Stress Triggeting/worsening Pots Symptoms

[iheartcats]

When I have a 'stressful' moment of some sort (work, argument, etc.)...I can get a POTS flare-up instantly.

If I'm having a 'decent' symptom day, and something really stressful/anxiety-inducing comes along, my heart rate will jump more then I think it 'should' with a normal person. Before POTS I know my heart rate increased with something upsetting (that's typical)...but now it will increase faster and pound, I'll get a dizzy, and just feel wiped out for a bit afterwards.

I'll try to sit and be calm for a few, but it really seems hard to get the POTS symptoms under control after the stress/anxiety pass.

Does anyone else experience this? Or does anyone have tips on how to deal at work/home/etc. when this happens?

[jbrian00]

Absolutely...I have anxiety in addition to a lot of POTS symptoms, and whenever I am anxious about something, my heart rate will be higher than normal when sitting. When standing, it is also higher proportionately, and I will also have an exacerbation of other symptoms, particularly headaches or head tension, whatever is happening in my poor head.

It will also take longer for my symptoms to resolve themselves, sometimes it takes up to a day for my hr to return to "normal" levels and other symptoms to reduce.

The same happens after feeling any strong emotion, like love or hate.

James

[carinara]

Maybe you want to have a look at one of my posts i wrote a while back.

http://dinet.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtop...amp;hl=carinara

All the best

carinara

[jbrian00]

Thanks....I can relate to that post

[Carly87]

I can totally relate. Stress aggravates my symptoms a lot. Like another poster said, even strong emotions like excitement or happiness can bother me too! I don't have a huge problem with anxiety anymore but my body still overreacts to things, which causes symptoms to flare. I have heard that any extreme, whether happy or sad, is still stress either way. This past year at school I got some REALLY good news that almost brought me to tears and I almost had to laugh because my symptoms acted up major after that!! I'm talking dizziness, jitteryness, sick feeling and faster heart rate for the rest of the day.

[jbrian00]

Last year I met this girl that I really liked, and she asked me out. We dated for a little while, but whenever she would call me on the phone, just the fact that I saw her name on the caller ID made my heart race. And whenever I drove to visit her, my heart rate would be really high. At one point she even mentioned to me that my heart rate seemed to be really fast. I told her it was because I was in love (because it's normal for your hr to be higher because of strong emotion, such as being with someone you love), but mine of course was tons faster than normal.

Even though we aren't dating anymore, she still calls me sometimes and the second I know she's calling, my hr would shoot way up.

James

[iheartcats]

While it's annoying this stuff causes POTS to flare up, I'm glad it's 'normal' for the condition.

I do think stress + symptoms = anxiety which = even worse symptoms.

What an illness to deal with - it's so hard to get people to understand. And it's hard to 'brush off' your emotions...that's so difficult to do.

[nunibenuni]

I have the same sort of problem. I've been stressing over some friendships lately and I am still sick today from a fight that I had last night. I get high hr, nausea, headache, jitteryness, dizziness, the works. I get symptoms with too. I'm waiting for my AP scores and every time I check the mail, my heart races.

[delphicdragon]

Completely agree! Stress makes everything worse. Spent the weekend moving out of a very bad apartment (sublettor was nuts) and I'm still feeling it. I wish we recovered from stress like everyone else did.

Sara