Thursday, November 14, 2013

Diagnosis: POTS, Continued

Perhaps you are wondering how a person even gets diagnosed with POTS. Here's part two of my story. For the first part of the story, take a look here. I'm just going to pick up the whole, sordid tale from where I left off.
In August of this year my symptoms had become too overwhelming to ignore or tolerate. I couldn't care for the kids, I couldn't work, I couldn't get out of bed. My life had ground to a halt and my family was trying to keep going around me, but it was hard. I became a bulldog, determined to figure out what was going on and get my diagnosis. I kept thinking of the doctor at the hospital who had told me "Sometimes, medicine just can't give you an answer." I wanted to punch him in the nose. I was done being put off. I wanted to get better.
I talked my primary doctor into referring me to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
I spent two weeks at Mayo, and I don't think I met a single doctor, nurse, tech, or anything who wasn't awesome. Everyone was so competent, so caring. The Internist was amazing - he ran every test over again, answered all of my questions, and even listened to and followed some of my thoughts and suggestions. I was tested for everything in the book. I saw an Endocrinologist who explained why my problem was not endocrine, and answered every question I had. She even repeated a test for me, just to set my mind at ease about the results. I was given an Autonomic Reflex Test, and it showed an abnormal variation in heart rate when I was placed in an upright position. It was reviewed by an Autonomic Neurologist, who confirmed the diagnosis.
I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS for short. I was also diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue, but the Internist and I believe that the POTS is the real culprit. However, it's a chicken and egg sort of situation with those two conditions so I was dual diagnosed for now. If treating the POTS removes the fatigue, then the Chronic Fatigue diagnosis could be removed.
Diagnosis is only a first step, though. The real goal is treatment, and that's where POTS can get tricky. There's no magic pill. There isn't one thing I can do that will take this away, and not a clear consensus on exactly what all I should do to make it better. Even the best doctors in the country had to admit that there is no solid treatment plan they can give me. POTS is not a well known disorder, it's not well researched, and there's a lot to be done in figuring out how to take POTS patients from disabled to restored.
I'm newly diagnosed, but I'm doing my research and I have a plan and I want to share my journey with others. Maybe my wins and losses can help someone else.

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