Finding humor in a new diagnosis…
Kerissa • April 25, 2012
POTS
(and no, this post has nothing to do with teapots, flower pots, coffee pots, or “chamber” pots 😉
A quick update, friends! Today, my primary care dr. diagnosed me with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. What a long name! This is my third “syndrome” diagnosis…! POTS is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system and is associated with CRPS and EDS. I’m thankful the Lord gave my dr. wisdom to see this, and I’m so glad that we’re no longer in the dark as to why I’ve been having tachycardia, an irregular heart beat, and episodes of my heart rate jumping to over 120 bpm after sitting up first thing in the morning. Life is definitely never boring with CRPS, EDS, and POTS!!
Dear friends, At the beginning of October, I started taking a new medication for the autoimmune disease. I thought I was tolerating it just fine, but after several days passed, I began experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, weakness all over, and increased pain. 🙁 It’s like I’m experiencing another “mito crash.” I found out that this specific lupus medication affects mitochondria. That is, it causes an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This, in turn, causes cell damage and oxidative stress. I sure wish the rheumatologists would have known about this before prescribing. But I have to remember that Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome is rare, and they’re not “mito experts.” Anyways, the last time I felt like this was back in May.. I’m so grateful to God that I haven’t needed to be hospitalized from this, but at the same time, I’m also sad that this happened at all, especially because I had such a nice stretch of stable health. I’d really appreciate your prayers, that this muscle weakness can resolve soon, and that this increased pain all over will get back to my baseline. Every time I have a “mito crash,” it feels like I’m fighting the flu which always sucks. The pain has been hard to bear. And whenever I’m in the thick of it, it’s difficult to remember that this too will eventually pass. 😢 Pray that I will endure and follow Jesus’ example like this passage from Hebrews 12:1-2– “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...” Thank you all so much for praying for me. ❤️
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
