What I’d Like to Try in the Future

In the “About Me” section of the blog I said that having a list of what I want to try next has helped me maintain hope. So, I thought I would share my current “What I’d Like to Try in the Future” list.

I have mostly caught up the blog with what I have learned. I’m sure more things will pop into my head or I’ll try other new things, but if you have any other tactics for POTS, ME, or other similar chronic illnesses that you would like me to write about, shoot me an email at dropitlikeitspotsblog@gmail.com.

Backing off the exercise a bit

I will discuss this in depth in my final Modified Levine protocol post. After I finish the protocol, I will dial the exercise back a couple notches. I think the volume of exercise in the later months of the protocol is too much for me. There was a spot a few months ago where it felt challenging yet not draining, and I want to revisit that level with a few tweaks.

Acupuncture

Mayo Clinic recommended acupuncture to us at the Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia clinic. You can stimulate the vagus nerve via acupuncture, which is useful for many chronic conditions including POTS and ME. You can learn more about the benefits of stimulating the vagus nerve in this post. Acupuncture is also thought to be beneficial for numerous other concerns.

Revisiting chiropractic care

I discussed my past experience with chiropractic care in part 1 of my pre-diagnosis treatments post. Now that I have a clearer picture of what is going on, chiropractic care may be a worthwhile complementary treatment to try. Regular chiropractic care is inconvenient for where I live and very expensive, so I am not super eager to go down this road at the present moment.

I read a case study about someone having great success using upper cervical chiropractic care to treat POTS. I am interested to look more into that. There’s not a ton of information about it on the internet, but this chiropractor’s website discusses broadly how this modality applies to POTS.

I am also interested in a specific branch of chiropractic care called functional neurology. The page I linked explains it pretty well. I had great success addressing dizziness using vestibular-ocular reflex exercises through a physical therapist. so I am intrigued by some of functional neurology’s treatments.

Functional medicine

I did not have a good experience with functional medicine back in 2017/2018. I remain skeptical of certain aspects of it. However, it may be worth revisiting with a different practitioner. I am confident that I wouldn’t get sucked in to bad practices again.. For example, if they try put me on a regimen of three antibiotics when they’re not even indicated, I will peace out so fast.

Para Sym Plus

I do not have any solid, independent information about this supplement, Para Sym Plus. I am intrigued about it, though. It contains ingredients that supposedly support acetylcholine formation. I talked about acetylcholine a bit in my post on Mestinon. Mestinon inhibits the breakdown of acetylcholine, so there is more to work with in the body. Acetylcholine aids in muscular contraction, fuels the parasympathetic nervous system, etc. Mestinon has been significantly useful to me with POTS and ME. Since Para Sym Plus also targets acetylcholine (in a different mechanism), I’m curious to see if it would be beneficial for me.

Brain rewiring programs

There are two main programs available to my knowledge, the Dynamic Neural Retraining System and the Gupta Program. Both have a plethora of positive reviews from people with conditions like POTS and ME. As I have discussed numerous times in this blog, brain rewiring or neuroplasticity appears to be a piece of the puzzle in certain chronic illnesses.

However, brain rewiring has major limitations. For example, if you have Lyme disease, rewiring your brain may relieve some symptoms, but it doesn’t address the underlying pathogens in your body. Another example is if you have Ehlers-Danlos, a genetic condition that alters connective tissue and blood vessels. Neuroplasticity cannot alter the composition of your connective tissue so its effects would be significantly limited.

I wonder how much significant change I would see using a brain rewiring program since I have already been using brain rewiring techniques for almost two years. These programs would be significantly more intensive, so I understand that that may make a difference.

I have heard that DNRS is pretty cheesy. For that reason, I would be more apt to try the Gupta program. I can see myself Mystery Science Theatre 3000-ing the DNRS program instead of focusing.

Side note- If you’re like, “WTH is Mystery Science Theatre 3000?”, it’s that show from the 80’s and 90’s where the man and two robots would make fun of bad, old movies. It’s awesome. If you want a good laugh, check out The Horrors of Spider Island. My family and I still quote it on the regular.

Has anyone tried any of the modalities, etc. that I mentioned? What’s on your list to try in the future?

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Statements on this site are not meant to be taken as medical advice. These statements reflect my personal experiences having mild-ish post-viral POTS and ME. Due to the wide spectrum of these diseases, comorbidities, and everyone being different, your experiences may be very different than mine.

Note: If you post a comment, this site does NOT have a feature to notify you of responses to your comment. I have not found a good solution for that yet. However, I usually respond to every comment in a timely manner, so be sure to check back.