Musings of a Dysautonomiac

POTS 101 – Reblog

My fellow POTS blogger over at lethargicsmiles  provides a great description of POTS, what it is, and what it would feel like if you had it.  With her permission, I’m sharing Jackie’s page, POTS 101, because it really helps relay the challenges of this condition and provides a better description than I have been able to of how difficult it can be to do something as routine as stand up.

POTS 101:

Here is what the experience of standing up would be like if you had POTS…

1. You would stand up.
2. Gravity would rapidly pull blood down your legs where it pools. Your body cannot adjust to the pull of gravity (Note: In a “normal” person, the blood would remain around the abdomen, allowing the person to go about their business without even thinking about what their blood is up to.)
   
3. With blood pooling at your feet. This tends to be painful and feel like you have on really heavy boots and something is pressing out from the inside. Your body, including your brain is only getting about 80% as much oxygen as it should be.
4. Within as little as 30 seconds, your heart begins to race two or three times as fast as what is considered normal. The heart is trying to get blood/oxygen to your brain. With POTS, a heart rate upwards of 120 is not abnormal.
5. This will make you feel dizzy and you may faint or come very close to fainting. If you fainted, this might be the end of the story.
6. Click here to visit Jackie’s page and read more.

Stay tuned.
- L