Pregnancy induced POTS?

[AnajayMom]

Hi, I’m new here. I’m 21 weeks pregnant. I’m trying to decide whether to ask my doctor about POTS. Here are my symptoms:

1) Resting HR 70-80. HR after standing for a bit is 110-140. BP stays stable. Worse in the mornings. Sometimes I can stand it, sometimes I’m too faint and have to sit down. Sometimes I don’t notice it at all  

2) Palpitations

3) red/purple lower legs after bathing. 

I had this in my last pregnancy too. But my doctor chalked it up as “pregnant women get dizzy.”  I don’t experience these symptoms when I’m not pregnant. 

Is it possible that I only become symptomatic when I’m pregnant? I fainted on occasion as a teenager and young adult. I also have an unspecified autoimmune disease that is in the same family as lupus. It mostly causes joint pain and skin problems. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Should I push to have POTS explored??

[Bluebonnet08]

I'm sorry you are going through this.  I was already diagnosed with POTS, but symptoms were so much worse being pregnant.  Like you, they started to really get worse around Week 20. I am actually 37 weeks right now and it's been very rough.   I am just finding out about low ferritin and POTS.. it can make the symptoms a lot worse.  Ferritin is your iron stores, which can often be depleted in pregnancy.  I would ask your OB for this test and if it's low (below 50), discuss taking extra iron to get it up, which might help your symptoms.  The research article on ferritin & POTS:   http://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/P1.034.  Unfortunately, I just found out about this and my ferritin was 8.  I am taking extra iron now.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Pregnancy-induced POTS is possible.  I also developed significant POTS symptoms during pregnancy that resolved afterwards, eventually.  It is helpful to be diagnosed if possible.  I was not diagnosed until after pregnancy.  One thing that helped me was IV fluids which I had a couple of times during pregnancy.  I think if I had been diagnosed I would have had this more frequently and might have felt better.  There are also other treatments that are possible during pregnancy.  I think bluebonnet08 is on to something regarding ferritin and that is surely worth checking into.