.

I told him I have had a serious decline in daily functioning, I no longer cook or wash dishes, walk around the neighborhood, I can't shower or go grocery shopping without throwing up. I told him my PCP said it's likely POTS and he closed his eyes and to me it looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes. He's looking at my chart and starts listing the meds I'm on and says "what are you taking all these for"

Then he expresses disbelief that my heart rate jumps 50+ points when I go from laying to standing. And he has a nurse test my blood pressure and heart rate laying down, sitting, and standing up, but he just has then measure it within 20-30 seconds, instead of waiting in each position. So then he's like, showing me this scrap of paper where they wrote down my heart rate and saying "see, you can see, there's no big jump" and tells me the meds I'm on for anxiety and depression can cause similar symptoms.

But he sends me home with a holter monitor and has me schedule an echo and a stress echo.

I honestly don't know if he's actually being dismissive or if I'm reading into it because of previous bad experiences.

I hate it here.

Husband and I are trying to buy a house. Just went to go look at a place with our realtor, and I made the mistake of taking a shower right before getting to the house and standing around and walking up and down flights of stairs.

I ended up laying flat on my back in one of the empty bedrooms, desperately trying not to throw up, wishing the realtor would just pretend I didn't exist.

Lesson learned though, taking the shower in the morning, and wearing the dang compression stockings.

Post is about how the medical community interacts with women, **I am not looking for medical advice**

I knew that the medical community often doesn't treat women or their health issues with the same respect as men, but i didn't realize i had so much direct experience with it until I started therapy and I kept having more stories to tell.

Most egregiously was a couple years ago, I started getting this pain in my side, so bad I literally thought I was dying. I would have the pain, we'd get into the car to go to the ER, and it would stop. I did my research and figured out that given where it was, the severity of the pain, and the fact that it always happened after eating, it was likely my gallbladder.

I went to my PCP, described the symptoms, and said I suspected it was my gallbladder. He told me there was no way it was that. I insisted on getting a scan done, so he gave me a referral to a lab. I called them to set up an appointment, and the soonest they could get me in was in three months.

By the end of that week, I was in the hospital, where I stayed for 5 days and had to have 2 surgeries because it had started affecting my liver. (I'm not going to that physician or their office anymore.)

This is only one of several such stories, including the time I went to Planned Parenthood for an exam after i was on my period for 9 months straight, and they told me I was having issues with my hormones because I was over weight. (Yeah, I actually had a pituitary tumor but ok)

I was never very active but I used to cook regularly, stay on top of housecleaning, enjoyed shopping, taking walks around my neighborhood, and going to museums. I can't do any of that now. I'm throwing up and feeling like I'm going to pass out almost every time I shower, or get on the treadmill, or carry a laundry basket downstairs. Again I turned to Dr. Google and POTS makes a lot of sense to me. I did a sit/ stand test and my heart rate jumps at least 40 beats per minute. My symptoms did get worse after I had Covid. I've lost 40 lbs since October with no improvement.

And I've always tested positive with a high (1:1250) ANA indicating some kind of autoimmune issue but I don't have Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Recently I realized that not everybody's eyes are itchy or burn all the time, so I went to the eye doctor and had a Schirmer's test which shows I have dry eyes. (They also did an ocular stain test but I don't remember what that one showed, but I'll have the results sent to my PCP.

I'm going to the doctor on Saturday and I'm so nervous I won't be taken seriously. I want a couple of additional labs drawn to see if I have more indicators for Sjogren's, along with a referral to a rheumatologist, and also to be evaluated for POTS and/ or a referral to a cardiologist or neurologist. But I don't want to get there and be like "the internet says I have this disease that's trending" and for him to ignore what I'm actually saying.

I guess I'm just venting because I have a plan for if he doesn't take me seriously, but why does it have to be so hard? Why do I have to decide if I'm going to pretend I have no idea what it is or run the risk of telling him I think it's POTS and have him dismiss it out of hand. Why do I have to consider asking my husband to come with me on the off chance that lends me some credibility? How many other women are out there delaying getting treatment because they're used to being gaslit about their own health experiences?

I hate hate hate it.

Also just another mini rant: I'm really tired of seeing people complain about the severity of their period cramps or how much they're bleeding and get told "that's not normal, you should see a doctor" when we all have (multiple) experiences being told "oh yeah that's just how it is" they're not going to do anything except recommend getting on both control or coming off of it. Or having a baby. Ugh.