My symptoms,
and how I handle them

I drink a full electrolyte bottle before my feet hit the floor, sit on the edge of the bed for two minutes, then pump my calves ten times before standing. If it still spikes, I lie back down and try again in five minutes instead of pushing through.

I front-load anything that needs a working brain into the two hours after breakfast. Everything else gets written down immediately — voice notes, one running list, no trusting memory. Cold water and a horizontal ten minutes usually buys back some clarity.

Smaller plates, five or six times a day, protein and salt first, carbs last. I stay upright but seated for half an hour after eating, and I never schedule anything demanding right after a meal.

Lukewarm showers with a shower chair, a cooling towel on the back of my neck, and a cold drink in hand any time I'm out. In summer I run errands before 10am or after sunset, full stop.

I treat it as a circulatory event, not an emotional one: lie down with legs up the wall, slow exhale longer than the inhale, salt and fluid. Naming it as an adrenaline surge instead of panic took most of the fear out of it.

Waist-high 20-30 mmHg compression every day I leave the house, constant weight-shifting or leg-crossing when I have to stand, and I look for somewhere to sit before I need it rather than after.

I budget energy in blocks: one demanding thing per day, rest scheduled before I feel like I need it. Stopping while I still feel okay is the single change that reduced my bad days the most.

Head of the bed raised about five inches, salt and fluids in the evening, a hard screen cutoff, and the same wake time even after a bad night so my body stops renegotiating the schedule.