When Your Body Gaslights You: Trying to 'Listen' with POTS, AuDHD & CPTSD
Because "just take a nap and drink water" doesn’t fix a nervous system that's running Windows 95 on dial-up.
Join me for a dose of snarky humor and witty commentary as I share the ups, downs, and lessons learned while navigating life, marriage, and parenting nuerospicy kids with an ADHD partner—all while trying to embrace the crunchy lifestyle!
How Do You Listen to Your Body... When It’s Basically a Chronic Liar?
Let’s get one thing straight: if you’ve ever been told to “just listen to your body,” and your body is more confused than a squirrel in traffic, this one's for you. When you're living with POTS, AuDHD, and CPTSD, your internal signals are basically spam emails—misleading, relentless, and occasionally in all caps.
Let’s unpack that mess, shall we?
So, What the Heck is POTS?
POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, which is medical jargon for: "Stand up and feel like you're about to faint while your heart goes on a solo EDM rave."
It affects blood flow and the autonomic nervous system—basically the system that’s supposed to run quietly in the background handling things like heart rate, digestion, and temperature regulation. But with POTS, your body gets dramatic. Stand up? BAM—your heart rate shoots up 30+ bpm. Get too hot? Hello, nausea and dizziness. Try to exercise? Prepare for full-body betrayal.
I found out I had POTS when I was 14 after multiple episodes of fainting at school. And not the cute, swoony kind—they were full-on, hit-the-floor moments that scared the absolute sh*t out of teachers, classmates, and probably the janitor who had to clean up after. Cue a wild ride of medical testing: EEGs (wires on the head, sci-fi vibes), EKGs (hello sticky chest pads), and the infamous tilt table test—which is exactly as torturous as it sounds. It’s like a carnival ride designed by sadists to see how long it takes you to black out.
After enough testing to make me feel like a lab rat, they finally figured out what was going on: my nervous system was on permanent overdrive.
As for treatment? It’s a cocktail of lifestyle changes and (sometimes) meds:
Beta blockers to help slow the heart rate (because apparently I’m not supposed to feel like I’m being chased by a bear when tying my shoes).
Compression socks—yes, they’re as sexy as they sound.
Salt loading (you basically get a medical permission slip to eat pickles and salted potatoes like it’s your job).
Electrolyte supplements—I swear by BOUY, but anything without sketchy additives can help.
IV fluids in severe cases, because sometimes Gatorade just doesn’t cut it.
Now layer in AuDHD (the spicy combo of Autism and ADHD) and CPTSD (Complex PTSD), and suddenly your body’s communication system is not just broken, it’s sarcastic.
"Listen to Your Body" They Said...
Yeah, sure. Except:
Hunger cues? Might show up 3 hours late with a side of rage.
Thirst? Doesn’t appear until your lips are sandpaper and you're hallucinating about Gatorade.
Tiredness? Could be from being overstimulated, under-stimulated, emotionally drained, dehydrated, or all of the above.
It’s like trying to solve a mystery when the main suspect is also the detective, and everyone has amnesia.
One thing that actually helped me untangle the mess? Writing sh*t down. I started tracking everything—moods, symptoms, what I ate, how I slept, whether I screamed into the void that day. That’s how I started spotting patterns. Your body's cues may be glitchy, but if you document enough data, you’ll start seeing which kinds of chaos show up in which kinds of situations.
And if you’re the kind of neurospicy human who gets a dopamine hit from shopping? Get yourself a cute new notebook. Boom—suddenly tracking your body's betrayal is slightly more fun.
What Actually Works When You’re a Chronically Confused Human:
✨ 1. Patterns Over Feelings
Feelings are liars. I said it. Instead of asking, “how do I feel right now?” I started tracking patterns. Logging how I feel after food, movement, sleep, social interaction, and scrolling for hours in my emotional support hoodie.
One off-day is a glitch. Ten of the same? That’s data, baby.
🧠 2. Sensory Scans, Not Soul-Searching
AuDHD means your body might skip the usual "I'm tired" or "I'm hungry" signals and jump straight to "WHY ARE THE SOCKS TOO LOUD?"
I ask:
Am I overstimulated or under-stimulated?
Did I forget to eat?
Do I need a break, or do I need a hug and 10 minutes of silence in a dark room?
💦 3. Hydration Is a Sport
If you have POTS, you know the drill: Sodium + Fluids = Basic Functionality. I treat hydration like a part-time job. Electrolytes in the morning. Salty snacks like I’m a hungover frat bro. I don’t wait until I'm thirsty—I stay ahead of it like I’m dodging a migraine.
🧘♀️ 4. Regulate First, React Later
With CPTSD, your body sometimes sends an "everything is on fire" memo even when you're just trying to pick a salad dressing. So instead of reacting to every freakout, I pause and regulate.
Try:
Breathwork (box breathing is my jam)
Cold exposure (face in cold water works wonders)
Grounding (barefoot in the dirt or wrapped in a weighted blanket like a cozy burrito)
Then I check in again. Nine times out of ten, I don’t need a life overhaul—I just needed to remind my nervous system it's not 2006 anymore.
📚 5. You’re Not Broken, You’re Custom-Coded
Standard self-care advice wasn’t made for neurodivergent, trauma-informed, chronically ill folks. So ditch the shame, ditch the mainstream tips that feel like they were written for robots, and start building your own manual.
Pro tip: It’s okay if that manual includes hot tea, lying down with your legs up the wall, crying over baby goat videos, or watching The Office for the 47th time.
Final Thoughts (AKA the Pep Talk You Didn’t Know You Needed)
If your body feels like it's gaslighting you, you are not alone. You are not dramatic, lazy, or failing. You're living in a body that has been through hell and still shows up for you every single day.
Listening to it doesn’t always look like a peaceful meditation or intuitive yoga session on the beach. Sometimes it looks like spreadsheets, apps, trial and error, meltdowns, breakthroughs, and laughing at the absurdity of it all.
And honestly? That’s kind of badass.
Now You Tell Me —
How do you listen to your body when it’s out here spouting lies and nonsense? Let’s share the weird, the wonderful, and the actually helpful in the comments. Because if we're gonna be confused, at least let's be confused together.
P.S. You’re not failing if you have to think about things most people do automatically. You’re just living in a body that takes a little extra decoding. You are doing amazing, even if today all you did was survive. And if you need permission to do the weird things that help you cope? Permission granted. ✨
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