#*hypotension

[legalisecatboyss]

phil adding to his reputation of not giving a shit about dan’s health by calling his orthostatic hypotension “so annoying” is giving me life, this man is simply allergic to losing the idgaf war

[phanbeats]

i see you orthostatic hypotension <3

[whoopsie-doodle]

This is your reminder to clean your emotional support water bottle.

Check the o rings for mold.

[im-lost-in-ikea]

i love floor time (normal blood pressure)

[choixsimple]

Hey you with the chronic hypermobility and/or orthostatic intolerance issues

If you have a menstrual cycle, has anyone told you how it affects your chronic illnesses?

Probably not so I'm gonna!

First here's a basic chart showing the large fluctuation in hormones during your cycle:

If you have hypermobile joints, the level of estrogen in your body will heavily impact the stretchiness of your connective tissue. During ovulation, estrogen has a huge spike, which will make you extra stretchy! You are more prone to injuries, subluxations, dislocations, and general joint issues during this time. There's also a smaller increase in the week before your period, which can also affect joint laxity.

If you have orthostatic issues (or even if you don't, tbh), you'll be interested to hear that both estrogen and progesterone affect your heart rate. Generally your resting heart rate will be higher in the days before your period due to rising progesterone levels, and then drop back to normal after your period starts and progesterone levels fall. Estrogen is also at its lowest level during your period, and with low estrogen levels comes a higher number of heart palpitations and potentially a higher heart rate, depending on the person.

This combo of low estrogen and high (and then low) progesterone, plus the whole bleeding thing, means you're extra susceptible to dizzy spells, presyncope, and fainting in the few days right before your period and the first couple days of your period (and if you have a heavy flow, this can continue longer). It also means you might feel a lot more stable, less dizzy, have less heart palpitations etc around ovulation due to the extra estrogen.

There are a bunch of other bodily functions, chronic illnesses, etc that are affected by hormone levels during our cycles, and there are some good resources online about what these hormones do — I didn't even talk about FSH or LH, the two other big hormones that are part of our cycle! But I didn't want to get too far into the weeds in this post.

PS there's a theory that the reason more AFAB people (even many without a uterus or menstrual cycle, AFAB hormones are Kind Of A Bitch) get diagnosed with things like chronic fatigue syndrome, hypermobile disorders w/chronic pain, POTS etc is because we have a built-in flare up every month (sometimes two, if you flare up at both your period and ovulation). So it's just much more noticeable in AFAB people because AMAB folks don't have to deal with those built-in flare ups every 2-3 weeks.

[potsiefaerie]

POTSie poll because I'm curious, but 21+ please because heart rates are often higher for people younger than that!

[markthekng]

I hate that whenever I walk with my cane suddenly everyone is a diagnostician. "Okay but what do you *really* need it for?" Shoving it up your ass if you ask again. Why do strangers feel entitled to my medical information just because they like to browse reddit? My disability is none of their fucking business. They all just watch one episode of House MD and decide they're experts.

[snorms]

Can someone make the 12 days of christmas but like life with a disability/chronic illness?

Like

🎶On the 12th dr appointment my specialist gave to me:

12 New exercises

11 New referrals

10 Concerning symptoms

9 New prescriptions

8 New labs to run

7 Examinations

6 Expensive bills

5 ✨️"ITS ANXIETY"'s✨️

4 Misdiagnoses

3 MORE prescriptions

2 "We don't know what's wrong"'s

And a correct diagnosis if you're luckyyy🎶🎶

[blueberryflavoredfeelings]

sometimes being upright is simply too much to ask of a girl

[honeybeetlejuice]

psa: if you are heat intolerant, or just idk, human tbh, do not sleep with a ton of blankets during the summer. especially if one is weighted. and if your house isn't air conditioned. even if it is comfy. you could get heat illness. do not make the same mistakes i made </3

and this is coming from someone who is currently laying on their living room floor at 3am with their cat and their mom's weird ice pack face mask thing on, because they accidentally gave themselves heat exhaustion. lord I hate having heat sensitivities because of dysautonomia i just wanted to go to bed—

this is tagged with whump tags because like I feel like yall can find a way to turn this into whump. go for it. if ive gotta suffer with this, maybe someone can at least make a good story out of it /hj

okay bye just wanted to do a lil rant on tumblr to cope, don't overheat pls and ty

[proletariatramen]

Question for people who have read the Ouran manga: does the manga mention that Kyouya has both low blood pressure and some sort of blood sugar issue too? I’ve always known about the hypotension, but I’ve seen some posts and fanfiction mentioning blood sugar. Some of them seem to think that it’s blood sugar and not blood pressure, others seem to say them both in the same breath as if he has both, but I was only aware of the blood pressure all these years in the fandom.

I can’t read manga (blind), so I’ve been unsure if it’s just a fandom miscommunication/misinterpretation of hypotension, or if there actually is a canonical blood sugar thing going on in addition to the low blood pressure.

[over-the-edge-and-never-enough]

Especially the past couple of days. WTF body? Get with the program!

[certifiedcoffeeaddict]

saved in my files as '198 bro is throwing out them medical terms like its nothing'

[aprito]

he doesn't return them of course

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Sometimes when my low blood pressure or low heart rate is flaring up I get this overwhelming urge to go on a ridiculous adventure.

Like I’m barely able to walk and yet it sounds like the most wonderful thing in the world to cook a feast from scratch, drive an hour to the aquarium or volunteer at an animal shelter for a day. Of course I’m not able to do any of this but it’s tricked me in the past and I’ve ended up in some sticky situations. Now I’m able to recognize when it happens by writing it out or texting Hubbins about it bc it really does sound absurd given my current state. Now when I get the sudden urge to do something that is a lot more intensive than my regular activities I immediately “hit the breaks” and evaluate why I feel that way (and it’s never bc I’m actually feeling better). I think my brain is just desperate for a dopamine hit when it’s not getting enough blood flow.

[potsiefaerie]

Spoonie tip:

If you have joint pain and/or spend a lot of time suddenly needing to sit on kitchen/bathroom floors, get a couple of those fatigue mats, the dense foam ones. They definitely help.