Treatment of POTS - Power Over POTS

Each POTS patient has a unique combination of physiologic deviations – correctable body changes. It may be low blood volume, low salt intake, poor muscular strength and exercise intolerance, cardiac atrophy (loss of muscle due to disuse), inadequate sleep, stress or medications that aggravate your POTS symptoms, For most POTS patients it is a combination of most of these changes .Therefore, treatment needs to be tailored to correct those factors most important for you. For most POTS patients, treatment (behavioral changes) will consist of small initial steps, followed gradually by larger steps. Start thinking you can and let’s figure out how you can do it.

Increasing Salt and Fluids

Increasing salt and fluid intake may be the easiest task for most POTS patients. Aim for a total fluid intake of 2-3 quarts (equivalent to 8-12 8-ounce glasses) of fluids per day. Seek out salty foods and liquids. Luckily for adolescents, most favorite snacks, fast foods and restaurant foods are high in sodium. Canned soups, vegetables and tomato products, sauces, cheeses, bakery foods, deli meats and pizza are all heavily salted foods. POWER over POTS provides Recovery Records to make it easier to track increased salt and fluid intake.

Increasing Muscular Strength & Exercise

Adding exercise rehabilitation of your lower extremity muscles is a little more challenging. Whether dealing with excessive fatigue or relative inactivity, both require motivating oneself to initiate a regular exercise program. Whereas POTS patients have most difficulty with symptoms while standing, it’s preferable to start with exercises you can perform without standing. Try to exercise your thigh and leg muscles while lying down. Dance with your feet on the ground while sitting in a chair. Avoid prolonged crossing of your legs when sitting as it impedes lower leg upward venous flow.

Reclining cycling, rowing machines and swimming are the best tolerated and preferred starting exercises, as they avoid upright exercising. Much later, when stronger, consider endurance exercises such as stationary bicycling, bicycling, walking, hiking and dancing. Start out small, 2 to 5 minutes at first, then gradually increase the number of minutes of exercise. Work towards 30+ minutes 5-6 days per week. Adding endurance training may be the most challenging task needed, but it is the most important therapeutic step required if one is to take back one’s life. POWER over POTS provides Recovery Records to make it easier to track increased muscular strengthening.

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.