Could It Be Pots?

[busybee]

Hi,

I'm new here. I'm wondering if POTS could be the reason for my symptoms.

I've always described myself as a low-energy kind of person. I just never had the get-up-and-go energy that others had. For years, most days I feel like I never fully woke up until somewhere between 11am-2pm and then by the time I was feeling fully awake, I was starting to get tired from the day's activities. On family outings to the beach or a hike, the sun would give me a headache and I'd need to take breaks more than the others. I've also gotten very mentally foggy over the past 5 years. It started when I was pregnant with my first child and I can remember sitting in my boss's office talking about something important and finding my words coming out in a jumble. I can't do simple math like making change at the store. I find it very hard to focus on any type of mental work. I also get pounding headaches that begin within a minute of getting out of bed in the morning and take hours, plus 4 advil and 2 cups of coffee, to relieve.

The fatigue was to the point that I was just about to make an appointment with my GP a few weeks ago to talk about it, when I learned that my cousin was diagnosed with POTS. I had never heard of it before, but as I read about it, I wondered if this could be my problem as well. The related symptoms I have include fatigue, headaches, mental fogginess, irritable bowel, excessive urination, migraines (sporadically), intolerance to sun/heat (although I like hot baths), aching neck/shoulders (this is almost all the time and I just figured I slept funny or spent to much time at the keyboard, but I could especially relate to one story on here who said she feels it in her shoulders after a few sips of alcohol).

I've read all the stories posted on the main site and had a little time to look through the forum. So, I tried to do a poor-mans tilt test at home at various times of the day on different days. Here are my results from that:

Test 1

Time HR BP

8:40am 76 101/60 lying down

8:42 98 110/72 standing

8:44 101 112/77 "

8:46 108 110/75 "

8:49 105 112/76 "

8:52 62 102/57 lying back down

Test 2

Time HR BP

7:23am 67 101/60 lying down

7:25 114 109/71 standing

7:29 134 103/73 standing - felt like I was going to puke

7:33 57 103/59 lying back down

Test 3

Time HR BP

7:22am 78 104/65 lying down

7:24 110 110/70 standing

7:26 105 114/75 "

7:30 116 107/70 "

7:32 89 120/76 sitting down

Test 4

Time HR BP

12:10pm 63 101/62 lying down

12:12 92 113/74 standing

12:17 97 110/70 "

12:20 98 113/73 "

12:23 68 102/58 lying down

Test 5

Time HR BP

10:59pm 70 99/62 lying down

11:01 69 117/75 standing

11:04 80 113/78 "

11:09 87 117/78 "

This morning I was putting on make-up a few minutes after getting out of bed and I felt that pounding headache coming on, so I took my BP and got a HR of 114 and BP of 106/72, so I laid down for a few minutes and took it again and it was HR 62, BP 102/63, I laid there for a few minutes and the got up and got dressed then took it again and it was HR 96, BP 111/73.

It does seem like I get the higher HR in the mornings and not so much in the afternoon or evenings.

Since my HR does increase more than 30 points upon standing I do wonder if I could have POTS. But I don't have the severe symptoms that most of the stories on here describe. I don't think I've ever fainted in my life or even felt like I was going to faint. I wanted to see what the people on here thought before I go running to the doc with a self-diagnosis of a rare syndrome. Thank you for any insight anyone has to offer!

[hippychic258]

HI And welcome but sorry this is happening to you.

It looks to me as if a lot of your symptoms to be from Pots, You should go and get it checked out for sure by a Doctor familiar with pots just to be sure that there isn't anything else going on. I have never fainted either, some of us do and some of us don't.

Keep reading through the posts you will find more info and support here than from any Doc you see.

Meanwhile drink lots of fluid, and stay away from stress!!!!

Keep us posted

[HopeSprings]

You may have found your answer. Based on your symptoms and some of your home tests, it's definitely worth a closer look. A lot of us have more dramatic heartrates in the morning, but find things improve as the day goes on and many of us have never actually passed out. You would need autonomic testing to confirm. Is there a Doc in your area?

[busybee]

Thank you both so much for the replies!

You may have found your answer. Based on your symptoms and some of your home tests, it's definitely worth a closer look. A lot of us have more dramatic heartrates in the morning, but find things improve as the day goes on and many of us have never actually passed out. You would need autonomic testing to confirm. Is there a Doc in your area?

I don't know... I live near Atlanta, Ga, which is a pretty big city so chances seem good that there would be someone. I feel like I should start with my GP first to rule other more common things out since I haven't even had a physical in quite awhile. I plan to call in the morning. The headaches and fatigue are bad enough and frequent enough to be compromising my quality of life.

[HopeSprings]

Sounds like a plan - keep us posted!

[lfreem02]

I also live in Atlanta, and have not found anyone who specializes in autonomic issues here. I have seen several specialists at Emory since my sudden onset of symptoms nine months ago, and have been referred to Vanderbilt. I am still waiting to get an appointment. I am seeing a specialist in Birmingham next week, who has come highly recommended by others on this site.

[JeWareGT]

I live in Atlanta, and I see Dr. Nimish Dhruva. He's the cardiologist who diagnosed me, and he's great.

[weathermandj]

Your symptoms sound very similar to what mine were when POTS started to manifest itself. It can be VERY debilitating. Some days are worse than others and even different by the hour, depending on the patient, including myself. BP reading are kind of irrelevant with POTS because BP can be high or low when standing and is irrelevant for a POTS Dx. From looking at your HR alone, it looks like POTS, but I'm not a doctor. I would talk to your general practicioner and get in with a cardiologist or electrocardio doctor. My cardio doc referred me to an electrocardio doc who did the Dx. The other symptoms you have like the fatigue and brain fog, to name just a couple, go along with POTS. Sorry to hear about this happening to you. A tilt table test may be warranted for a complete Dx. Oh yeah, my symptoms get worse with heat as well! Best of luck to you. If your doctor isn't familiar with POTS just keep pressing for answers and searching for doctors until you get a Dx. It could always be something else, so a full cardio checkup will likely be ordered.