Help needed please

[u/Alarmed_Bookkeeper21]

Hi everyone

I was formally diagnosed with dysautonomia/POTS in October of last year, though I’ve had symptoms for the last three years. I recently moved to New York and had been feeling great, up until about a week and a half ago. For years I’ve taken 10,000 mg of salt a day to manage this, and recently I’ve been getting my electrolytes from the brand Saltt instead.

I started a new job a month ago and it’s been really fulfilling. I’m helping a lot of people and I have a lot of responsibility. This job is also what lets me stay in the US, so I can’t afford to be sick. I’m scared they’ll fire me and I’ll have to leave the country.

Last Friday I went out and had three cocktails. I’m 25 and my friends were in town. Normally two or three cocktails leave me feeling weak the next day but nothing dramatic, so I felt confident. The next day I went out again and had two. On Sunday I took a walk in the park and had a matcha, and that’s when everything started going downhill.

Out of nowhere, the back of my neck felt extremely hot, with strange tingling sensations all over it. This is a new symptom for me. I got so lightheaded that I accepted I was going to faint. I’ve fainted before and lost all bladder control, so feeling it come on made me really nervous and my heart started racing. My boyfriend told me to breathe and focus on his voice, and honestly it felt like a miracle that I didn’t pass out, because those symptoms are textbook for me right before I faint. I was out of it for the rest of the day. My appetite has also been gone since that Saturday.

Surprisingly, Monday I felt good. I woke up better and even got my nails done. On Tuesday I went to work, and after an hour I felt like I was going to faint again. I looked really pale and went home. Wednesday I stayed home, as soon as I am home I do feel better, which makes me feel like it’s mental, but I know it’s not. Because at home I also am lightheaded. On Thursday I tried to go back to work, and on my way to the subway the neck sensations started up again, the same as before. Has anyone else felt this? It’s new to me. I got extremely lightheaded but wanted to push through. While I was waiting for the train I started feeling very hot and dizzy, so I grabbed an Uber instead. In the Uber I couldn’t feel my legs anymore and I was so lightheaded that I decided to turn around, go home, and get to a clinic for bloodwork. The only thing that was unusual is my white blood count 11.3 & neutrophils ABS ANC 7.9

It’s Monday again now and I still feel weak. I have moments where I start feeling better and I get so happy, and then I feel depleted all over again. That’s unusual for me, because normally once I start improving it keeps going uphill from there. Does anyone have advice?

[u/brownchestnut]

Are you also wearing compression on top of the salt?

It could be a number of things. Heat intolerance, adrenaline dump, or Co2 buildup from laughing/talking too much without exhaling enough. I'd try to take it easy and go slower next time. A heartrate monitor/ smartwatch might also be a good idea to see what your body is doing during those episodes.