POTS, Stress, and a Cold

POTS, stress, and a cold….what a wonderful mix! This is the last two weeks of school and I have so much to study between the end of the semester tests, papers, last minute assignments, and finals. Stress is not a pleasant thing for healthy people, but stress for a POTS patient is significantly worse. When someone has POTS, their body is in a stressed out state already. The body is in a constant fight or flight mode because the sympathetic nervous system is overactive and persistently on. When someone is attacked, their body goes in a brief fight or flight mode because of the immediate danger and stress of the situation, but since I have POTS, my body thinks I am constantly getting attacked, so I am always in fight or flight mode even when relaxed. So, with the added stress of schoolwork, my body is not very happy right now. I just cannot wait for summer, even though my summer will be filled with organic chemistry.

Typically, when I am more stressed I feel my symptoms a lot more; I get more fatigued, my heart races more, and I just feel more run down. When I know I have a lot of work coming up I try to plan accordingly; I plan weeks ahead and try to start assignments and studying early to stay as stress-free as possible. The problem with this past week though was I just had so much to do and just didn’t start early enough. With my last chemistry test, an 8 page rough draft on the one child policy, and a sociology paper to get done there was no time to breathe. Some things I do to try to alleviate the stress is use meditation apps and deep breathing. When I notice that I am really not feeling well, I take 10 minutes and listen to a meditation. Meditating evokes the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain you have more control over. By using the prefrontal cortex, the limbic system (where stress if processed) is not as active.

Stress wears everyone down, but it really exacerbates my symptoms, which is why I live by the motto “it happens”. As a control freak and perfectionist, I try to do everything flawlessly and when it is not up to my standards it stresses me out even more. Since getting sick and realizing that I have to adapt to the illness, I realized that not getting a 100 on everything is not the end of the world. I learned that things happen and you cannot control everything. Since I got sick, my first month of college, I realized that I have to take baby steps and by pushing myself and challenging myself I am actually fighting the POTS. I learned I cannot push myself too much, but a little extra effort goes a long way, health-wise and in schoolwork.

Another thing that has been helping me feel better and relieving some stress is working out. I have been trying to work out 30-60minutes a day, at least 5 times a week. Since I started working out again, I have been feeling much better. I have started using the treadmill again and my goal is to be able to hike in Costa Rica in January (I cannot wait to see sloths!!!). At the Mayo Clinic, they told me to set goals for myself and look forward to reaching them. At first, I thought that was so cliché, but since setting my goal, it has been my driving force to go to the gym more often.

Between all the stress, my weak immune system, and the fact that everyone at school is plagued with some sort of virus/cold, I have also caught this plague. It started off with a sore throat that I tried to ignore, but it kept getting worse and is now accompanied by a really bad cough. Being sick is terrible for anyone, but being sick on top of having a chronic illness (during the last two weeks of the semester), is beyond miserable. Getting sick with POTS is always a slight set back because you finally get adapted to the constant fatigue and weakness, then all of a sudden you’re even more fatigued (if that’s possible!), weaker, and on top of the elevated POTS symptoms, you have a sore throat. Some cold medications, especially ones with antihistamines, tend to increase your heart rate, which is something my body does all by its dysfunctional self. I personally hate taking medications, and am already on more medications than the typical 80-year-old, so I try to avoid adding cold meds to the daily cocktail of drugs. To help my sore throat, I made Powerade ice pops to soothe my throat as well as getting my electrolytes in (#POTSprobs). I have also been drinking a ton of chamomile tea, which is the Croatian cure to everything. If this sore throat gets worse, I am probably going to have to go to the doctors (story of my life), and make sure it isn’t strep, but hopefully, tomorrow I will wake up with no cough or sore throat…one can only hope!