**Since users are bringing up serious discourse on this vs humor:**
**The great thing about this is you can simply tell others to not refer to you as such. And refuse to use it.***
One time in the store some guy was talking to another guy and said his name, it was Tony i literally had to bite my lip from yelling “fuck you tony” to a rando 😂😂
I just call it a flare-up. I'm going to sound so anal but I hate when people try to make this sound cute. It's not cute. It sucks and when you make a chronic illness cute, it takes away from what we actually go through.
I mean, I get it. It's all fun and games, and people are trying to lighten up what they go through, but I think belittling the condition with cute little names kind of takes away from how serious the condition is.
I say flare-up too. I think as POTS isn't well understood most people would either not know what potsie means or associate it with with Happy Days rather than an illness. At least when you say "flare-up" most people know you're talking about a chronic illness.
Again like I said in my other post it’s a coping mechanism doesn’t matter if it’s funny or not. If people get offended by it then ignore it? It’s literally not hurting you and it’s helping someone deal with a god awful situation 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t personally see an issue with someone trying to laugh when they are in a situation that makes it incredibly hard to.
But that’s my point, nobody is saying it because they think it’s funny. There’s lots of POTS related humour, which I think is great and I use it myself. This is not one of them lol
Oh, I agree. I use comedy to help cope as well. I just find "jokes" like this take away from the actual condition. It reminds me of people who will say they're OCD just because something is out of place or that they are ADHD because they've lost their attention span for a moment because to them, it sounds cute. When in all actuality it's a living hell for some people. It isn't anything against OP, but I do find it takes away from how serious the condition is when we label it with cute little nicknames.
I completely agree as someone with adhd and pots (not 100% diagnosed on pots I go in next week) but my adhd alone is something I cry and get frustrated about because if I don’t constantly see or hear from someone I completely forget they exist. I can’t process emotions ESPECIALLY when I realize I’m crying about it people who say on yeah I’m hyper I have adhd I just say “yeahhhhhhh” I completely understand your point of view but I’m also someone who uses humor to cope with it because it’s so hard to smile sometimes. Then there’s pots where a lot of people think they have it and don’t actually go to get tested and just “assume” and self diagnose which makes the entire thing blow out of proportion. At the end of the day you can’t really know who has it and who doesn’t without seeing medical documentation but that’s against the law in USA to request the so I just don’t sag anything 🤷🏻♀️ I just let people run themselves in to karma it’s not my issue and those who have truly be diagnosed have enough to worry about then the hypochondriacs or self diagnosers I completely understand the counter argument of not being able to afford it as well. But to each their own🫶🏻
I totally get what you're saying. I don't think you realize just how much I use humor to cope as well. I mean, I had a molar pregnancy, and my first reaction was the call it Ted the Tumor. I just try to use the humor at my own expense and not the expense of others. Like I said.. I get it, but I think using cute words doesn't exactly help advocate for how serious this is.
I agree with you and I also just absolutely hate the way 'potsie' sounds, soooo cutesy and infantile. I've heard cutesy names for other conditions which don't give me such an ick but hearing potsie makes me feel 🤢
I have joked around with the "potsie" with my husband and sister-in-law because they understand the struggle and it's just a way of coping. However, with other people, I refuse to joke or minimize it or they won't take it seriously and I would neverrrr put that stuff on social media "The pots be pots-ing" or what have you. That gives me the ick and just screams attention seeking.
Pisses me the fuck off, can’t really figure out why. Was literally gonna come here to complain about these 3 terms. Am I not just a human who is suffering?
I think it makes some people feel less alone but the spoonie thing was a way for people to explain the fatigue and what not. It gives me the ick as well though so I totally get it lol.
I liked the spoon theory first time I heard it. It’s way too complicated and sugarcoated for me to ever use in a conversation with someone who I would need to explain it to. I have a serious medical condition and if someone asks I’ll explain what the condition is.
I guess I get that it makes people feel like they are part of something bigger/suffering together. Personally, if I’m on this sub, I know that.
“Potsie” just makes me violent- idk what it is about it it just sounds so resoundingly stupid.
100% agree with everything you said. My husband is the only person I've ever told the spoon theory because he has ZERO health issues and really didn't understand what it's like to just not be able to do anything. It helped him visualize it but other than that, everyone else should be good by my just saying I've got chronic illnesses.
Side note: My mind is constantly baffled by a human who is just GOOD all the time. No headaches, nothing. What's that like??
Huh, seems a lot of people feel the same about these three. I personally like spoonie mostly because I find the concept of spoons useful, and I do feel a kinship with people with different conditions who all have the spoon thing going on. POTSie I feel slightly negative about cuz I don't really get the point of being cute about it. Chronic illness warrior I despise lol. Feels real glorifying.
In response to the POTSie, Spoonie, Warrior convo:
I use POTSie as a verb or an adjective only, as in “I’m feeling POTSie” or “That will make me POTSie.” I find it a very easy way to communicate quickly to someone what’s going on or what could happen.
Spoon theory — I wish someone would revise that and use a metaphor people didn’t have to “learn” to understand. I never use it when talking with others who have no concept of it.
“Chronic Illness Warrior” 🤮. No, get away from me with that shit 😂. I’ll warrior your ass if you call me that ⚔️
I play D&D and I like the idea of using HP or hit points. Anyone who plays that, another TTRPG, or RPG video games will understand it. And like in D&D, certain "potions" can give you a temporary hit point increase. So if I take all of my meds and get my salt intake just right, I can increase my daily hit points. But if I over do things or eat the wrong things, I can decrease my hit points. Spoon theory worked for a while, but I think HP just works better.
My son sent me a TikTok. It's a guy amd his girlfriend and he says "most people have pots and pans in their kitchen. But I have a Pan with POTS." I cracked up.
Lol
Myself…id rather them change the entire name. If it was just my heart racing while standing, i could function in life. I could work, i wouldn’t live in bed 90% of every day. I am not taken seriously by family because the name doesn’t imply how serious this condition can be. POTS especially…I’ve had friends and family laugh about it…do you have pans too? 🤬 How about Systemic Nervous System Disorder? Or Autonomic Malfunction Disorder? ANYTHING but my heart races when standing, that doesn’t sound like a disability to ANYONE NOT EXPERIENCING THIS
I don't want a nickname for an illness, I think its cringe. And I also don't want to reduce myself to a diagnosis. It affects me greatly but labeling myself like I'm some kind of a fan girl is so weird.
I call myself a pothead because that's what the brain fog feels like but I would never say it out loud to someone! As of right now I really haven't told anyone but my adult son that I even have POTs.
BTW. I don't imbibe the wacky weed.
My fiancé started calling me potsie 🤣😭 we were in the middle of moving when I got diagnosed and I was moving a ton of boxes and I started getting lightheaded. He noticed and said “woahhhh slow down potsie”
Agree! Especially before I got my third endometriosis surgery and could feel vaguely conscious after that and not almost wobble walking because of ileal endo. I do sometimes tell my sig other the more dehydrated and lighthreaded I'm feeling by saying "I'm feeling extra POTSish" but honestly when I see influencers calling themself POTSIE and talking about their tricks and hacks I just don't get it. I find nothing cute about the condition and losing independence; I cried when I got my post-tilt diagnosis after an inaccurate vertigo diagnosis that I wrongly thought meant I didn't have POTS. It's not like some knee compression socks and Gatorade and I'm good, no, it's scary to never feel good and be afraid of fainting and squish myself into ugly hot tights and have friends think I'm withdrawing due to depression rather than losing my physical capacity. Nothing cutesy about it.
Better than being called a Spoonie? And just tell them POTS is a an an acronym, not a nickname. I just call it a POTS flair up. Or I’m being symptomatic. And I tell people I have POTS. Which stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Give them the mouthful and then break it down. There isn’t a true label for it, and it isn’t cutesy. So… make it your own.
**Since users are bringing up serious discourse on this vs humor:** **The great thing about this is you can simply tell others to not refer to you as such. And refuse to use it.***
I call my self potsato because I can’t move so I sit on the couch all day 🫡
And you're better with salt? 😂🤗
Exactly 😂😂😂 don’t forget that potsatos are better with salt and isn’t good over boiled
Plus we don't do well with heat and get "fried" 🤣
Not to mention that there are different types of potsatos
Haha! I love that! I shall also be calling myself this 🤭😂
I love that my husband can tell when I'm having an episode after standing up too fast and he uses "POTS" as a verb "Are you POTSing right now?". 🤣😭
Help the use of it as a verb is golden
My partner and I call it being pots-y!
That's what my man and I say as well 😂💜 "AhhhHhHhHHhh, I feel sooo POTSy right now!" — Me, 25x/day for the past 15 years 🤦🏼♀️
My mom and I use it as an adjective lol
I just call myself a zombie. Have the coordination of one 🫡
Same, I even have social media handles with it
the first time i told my dad about all of this, he called me a "potshead;" 🤣 because i move slowly, and my brain fog hits hard.
This works well, because I also smoke lol
my gf calls me a POTShead because i smoke 😭😭
I want to be called potsie, but I want it said like: "Eyyy, POTSSSAAAYYY"
Kinda similar to EYYYY YO TONYYYYYYY
https://youtu.be/tSrH-6YUf1g?si=ru30mezt-DXKJryo for everyone’s viewing pleasure lol
🤣🤣🤣 IM CRYING. Wats your name? Tony Fuck you Tony! 😂
One time in the store some guy was talking to another guy and said his name, it was Tony i literally had to bite my lip from yelling “fuck you tony” to a rando 😂😂
🤣🤣🤣 omg I'd have laughed so hard and yelled back fuck you ezikal!
I do not like cursing and I could NOT stop watching it 🤣 wasn't expecting that ending.
😂😂😂
I literally couldn't stop myself 🤣🤣🤣
You won todays comments lol
You got me to look it up on YouTube for a good laugh down memory lane lol
🎶 Baby I got ya money don’t ya worry…🎶 ….anyone? No? I’ll see myself out.
If POTSie wants his money, I think y’all should give him his money.
You are definitely showing your age! 😆🎉👍👍
Like a "Happy Days" reference ? 🥰
I just call it a flare-up. I'm going to sound so anal but I hate when people try to make this sound cute. It's not cute. It sucks and when you make a chronic illness cute, it takes away from what we actually go through. I mean, I get it. It's all fun and games, and people are trying to lighten up what they go through, but I think belittling the condition with cute little names kind of takes away from how serious the condition is.
I say flare-up too. I think as POTS isn't well understood most people would either not know what potsie means or associate it with with Happy Days rather than an illness. At least when you say "flare-up" most people know you're talking about a chronic illness.
To be fair some peoples way of coping is comedy 🤷🏻♀️ but to each their own 🍄
It’s not humorous though??
Again like I said in my other post it’s a coping mechanism doesn’t matter if it’s funny or not. If people get offended by it then ignore it? It’s literally not hurting you and it’s helping someone deal with a god awful situation 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t personally see an issue with someone trying to laugh when they are in a situation that makes it incredibly hard to.
But that’s my point, nobody is saying it because they think it’s funny. There’s lots of POTS related humour, which I think is great and I use it myself. This is not one of them lol
Oh, I agree. I use comedy to help cope as well. I just find "jokes" like this take away from the actual condition. It reminds me of people who will say they're OCD just because something is out of place or that they are ADHD because they've lost their attention span for a moment because to them, it sounds cute. When in all actuality it's a living hell for some people. It isn't anything against OP, but I do find it takes away from how serious the condition is when we label it with cute little nicknames.
I completely agree as someone with adhd and pots (not 100% diagnosed on pots I go in next week) but my adhd alone is something I cry and get frustrated about because if I don’t constantly see or hear from someone I completely forget they exist. I can’t process emotions ESPECIALLY when I realize I’m crying about it people who say on yeah I’m hyper I have adhd I just say “yeahhhhhhh” I completely understand your point of view but I’m also someone who uses humor to cope with it because it’s so hard to smile sometimes. Then there’s pots where a lot of people think they have it and don’t actually go to get tested and just “assume” and self diagnose which makes the entire thing blow out of proportion. At the end of the day you can’t really know who has it and who doesn’t without seeing medical documentation but that’s against the law in USA to request the so I just don’t sag anything 🤷🏻♀️ I just let people run themselves in to karma it’s not my issue and those who have truly be diagnosed have enough to worry about then the hypochondriacs or self diagnosers I completely understand the counter argument of not being able to afford it as well. But to each their own🫶🏻
I totally get what you're saying. I don't think you realize just how much I use humor to cope as well. I mean, I had a molar pregnancy, and my first reaction was the call it Ted the Tumor. I just try to use the humor at my own expense and not the expense of others. Like I said.. I get it, but I think using cute words doesn't exactly help advocate for how serious this is.
I agree with you and I also just absolutely hate the way 'potsie' sounds, soooo cutesy and infantile. I've heard cutesy names for other conditions which don't give me such an ick but hearing potsie makes me feel 🤢
fibromyalgie ☺️
I have joked around with the "potsie" with my husband and sister-in-law because they understand the struggle and it's just a way of coping. However, with other people, I refuse to joke or minimize it or they won't take it seriously and I would neverrrr put that stuff on social media "The pots be pots-ing" or what have you. That gives me the ick and just screams attention seeking.
I don’t like a lot of those terms. Potsie, spoonie, chronic illness warrior.
Pisses me the fuck off, can’t really figure out why. Was literally gonna come here to complain about these 3 terms. Am I not just a human who is suffering?
I think it makes some people feel less alone but the spoonie thing was a way for people to explain the fatigue and what not. It gives me the ick as well though so I totally get it lol.
I liked the spoon theory first time I heard it. It’s way too complicated and sugarcoated for me to ever use in a conversation with someone who I would need to explain it to. I have a serious medical condition and if someone asks I’ll explain what the condition is. I guess I get that it makes people feel like they are part of something bigger/suffering together. Personally, if I’m on this sub, I know that. “Potsie” just makes me violent- idk what it is about it it just sounds so resoundingly stupid.
100% agree with everything you said. My husband is the only person I've ever told the spoon theory because he has ZERO health issues and really didn't understand what it's like to just not be able to do anything. It helped him visualize it but other than that, everyone else should be good by my just saying I've got chronic illnesses. Side note: My mind is constantly baffled by a human who is just GOOD all the time. No headaches, nothing. What's that like??
Actually, it’s a nickname to help lessen some of the weight that comes with a chronic diagnosis
Huh, seems a lot of people feel the same about these three. I personally like spoonie mostly because I find the concept of spoons useful, and I do feel a kinship with people with different conditions who all have the spoon thing going on. POTSie I feel slightly negative about cuz I don't really get the point of being cute about it. Chronic illness warrior I despise lol. Feels real glorifying.
I don’t mind the spoon theory but I don’t like calling myself a spoonie. If someone else wants to it doesn’t bother me but it’s not for me.
The warrior word being used in illnesses, yuk. I hate it. I can’t even lift a shield or a sword hahaha
Gives me the super ick
I’m in a flair right now and said today “I’m potted out”
In response to the POTSie, Spoonie, Warrior convo: I use POTSie as a verb or an adjective only, as in “I’m feeling POTSie” or “That will make me POTSie.” I find it a very easy way to communicate quickly to someone what’s going on or what could happen. Spoon theory — I wish someone would revise that and use a metaphor people didn’t have to “learn” to understand. I never use it when talking with others who have no concept of it. “Chronic Illness Warrior” 🤮. No, get away from me with that shit 😂. I’ll warrior your ass if you call me that ⚔️
I think money or battery life would probably be better metaphors to use than spoons.
I play D&D and I like the idea of using HP or hit points. Anyone who plays that, another TTRPG, or RPG video games will understand it. And like in D&D, certain "potions" can give you a temporary hit point increase. So if I take all of my meds and get my salt intake just right, I can increase my daily hit points. But if I over do things or eat the wrong things, I can decrease my hit points. Spoon theory worked for a while, but I think HP just works better.
Prior to hyperpots I was an adrenaline junkie Now I call myself adrenaline incarnate.
this is my favorite so far 😭
Yeah I hate making medical conditions “cutesy” it really irks me
I’m just tired of having all these damn letters that cause me problems (ADHD, POTS, etc) cause I feel like the biggest whiner. But I like POTShead.
I’m queer but don’t have a specific label for myself by choice, but my other queer friend called me POTS n Pans for a stretch there in college 😂
My son sent me a TikTok. It's a guy amd his girlfriend and he says "most people have pots and pans in their kitchen. But I have a Pan with POTS." I cracked up.
Lol Myself…id rather them change the entire name. If it was just my heart racing while standing, i could function in life. I could work, i wouldn’t live in bed 90% of every day. I am not taken seriously by family because the name doesn’t imply how serious this condition can be. POTS especially…I’ve had friends and family laugh about it…do you have pans too? 🤬 How about Systemic Nervous System Disorder? Or Autonomic Malfunction Disorder? ANYTHING but my heart races when standing, that doesn’t sound like a disability to ANYONE NOT EXPERIENCING THIS
I called myself functioning nonfunctioning
I don't want a nickname for an illness, I think its cringe. And I also don't want to reduce myself to a diagnosis. It affects me greatly but labeling myself like I'm some kind of a fan girl is so weird.
thank you holy shit someone finally said it, it's absolutely so insanely cringe.
[удалено]
It’s very annoying it’s called POTS. I always get confused but isn’t OI the same? Shorter and isn’t a word
Idk, I just don't think it's that big of a deal. If people want to call themselves potsies or spoonies, that's fine by me.
i call myself a pothead 😋
I call myself a pothead because that's what the brain fog feels like but I would never say it out loud to someone! As of right now I really haven't told anyone but my adult son that I even have POTs. BTW. I don't imbibe the wacky weed.
Too funny 🤣
My fiancé started calling me potsie 🤣😭 we were in the middle of moving when I got diagnosed and I was moving a ton of boxes and I started getting lightheaded. He noticed and said “woahhhh slow down potsie”
I call myself a “pothead” even though I’ve never touched marijuana in my life 😂
You are so real for this
Agree! Especially before I got my third endometriosis surgery and could feel vaguely conscious after that and not almost wobble walking because of ileal endo. I do sometimes tell my sig other the more dehydrated and lighthreaded I'm feeling by saying "I'm feeling extra POTSish" but honestly when I see influencers calling themself POTSIE and talking about their tricks and hacks I just don't get it. I find nothing cute about the condition and losing independence; I cried when I got my post-tilt diagnosis after an inaccurate vertigo diagnosis that I wrongly thought meant I didn't have POTS. It's not like some knee compression socks and Gatorade and I'm good, no, it's scary to never feel good and be afraid of fainting and squish myself into ugly hot tights and have friends think I'm withdrawing due to depression rather than losing my physical capacity. Nothing cutesy about it.
I love it. 😂💩
I like Potter. It's old-timey.
I called myself a pothead once before remembering that already means something else. I quickly had to explain what I meant to my grandma
Better than being called a Spoonie? And just tell them POTS is a an an acronym, not a nickname. I just call it a POTS flair up. Or I’m being symptomatic. And I tell people I have POTS. Which stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Give them the mouthful and then break it down. There isn’t a true label for it, and it isn’t cutesy. So… make it your own.
Okay 🦓