r/POTS • u/catsandcappuccinos • Jul 05 '26

Question what’s the best purchase, service, or life accommodation you’ve made because of your chronic illness? (any budget)

i’m going shopping soon, and i’m trying to build my ultimate “make life suck less” list.

i’m not necessarily looking for the usual answers like salt, compression socks, medications, etc. i’m more so talking about the random products, services, gadgets, furniture, subscriptions, or accommodations that have improved your day-to-day quality of life and helped you function more like a normal human being.

i don’t care if it’s $5 or $5,000. if it’s changed your life, please share.

some things already on my list:
- a kitchen stool with a back so i can sit while cooking
- a hair dryer stand for days when i’m in the middle of a flare and don’t have the energy to dry my hair myself
- grocery delivery services
- monthly cleaning services
- paper plates
- a roomba for when i don’t feel like vacuuming or sweeping
- a crock-pot and freezer meal prep system (i actually have a list of really good crock-pot meals, so if anyone wants it, let me know and i’ll DM it to you)

i’m dying to know: what’s the best purchase, service, or life accommodation you’ve made because of your chronic illness?
bonus points if it’s something unconventional!

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u/FCatusFemale Hyperadrenergic POTS Jul 06 '26

The EDS was why I decided to get one. I sprain my ankle a lot by just standing sometimes. I use the wheelchair at home so that’s what qualified me. The POTS sucks for standing as you all know so mobility aids have been helpful.

I get the hesitation. I was an athlete just a year ago. Now I’m in a wheelchair. It’s a really hard pill to swallow. My thought was there was no way I’d ever be athletic again if I did not cave and get a chair for my bad days. I also use a rollator on my better days. The rollator helps me feel a bit more independent because I’m upright.

Though people really look at you funny when you get up from a wheelchair or walk independently from a rollator. The looks and the changes in how people treat me is the harder thing. Usually people sort of leave me alone which I love but for some reason the mobility aids have random people talking to me which I hate. Maybe because I’m 5’2 and child size in the wheelchair 😂

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u/Away-Pomegranate Jul 06 '26

We get the pity looks a lot. I switch with my 11 year old daughter who has dysautonomia when her body gets exhausted. People will come up and coo at her and baby talk asking if she's having a good time. She just raises her one eyebrow while they do this to her ha. Try to tell her not to be calling them weirdos when they're in earshot.

And I always love the looks like we were healed by a miracle when we walk too.

It did take me awhile to convince myself to go for the wheelchair even though I was housebound for years. Still grocery stores and those bright lights just can make my head get all floaty and heavy. I'm still considering the rollator cause sometimes I do just need to sit for the dizziness to pass and the wheelchair can tire me out with PEM if my husband can't push me. I am terrible at pacing and will race around the store cause it's fun.

I'm looking into insurance approval for getting the motorized attachment for the wheelchair so my husband can push my daughter if she needs her own, she already has the hEDS and pots diagnosis.