When I was first diagnosed with PoTs I was very conscious of keeping it hidden in certain situations. It’s an invisible illness and at times I didn’t want people to change the way they were with me because of that. However this meant I was often compromising my health in certain situations. I would stand to talk to friends for longer than I could manage, watching my legs turn purple and feeling dizzy just so that I could appear normal and carry on the conversation. Even times when I’d eat something I know might have made me feel unwell because I’d hate to ‘appear rude’ or make people question how I am.
But over the years I’ve realised the importance of actually saying how I am. People were a lot more understanding than I had presumed, and it actually took a weight off my shoulders knowing that they knew and they would know I wasn’t being rude where in the middle of a conversation I would really need to sit down.
It isn’t worth risking your health caring about what others think. You need to do life for you, and if people aren’t ok with it, that’s their problem and not yours. It took me a while to realise that I didn’t need to know others opinions, and that really helped me to be more positive. It meant I started to live my life a little more healthier, actually saying mid lesson to a teacher that I needed to leave but I’d be back, and actually my biggest fear of people having an opinion was often not the case, I realised that sometimes people genuinely didn’t mind if I left, they know who I am and they know that I’m doing this for my health and no other reason.
So stand up, care about yourself over others opinions of yourself. Sit in the middle of a queue in the supermarket if you have to! The rest of the people in the queue will continue to go about their day and will forget the girl sat in the queue within minutes of leaving the store! Be honest and speak up and you’ll feel more at ease, and less worried about the consequences of making yourself feel better!
Potsitivity 