EDS Co-existing with POTS - Power Over POTS

Frequently EDS and POTS occur together in the same patient. When combined, patients may experience greater weakening of valves and walls of veins leading to even greater venous pooling of blood into the lower body. Over-stretched and dilated veins encourage more exaggerated venous pooling. Thus, they share POTS symptoms like headache, dizziness and “brain fog,” only they tend to be more severe. Further reduction in cardiac output leads to greater abdominal and more severe general POTS symptoms. Like POTS, EDS mostly affects females. A variety of genetic abnormalities have been discovered to be responsible for EDS. More recently, EDS is being referred to as the Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS).

EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) is a group of inherited disorders that affect the structure of collagens (the connective tissues) that support most body parts – primarily skin, eyes, mucous membranes, nerves, vascular, cardiac, joint and bone structures. Lack of collagen coverings can result in bluish-purple discoloration white of eyes, mouth and teeth.

EDS occurs frequently in the general population and like POTS occurs most frequently among females. EDS appears to be a dominant hereditary trait, meaning if only one parent transmits the gene to you, you will manifest some of its characteristics. In EDS patients, the connective tissue structures are defective and weakened. Connective tissues come in many specialized forms and serve to support, strengthen, bind and maintain the shapes of all organs.

The most common physical manifestations of EDS are thin hyper-elastic skin (excessive skin stretching), easy bruising, bleeding, poor wound healing and joint hypermobility. All joints can be affected; looseness and “double-jointedness” are characteristic of EDS and can be observed in the fingers, wrists, shoulders, elbows, back, knees and toes. Joints that are extremely loose (double-jointed) are more prone to recurrent sprains. Because of weakened joint structure, EDS patients are more prone to repetitive stress injuries, ligament and cartilage tears, dislocations, joint pains and chronic arthritis.

A majority of EDS patients also exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms such as upper abdominal pain, gastro-intestinal reflux, early feeling of fullness, and disturbances of intestinal motility (nausea, bloating and vomiting). Lower abdominal symptoms include diarrhea and constipation. Defective collagen within the blood vessels and walls of the intestines alters their function – reducing muscular contractibility and slowing motility.

The weakness of the tissues and muscles that strengthen the abdominal wall result in an increase in abdominal and inguinal (groin) hernias (tears in the supportive tissues of the abdominal wall). Defective collagen within the pelvic organs results in loss of pelvic support and abnormalities of bladder function, especially in women.

Every patient with EDS needs to be evaluated by a cardiologist to rule out the presence of abnormalities of heart valves and major vessels.

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Dr. Scheldon Kress is a specialist in Internal Medicine with over 30 years of clinical experience caring for patients and pioneering behavioral management strategies to help patients make healthy lifestyle changes with respect to weight loss, stress management, diabetes management and smoking cessation. Passionate about helping patients manage difficult to diagnose medical conditions, he became interested in POTS when several family members and friends struggled with the symptoms, proper diagnosis and effective management of POTS.

Observing the challenges of POTS first-hand, he began to provide POTS patients and their families with a better understanding of causes and potential treatments, while at the same time teaching them how to utilize an effective behavioral change program to manage their POTS symptoms. This self-directed program is a must-read for patients and families dealing with POTS to empower them to take back their lives and achieve POWER over POTS.

Five Star Reviews

Extremely helpful and informative

My daughter has been suffering these symptoms for months. She, like many others, has been misdiagnosed with neurological diseases and mental illness. Even with her heart rate being 30 beats different and multitude of symptoms, doctor was still skeptical because of her blood pressure not changing. Doctors are not educated on this syndrome and it’s extremely hard to find one that is. This has brought a lot of stress to our family, however, as her mom, I persevered, held my own and kept on researching. I came across POTS, educated myself and now we know what’s wrong and how to fix it. This book was one of the books to help us get there. Thank you for publishing this extremely helpful information!

- Praha2014, Amazon

I would like to thank Dr. Kress for writing this book and bringing much needed attention to this illness. POTS is something I have struggled with for many years and I appreciate how thorough and descriptive the book is. The first part of the book expertly describes the ins and outs of finding a diagnosis and how to recognize POTS in a patient. The second section of the book is perfect for families trying to navigate the lifestyle changes that a patient and the rest of the family go through in order to make recovery easier. The book covers all the bases for someone who is looking for more information about POTS. I will most definitely be sharing this book with friends and family and continue spreading the word of this most amazing book.

- Mary Beth, Amazon

The Best POTS Book Available!

This book was extremely helpful in helping my family understand and navigate POTS. The medical information is outstanding and the explanations for the behavioral changes necessary to improve POTS symptoms are easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about POTS or wants to lessen their POTS symptoms to feel better. It really is a fantastic book and I like that it is written by a medical doctor who really understands how POTS affects every aspect of a patient's life.

- Angelina, Amazon

This book was incredibly helpful in educating me and helping me manage my child's difficult medical condition.

- Karen, Goodreads

Additional Information

I hope you find my book to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. The book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The publisher and author are not responsible for any specific health needs that may require medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change. The author is no longer in private practice and not in a position to respond to any medical inquiries.