My baby niece is the biggest help to my pots
I (23f) was diagnosed with pots 2 years ago, after it left me bedbound. It developed around covid and got severe my first year of uni, around 3 years ago. Since then I have slowly worked my ability to excersise back up and through careful diet, salt and water intake I’ve slowly been able to get back to (almost) normality.
(Side note and unrelated but when I go to my partners house my pots gets worse, and when I’m there I usually have a diet that’s a lot less healthy- crisps, biscuits, ice cream, donuts, chocolate and very little vegetables. When I’m home by myself I eat a pescatarian diet of mainly vegetables and a lot of eggs and I pass out a lot less. This could just be my experience so don’t take it as gospel, but food for thought)
The only thing I still really struggle with is standing. The excersise intolerance is kinda bad but I was never the fittest anyway so it’s not been something I’ve really noticed. In every airport queue I pass out, I pass out putting up the laundry, I pass out if I have to stand on long bus rides. My problem is I’m stubborn and I always think I’m more ok than I am, leading me to stand long past my warning symptoms and eventually pass out.
12 weeks ago my brother and his fiancé gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I am a very stockily built person, with strong legs and good endurance, so when she comes to visit I am often the default for carrying her shopping or on long walks. When she is fussy the only thing that will calm her is walking strapped to someone and being in constant motion, if you stop for a second she wakes up and begins to cry.
This is PERFECT for me! Whenever I’m standing for too long she starts to stir and it reminds me to keep walking- it’s almost like a guide dog but I get to feel like I’m being helpful and doing her parents a favour.
Unfortunately my partner aren’t in the right place financially to have a child, so I’ll have to wait a little longer, but for the time being I’ve applied as an agency nurse for nurseries as my main job because I’m hoping it’ll keep me busy and moving, and if i need to sit i can sit and tidy some toys. I used to work in a care home when my pots first started developing and i used to work these 12 hour shifts where I’d lock myself in the staff bathroom to pass out when i feel it coming and keep pushing on with my shift after. This time round I’m going to learn my lesson and not push myself nearly as hard now I know what I’m dealing with.
Anyway there was no real point to all this, but hope this may be helpful or interesting to someone <3