Raising My Legs Above My Head

[SeattleRain]

The main symptom I experience with POTS is that when I stand up, it feels like the blood going into my heart drops and for about 10 seconds my heart is throbbing/pounding really hard and slowly like it's not getting enough blood.

One of the most interesting things I've noticed is that if I raise my legs above my head before standing up, this almost completely alleviates the above symptoms. In addition to that, the tachycardia does not set in nearly as fast or as bad - it takes a good 5 minutes of standing up for my HR to get up to where it would have been if I didn't raise my legs above my head before standing.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has tired this (or is willing to). Especially the people that know they have pooling in the legs and/or have hypovolemia.

Am I wrong to assume this suggests I have pooling in the legs (and/or abdomen)?

I can't think of any other reason. My 1st cardiologist (who I dislike, fired and thinks I'm paranoid) made the comment "Well.... maybe you're relieving pressure on a joint or something".

[arizona girl]

Seattle, it makes complete sense that you would get relief from that maneuver. If you google Dr. Grubb or look at the articles by him that are posted on dinet. He describes exactly the volume change your feeling on standing.

I was always getting yelled at as a kid for crawling me feet/legs up the walls are object that would get my legs higher. I was instinctively compensating, without even knowing something was wrong. It was shocking when a doc had me do poor mans tilt to see that my hr was zooming when I stood. I did not feel my heart pounding, I would just feel fatigued. If I got caught standing stationary somewhere, I would feel pain and aching and would start looking for a place to sit.

Your not crazy and doctors that understand what is going on would never say what that doctor said to you. Good thing to move on and find someone new. I've had to move on from many doctors during my search. I won't lie it was the most stressful part of being sick during that diagnostic stage. Just so you don't feel bad, I had a doc say to me, "Are you one of those people who look things up on the internet and there is nothing really wrong with you." My colon ruptured a few months later. It turned out the my whole immune systems was very ill. I let that doctor defeat me and gave up. The silver lining of the rupture was I had no choice but to get back on the horse again and figure out what was wrong. My surgeon forced me and pointed me in the right direction.

So don't give up until you know you've got it figured out and are satisfied with your treatment plan and the support of your doctors.

[badhbt]

Before I knew I had pots ( I work in a hospital) I would lay down on one of our stretchers and put it in trendelenburg position. ( The head of the bed down and the feet high) I would feel so much better after being in this position.

[Katybug]

Helps me too. And yes I think its because my blood pools so quickly that just by the simple laws of physics, if more of the blood has further to travel before it leaves my head it extends the time before I feel like I am brain dead.