Last year I was introduced to bikini by my boyfriend who thought I would be pretty decent at it. I started training in February and I picked a show to do on June 11th. I didn't actually get to compete in the show though because I ended up with the flu the first week in June. I was waking up every morning at about 3am vomiting and having trouble breathing because of my nose being stopped up. I could barely do anything and I was fainting like crazy. I didn't get better until the end of June.
I don't know which of my videos you watched but I do have a chronic medical condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) which has changed my life dramatically!
I was exposed to a chemical while I was in the Marine Corps that attacked my autonomic nervous system and caused my POTS. Everything your body is suppose to automatically do for you, mine doesn't do correctly. When I sit up or stand up, my heart begins to race as if I was actually running and my blood pressure starts to diminish so I faint if I stand up for too long. Too long can be just a few seconds after standing up or it can be as long as 20 minutes of standing still. I never know what it will be until it happens. When I exercise, my heart rate doesn't always speed up the way it is suppose to and sometimes it will be over 200 bpm doing something really simple. I have exercise intolerance. Some days I can do a lot and some days just doing a few pull ups will make me pass out. Then there are the days that I have to rely on my wheelchair and the days that I can't even get out of bed for anything. My boyfriend has to actually pick me up to take me to the bathroom on the really bad days.
My entire digestive system is also messed up which makes gaining and maintaining weight really hard to do but I just take that one day at a time and do what I can.
I actually started up the YouTube channel to spread more awareness about POTS because so few people have ever heard of it, including doctors. Hopefully with more awareness, more patients will be properly diagnosed and taken seriously not only by the medical community but also by family and friends.
I want to do bikini and even powerlifting meets to get myself out there to spread more awareness and to encourage others to follow their dreams even when they have really tough and even "near impossible to overcome" obstacles in their way.
For you to learn more about POTS if interested, you can go to www.dinet.org.
I am all about spreading awareness for POTS and if you could help me with that by featuring me on your blog, that would be awesome. I did check your blog out and I did see where all of those girls have actually competed, but if you don't mind that I haven't yet, go for it! I plan on trying to compete again in the spring. I already have the shoes, bikini and Jan Tana and after all of that money spent, I refuse to let them just sit in my closet! :)
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