Kaiser Sunset and the TILT Table Test

Yesterday was my big trip out to Los Angeles to go to Kaiser Sunset to have the TILT Table test done. We didn't know what to expect, but we were hoping that it would provide some answers as to why I get "blackout vision" when I stand up and feel as though I'm going to pass out quite frequently. My check-in time was 12:45pm, but LA traffic being what it is--horrible and unpredictable--we left the house at 10am, just to be safe.

I was given instructions beforehand not to eat after midnight; no water, no food, no gum chewing, no medicine, NOTHING. So, given the fact that I struggle with eating and water intake anyway due to my Gastroparesis, it was no wonder that my veins were a hot mess when they wanted to start an IV, oh...some twelve hours after I had consumed anything! The nurse kept saying, "do you exercise? Do you drink water?" and slapping my arm. In the end, she found one and I was on the road to getting hooked up to a bunch of wires. 

The doctor came in and asked me questions about myself: what I've been experiencing, what my health is like, what I do for work, if my sibling(s) are healthy, etc. She then explained that they would be looking for a POTS (I'll explain later) response or a more vaso vagal response (the most common type of fainting) and be able to let me know. She then explained what the test would be like:: Phase One- strapped onto the table, I would be tilted up to a standing position and observed. Once symptoms occur, te test would end. Phase Two- I would either take a nitroglycerin tablet or be injected with adrenaline to elicite a response as I'm tilted back up to a standing position. 

Fun. 

Strapped onto the table, with monitors beeping, away we went. It made me dizzy instantly. And then I just stood there...and I got whoozier...and my vision got dimmer...and they're asking you how you're feeling and you're trying to mentally check everything...it's overwhelming...for twenty minutes. And then it was done. And they laid me back down and started the adrenaline infusion. When it began to go into my veins they brought me back up and...

Oh. My. Gosh!

My heart pounded SO fast! I felt so faint and actually started to pass out! The left side of my face felt like it was drooping and my body was tingling. Not fun! I heard the nurse and doctor talking and said they had the infusion going for nine minutes, so they stopped it and let what was inside me run its course. It felt as though my heart pounded forever!! 

When it was all over, the doctor came and spoke to me and my mom. She explained that the testing showed that I do have a mild form of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which I had suspected. She said my heart rate, resting, was 70 and had jumped up to 90 or slightly above. And that my blood pressure, which in a severe POTS patient would REALLY plummet, only dropped about 10-20. At one point I saw my blood pressure during the test and it said 115/53. Before the test even started it was 94/53...I'm a mess.

The suggestion I was given was to avoid caffeine (coffee/tea/etc) and drink more water. I need to avoid standing and sitting for long periods of time and if I have to stand for a long time, to "pump my legs"--like March in place--to pump up my blood. It's nice to have some answers and to know that it's not severe--which I didn't even think it was. Honestly, just having a NAME to it makes so much of a difference!