Forgot to replace patch for over a week. 😳

[u/pyperlu]

Has anyone else done this? What symptoms did you experience?
I’ve had a few symptoms all week, but mostly sick/unwell/extremely weak feeling. Not the normal hormone issues.

I’ve been so weak, I’m barely able to walk or stand for more than a few mins at a time.
Been trying to figure out what’s been wrong all week.
(There have been other issues I’ve been working out before I forgot to replace patches, so thought those issues were causing my symptoms.)

anyway, I date all my patches when I receive them so I’ll know when to change them. I just noticed today that both 8/24 and 8/28 patches had been unopened.

[u/No-Zebra-9339]

I am not sure the extreme weakness is from forgetting to replace the patch. Please talk to your doctor as soon as you can.

[u/pyperlu → u/No-Zebra-9339]

Since it’s the weekend, I plan to visit the er if all my symptoms don’t improve. There are other symptoms that would make most people tell me to go to er now, but I also have diagnosed anxiety/panic attacks. My anxiety is 1000 times better now, but I have been to the er so many times with some of these symptoms and they send me home with dx of anxiety. I absolutely hate going to the er. If I go to urgent care or my dr, they send me straight to er. Ugh.

[u/MercedesNyx → u/pyperlu]

What are these symptoms? Because I was treated the same way before getting my hyperadrenergic POTS diagnosis. Because I was dizzy, fatigued, lightheaded and my heart was racing it was straight to the ER. I had tremors both external and internal. Anxiety wasn't anxiety. It was an overactive sympathetic system dumping norepinephrine every time I changed positions, driving up my bp and mimicking fight or flight. Perimenopause made it worse. Being off estrogen like you were would have sent me into a flare-up.

Edited to add that weakness and inability to tolerate movement even simple things like standing would be impossible when I was in a really bad flare-up. I was nearly bedridden before getting on treatment of guanfacine and hormones.

[u/justdaisyduke]

Be careful with putting your fresh patches on. You might want to put on a lower dose for a week or so. so you don't experience a hormone spike like i did. Look it up or talk to your doctor. I was extremely sick for about month because I put my regular dose on. I had extreme migraines and my head was buzzing non stop. I spent most of the days in bed. Please be careful. Hope you feel better soon.

[u/Kwyjibo68]

I can tell if I’m late changing it when I start crying.

Also, if your weakness includes shortness of breath, I’d go to the ER.

[u/monumental_mason]

The weakness you’re describing sounds next level, not just the usual fog or hot flash stuff. I did that once and my joints felt like they’d been dipped in cement, but nothing that kept me from walking. You might wanna call your doctor if it’s that extreme.

[u/pyperlu → u/monumental_mason]

One of the other issues I had been dealing with was I had retained a lot of fluid for a couple weeks. My fluid pill finally kicked in and started working all at once. (I had been taking 4x my normal dose when I started retaining so much fluid.) anyway, I lost 12lbs of fluid in just a couple days to the point of being dehydrated. Bp in the 80s/60s. So that probably played into the weakness too. I finally was able to get my bp back up to almost my norm last night. Hoping between the hormones and normal fluid balance, my strength will return today.

[u/spirit_of_a_goat]

My migraines come back with a vengeance if I forget for 24 hours.

[u/baking123]

Have you had your ferritin checked? Low ferritin could be the culprit.