Sunday, March 6, 2011

Cooking With POTS

I made this post on my other health blog back in June 2010 and thought it was appropriate to repost on my new POTS blog.  Enjoy!

This isn't about cooking with cooking pots, but with POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).  I thought this would be a fun considering the lovely pun!


Cooking with POTS is about as difficult for me as what a healthy person would equate to running 5 miles. Getting the pots out of the cabinets takes so much effort. GOD forbid something is still dirty from the last meal and I have to rewash it.  I slowly stand up from the squatting position and walk over to the sink to fill it with water. Once that pot gets heavy, my arms just want to stop holding it because my heart doesn't appreciate this extra effort, so I rest it on the metal lip of the sink. Phew, that makes it a little easier.


I walk over to the refrigerator and grab some frozen vegetables and/or rice. These are 2 easy side dishes for me.   The amount of required standing is minimal, so it's not soo bad. Still during this entire time my heart rates are 135+.  I dump the rice or veggies into the pot and set it down on the stove. Almost there...phew!

Now I got to get the main dish ready! Oh no. This is normally when I really start to feel the "burn"....Grabbing another heavy dish out of the lower cabinet is tough. Going from that squatting position to standing again is terrifying. Now I got to walk over to the refrigerator, get the chicken out of the refrigerator and prep it. I'm not that creative when it comes to food dishes, but I always make sure I put some salt on my foods.  By the time I wrap aluminum foil over the dish, I need to get the hell out of the kitchen and sit down.

On really bad days I just can't even do it. I have to ask my husband to cook because I'm soo tachycardic.

This might sound weird, but if I were a fainter, then people could SEE I'm suffering. "oh wow this girl isn't feeling so well, she fainted". But nope, I don't faint so as long as I look okay people think I must feel okay. I can certainly tell you that is not the case.  I'm a stubborn person, so I just keep going until it gets soo difficult I feel I might have a heart attack..

Since we are gluten free and we watch the ingredients in our foods very carefully, we cannot order out EVER. We cannot eat out EVER. I have to make every single meal in this house and it's tough some days. I'm not complaining about making the food, I just know that even normal moms and housewives depend on McDonalds, Pizza Hut or their local Chinese takeout at least a few times a week and I don't have that option!

I really wish I could order a Made to Order sub at the gas station down the road...Nope can't do that. No matter how bad I feel someone in this house has to cook and it's my responsibility!

During the winter I am not this bad, so I am happy for that.  But now that spring and summer are just around the corner, I am frightened.

1 comment:

  1. This sounds exactly like me. The stubborn, the lack of fainting and the whole this is so hard. My bf cooks most meals. I am so utterly grateful but it sure makes me feel useless.

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