Are you between the ages of 13 and 35, probably a female, who has always been in good health and now has newly acquired bizarre symptoms like: headaches, dizziness, weakness, racing heart, blurred vision and/or abdominal disturbances? When standing upright, do you experience excessive fatigue, drowsiness and/or brain fog or memory loss? Do you require daytime naps or have excessive absences?

Have you taken these complaints to one or more health care providers, and each was unable to find any abnormality based on a thorough physical examination. Have the health care providers suggested, “You don’t look sick!!” “Could it be anxiety??” or “Could it be stress related??”  Or “Maybe it’s all in your head!!”

 

Maybe you have POTS, postural (related to posture) orthostatic (related to being upright) tachycardia (rapid heart rate) syndrome (collection of symptoms). POTS is a common, but poorly recognized condition of adolescence associated with failure of several of the automatic bodily functions responsible for maintaining upward circulation of blood when upright. POTS can best be compared to an adolescent with a newly acquired body (tall structure) that has grown quickly…but, the building’s electrical wiring system (automatic functions) has not yet matured fully and is not functioning properly. Practically all of these bizarre symptoms POTS subjects experience are related to the diminished return of blood to the heart and subsequently to the brain, especially when upright.

 

It’s estimated that as many as 3 million young Americans share the troubling symptoms of POTS. Most teenagers suffer with symptoms of POTS for years and are taken from specialist to specialist searching for a diagnosis. Unfortunately, many with these debilitating symptoms don’t know where to turn for help. POWER over POTS blog provides guidance for selecting the initial health care provider to visit : https://poweroverpots.com/suspect-pots-physician-see-first/

 

However, these same symptoms may be caused by other medical conditions. Therefore, you need to make an appointment with a health care provider knowledgeable about POTS for a comprehensive evaluation.