Worsening Hemiplegic Migraines Due to POTS Episodes

I was diagnosed with a form of autonomic dysfunction while I was away at college. It was determined I had POTS (post orthostatic hypotension syndrome) after seer studies conducted - one of them being a tilt table test. I also had a sweat test which indicated I was heat intolerant, something controlled by your autonomic nervous system.

I endured a medical crisis

I've had a rich year, and by rich, I am being desperately sarcastic in that it's medically been a terrible year. I fell ill in January and suffered from a medical crisis that conducted one heck of a POTS storm. I never knew when I would fall, but more often than not, when I was confident, I was very wrong and ended up on the ground nearly 20-30 times a day due to my blood pressure.

I lost my migraine medications

While this year had its upside downs, it also had its times I've had to be unmedicated for my specific type of migraine. One of the side effects that works best for my hemiplegic migraines also happens to have the side effect of lowering blood pressure. It was no easy feat to try and re-introduce and re-calibrate my dose of medication. I also had blood pressure parameters of when I could take some of my pills which also caused syncope, leading to terrible migraines.

I was introduced to new pain and fatigue

Blood pressure and heart rate have a lot to do with POTS. But even more of a post-indicator that I'd had a POTS episode, I came to know what my definition of a skull-crushing migraine now was. I've had bad migraines before. I live with hemiplegic migraine, so I know the pain one can have and the mysterious, uncomfortable symptoms of the diagnosis. But nearly every time I fainted, or what is medically referred to as syncope, I was dead tired for hours. Not tired for 2-3 hour naps; I'd fall and sleep for 6-12 hours straight.

I was losing it physically and emotionally

It was an ugly rhythm and pattern that didn't seem to have an end in sight. I was emotionally losing it, and soon I was thrust into a major chain of events that led to me losing a lot of my physical capabilities. These included leaving the house; no one wants a constant sloppy mess of me on the floor, not to mention the potential liability of getting a serious traumatic brain injury during one of these falls, including broken bones.

I was a safety risk and homebound

Because I had no idea when an episode, even on medication to help, nor when I would collapse of tiredness after a fall or loss of consciousness, I was a safety risk and was now homebound. Homebound with migraines, all sorts of weird symptoms, and now, I was in a state of malabsorption and force-fed with a specialized formula through a central line into my bloodstream.

I was confused and not just from an attack

I felt light as a feather all the time; I was confused, not only due to migraines. I began to call items by the wrong names and people not by their given name. Although my boyfriend understood the situation, I'm sure he felt pretty "Whoah," by that instance. I was told this could be due to my migraines, but doctors told me my cognition was affected by malnutrition when I had severe difficulty with aphasia. After a few months of living on specialized formulas, my symptoms, as far as migraine fatigued and 12-hour naps, have fortunately almost altogether stopped. As far as nutrition goes, I am now being treated for another medical ailment that still, unfortunately, requires me to take my nutrients in a different way than most of you.

Where am I now?

Thankfully, I am now on a semi-adjusted dose of the hemiplegic migraine medication that had that blood pressure side effect that didn't help with my POTS diagnosis. Thankfully, I'm doing much better now, and I look forward to much better days ahead.