Living with POTS. is very difficult. It affects your entire life as it does your entire body. POTS generally wears a person out quicker than a normal person because it makes the body use three times the energy that a normal person would. Just changing positions such as from sitting to standing, if done too quickly, can cause the person to black out or faint.
POTS affects 1 out of 100 women. It is highly common but very hard to diagnose. To diagnose, you have to go through a sweat test and a tilt table test. The sweat test I personally went through just had me putting my hands and feet on metal plates, but there are tests where they actually get you to sweat in a hot room. Here are three symptoms of POTS and what it is for those of you who may not be familiar with it.
What Is POTS?
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POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. This basically means that there is an abnormal increase in heart rate from changing positions from sitting or lying down to standing and can cause dizziness and fainting. The exact cause for this is unknown but it is associated with low blood volume and certain autoimmune diseases or diabetes.
POTS can last up to several years or be lifelong. It rarely requires lab testing or imaging. Treatments can help manage the condition, but there is no known cure. This is a syndrome that is most common in females and occurs between the ages of 15-50. A family history may increase the likelihood of some types of POTS. Unfortunately, this is a condition that not much is known about. It still requires research to find out an exact cause and cure.
Dysautonomia is also a name that POTS goes by, although they are not quite interchangeable. Dysautonomia is a general term meaning disorders that disrupt the autonomic nervous system. There can be several different types of autonomic nervous system disorders. POTS is just a name for one of the disorders of the autonomic nervous system.
Symptoms
Many symptoms come with having the disorder but these three symptoms perhaps stand out more than the rest to define the illness. Those symptoms are lightheadedness upon changing positions, high/low blood pressure, and fainting. These symptoms need to be experienced every day or quite often to be diagnosed with the disease.
While those may be the three main symptoms, there are a slew of symptoms that plague alongside them. Some of those are anxiety, nausea, headaches, inability to exercise, and rapid heartbeat. These are usually experienced regularly from changing positions.
Personally speaking, the symptoms affect everyday life. People have trouble bending over to pick something up off the floor, for example, because the change in position is too extreme. It can make one feel dizzy when coming back up. A person can become overly fatigued very easily with POTS. Headaches or migraines are also connected with the disease.
Testing and Treatment
A range of symptoms will vary from person to person and they will need to undergo certain testing to diagnose. And it can be tricky to diagnose. As I stated above, the testing will consist of a tilt table and a sweat test. These can usually be done in the office and are done for the express purpose of diagnosing. They monitor your heart rate as well as your blood pressure thoroughly during the tilt test as well. But the tilt table test is what will determine if you have the disorder or not.
If you or a loved one is diagnosed with POTS there is not a whole lot you can do. But what you can do will help. Drink about 2-4 liters of water per day. This includes water you can find in foods as well as in beverages. Include electrolytes. I recommend either Liquid I.V. or Drip Drop for electrolytes. They are in a powder form and can be easily mixed with a cup of water. Liquid I.V. has more of a salty taste to it but Drip Drop does not. Both come in a variety of flavors. Liquid I.V. has a couple of sugar-free options.
Another way you can treat the disorder is by getting salt tablets or by increasing salt in your diet especially if you are dealing with low blood pressure. When exercising, use 5-10 minutes to warm up or do yoga and set a target heart rate. Use compression garments as well. This can help return fluid to your legs. Also, try sleeping with your head raised about 6-10 inches above your body.
If you are a loved one experiences these symptoms, get help. There are a few dysautonomia clinics in the U.S.A. Google “dysautonomia clinics by me” and you’ll find what is available nearest you.
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