What The Hell Is POTS? by Twitter's @eklayre

Honest to God, this happens to me all the time. ALL THE TIME.

We're sick. We're broke. We're American.

Not a single person is exempt from the inexplicable. Sometimes this is the kind of story that life hands you. How do I know? I'm living proof.

Be good.
Be patient.
Be in the moment.

~MissNikkiAnn

I Need Your Help

Intravenous (IV) Fluids Matter

I Had Two Mini-Strokes (Transient Ischemic Attacks or TIAs), Pt. 2

I Had Two Mini-Strokes (Transient Ischemic Attacks or TIAs), Pt. 1

I Am Sick

Waiting Through The Mini Stroke

I am pretty sure I am suffering a mini stroke again. It's been a year since my last one.

Took my Bayer aspirin.

"Now what?" you may be asking.

Nothing.

"Why?"

The strokes don't last long enough.

In the past I'd have mom bring me to the emergency room. But ask any Dysautonomia patient about E.R. visits and you'll quickly learn that they are more of a harm than help to us. The average E.R. doctor has never heard of Dysautonomia and doesn't know what to do with us Dysautonomianites when we showup at their door. Even more, some despise us because we represent their worst fear: an undiagnosable patient. They are often rude to us, trying to convince us that we are perfectly fine, in order to save face.

But one thing perplexes them. As soon as we go to stand up and our pressure plummets and heartbeat races and we faint...they are forced to run a battery of tests that lead them back to where they started: Freshman in medical school...confused...afraid to admit that they just don't have an answer.

Now you've wasted an entire day and night, and you go home kicking yourself because you already knew the outcome; you've lived it too many times before.  And now the mini stroke has passed. Gone undocumented. Gone untested. All because no one took you seriously.

The only problem, as one of my neurologist told me almost two years ago:

"Mini strokes are basically harmless. That is...until you've had one too many."

And how am I to gauge if/when I've had one too many?

I can't.

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