POTS without a drop in blood pressure?

[persephone]

Any thoughts?

Each time I get readings taken by regular machines when I have a 'tip', as I call it, my BP doesn't seem to change that much. Is POTS without a significant drop in BP still POTS? Is th epulse increase enough (I definitely have that)...or does that mean I have IST instead and need catheter ablations? Confuzzled folks, any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated

[calypso]

My neuro took my BP standing and sitting and it really only dropped from something like 110/70 to 106/70 or so. I definitely have POTS. I think that many here have low BP or BP fluctuations, but it certainly seems like many here just have the high heart rate.

Amy

[MightyMouse]

Here's the official definition:

http://www.dinet.org/pots_an_overview.htm

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is defined by excessive heart rate increments upon upright posture. A person with POTS will experience heart rates that increase 30 beats or more per minute upon standing and/or increase to 120 beats or more per minute upon standing (Grubb, 2000). These exaggerated heart rate increases usually occur within 10 minutes of rising.

[persephone]

THankyou Amy and Mighty Mouse! Sorry, feel quite silly now! Should have remembered the definition! Am one of the SPECIAL people, I guess

[morgan617]

my bp NEVER drops. and since my ablation only activity of any kind increases my heart rate, which my doctor tells me is why i feel so crummy. ablation was the worst thing i ever did morgan ( i believe it's why vanderbilt blew me off) before the ablation, just standing would jack my heart rate from the low 100's to 160 or 180. so when they got the lower numbers post ablation, they never looked at anything else. jerks. morgan

[Radha]

what exactly is ablation? thanks for any info

radha

[StaceyYount]

Hey,

Just as a side note my bp drops but very slowly, on my second TTT it went from 110/60 to 0/palp??( or something like that I don't remember the exact number). Anyway the blood pressure drop took the whole TTT time. But my heart rate went to 185 by the end of the test. So you may not have the immediate drop it just may slowly drop the longer you stand. There is some article about that somewhere were a subset of POTS patients have the slow bp drop. But the brain fog is deep and I can't remember were I read that.

Hope this helps,

Stacey :-)

[morgan617]

radha, ablation is when they put a catheter through your groin and thread it to your heart and burn areas they think are causing the tachycardia. There are certain conditions it works great for, but pots is not one of them. morgan

[steph37822]

oops

[TexasGrrl]

I did a self-study a while back after I bought a blood pressure cuff and found some interesting information.

I conducted this test by measuring my bp/hr while supine, then while sitting, then while standing. 1 minute intervals, swapping arms each time so blood congestion wouldn't skew the results. I measured while standing every minute for 10 minutes.

After I charted the results, I found that my BP and HR lines would see-saw, intersecting across the chart. First reading, BP drops and HR was high. Next reading, HR drops to something approaching normal and BP goes high. And so on and so forth, for the entire time.

I have EDS III. It was apparent to me that my body was trying to cope with what it knew it couldn't do (tighten the veins in the legs) by modulating HR and BP. When the BP went up, it slowed down the heart rate because it didn't have to be that fast to get oxygen to my head. When my body realized that my heart rate was slowing, it let off the BP and the heart rate went up to compensate.

It's like riding in a car with someone who can't hold a steady speed but is constantly going faster/slower/faster/slower. Sure wish our bodies came with cruise control!!

Anyway, I personally think it has a lot to do with what your particular cause of POTS is, as to whether your BP drops or not, but it is definitely not always part and parcel of the whole POTS gig.