Side effects

There are many different types of side effects; side effects of medication and side effects of having an illness. I am now realizing that I haven't talked about the side effects that I get with my medications. Some of them are harder to notice but others are and can sometimes be unbearable. It depends on the day, and how many I had to take of my "take as needed" drug. That drug is Midodrine, it is a powerful one that instantly raises my blood pressure to lower my heart rate. It is very helpful when I have a flare-up and when I know I am going to be walking around or on my feet for awhile. The struggles of walking around my college campus are so real and this drug helps. One thing about this med that I don't like, is that if I take it I can't lay down or stay sitting for a long period of time otherwise, it will raise my blood pressure up to much and that is no good. So that means I can't take it before bed if I am feeling bad. If that happens then I usually just tough it out and try to fall asleep. In other words, I tell myself I am fine. I have a few side effects with this drug, since it is an amphetamine/stimulant so, when I take it I have tingling/itchy scalp. I also get even more hypersensitive to the cold/wind. Sometimes when it wears off, my blood pressure has obviously dropped and so I go into a flare-up faster, this especially happens if I don't drink a lot of water. Those days are the worst but it doesn't last all day. It is a sort of thing that comes and goes. The other med I take is called Fludocortisone it is a salt-retaining steroid that people with Addison's disease take and so do a lot of POTS patients take for obvious reasons, to help raise blood pressure. I take this pill every morning, I also have to make sure I drink a lot of water with this one. I get stiffness mainly at night and in the mornings when I wake up with this drug. That is the only side effect that I have actually noticed with this med. the side effects to having an illness are going through the five/seven stages of grief of loosing your old life or the life you used to have. It is a process, I know that I am not done going through them all. Some weeks as many of my friends and family know, that I end up going backwards or all across the map. It is a crazy part of life that many people end up going through, unfortunately.