Uk Diagnosis

[andybonse]

Hi All,

I'm new here so thought I'd try get some knowledge!

I have had an increase in my heart rate by 30-34 beats for a year or two now, I'm 21 male and live in the UK. I have never thought much about it until now a lot of things have become clear, the feeling slightly short of breath when standing and the heart is racing, its usually like 60-70 at rest then 90-105 etc.

I have been to the doctors due to chest pain when excersising and had an echocardiogram,ecgs(lots),24 hour ecg, stress treadmill ecg, all sorts of bloods and diabetes test, all normal. I was like but i'm getting this pain but was shrugged off.

I recently started having panic attacks and very anxious, I'm getting to the point where I cant go to work because of them and nervous to go out far or drive.

So, I went to the doctors today for like the 5th times in a few weeks, saying I think I have POTS, funny enough sometimes when I stand i'll be ok and it wont rise much like it shouldn't and he said its anxiety and shrugged it of, but if I lay down or sit down for a while and do it, it will show but he wouldn't have it.

I wake up in the night for the toilet and the heart pounds as usual, it's just annoying how he didn't believe me!

However, I have private health insurance and am being refered to a cardiologist who specialises in POTS, so hopefully he can help me.

Not sure on what I should be prepared for etc?

A few questions,

As my heart race goes up by 30-34 and is usually not so demanding with symptoms, could treatments get me back to normal? I know some people get it really bad and its disabling and I can appreciate how hard this must be!

Can it get considerabley worse? It hasnt over the year or two but I'm afraid of it getting worse! I have my whole life ahead of me and am quite scared about this.

I can excersise fine usually, could this help at all with the heart rate / symptoms?

I am asking this from a perspective of people already going through the same thing and not as medical advise!

Thanks!

Andy

[davecom]

I don't know your personal situation, but to answer your general question - yes a lot of people with more mild pots do seem to get better with even non-medical interventions (drastically increased fluid intake, salt, exercise, etc). Some googling will help you find these interventions. Best wishes!

[corina]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum!

[andybonse]

Thanks for the replies! I have started drinking Powerades 1 litre a day to see how this helps, plus 2 pints of water throughout the day also to make up a total of 2 litres.