Developed Severe POTS after Heat Exhaustion

[alexk201]

Hi Everyone, I'm new  here and wanted to ask you guys a question.   Last year around this time I had an episode of Heat Exhaustion, very close to a Heat Stroke and after that developed severe POTS which was verified by a positive tilt table test.   Even though I've never had any symptoms of POTS prior to the heat stress incident my Cardiologist doesnt beleive that thats what cause my POTS.

Do you guys know where I can get any information linking Heat Stroke/Heat Exhaustion to the development of  POTS?  Thanks!!!  😂😂😂

[Pistol]

This is just a thought I am having: many of us had mild symptoms of POTS all of our lives and just learned to compensate. And it is possible to have POTS and not even know it until something triggers it. The triggers are often events that are extremely stressful on the body ( virus, pregnancy, surgery etc ) . I am wondering if the heat Exhaustion was not the CAUSE of your POTS but possibly the TRIGGER? 

[MomtoGiuliana]

I agree with Pistol that it sounds like a trigger rather than a cause.

Unfortunately many people never learn what causes their POTS--there is still more research and understanding needed.

Here is more discussion about possible causes and triggers:

https://www.dinet.org/content/information-resources/pots/what-causes-pots-r98/

 

[WinterSown]

Heat Intolerance can exacerbate many symptoms and bring those rarely experienced to the forefront. Without more information it sounds like the event was a trigger and not the cause. It can be educational and helpful to spend this summer increasing your intake of foods, that contain electrolytes--not just waters--it can be a big assist in hydration and overall health. 

https://heartmdinstitute.com/heart-health/heart-attack-and-stroke/recognize-and-beat-heat-exhaustion-heat-stroke/

 

 

[alexk201]

Thanks guys,  I really appreciate the feedback!  I'm pretty sure if I even had mild POTS i would notice.  I played competitive sports all my life and never had ANY symptoms of POTS prior to the heat exhaustion incident 😩😩

[SuzieD]

Alexk201. How are you going now? My son had heat stroke on Sunday and has now developed pots heart rate changes and symptoms. I am desperately searching answers for him

 

[Ezap]

Hey Alex,

I noticed this was posted over a year ago, but better late than never. I too had a similar incident of heat exhaustion that I believe could be the cause of my pots. I can’t recall any symptoms prior to this episode. I never fainted and I used to run and maintain an active lifestyle. Then one super hot day in August 2016, I fainted at a concert, and my life has never been the same. I’ve been trying to figure out why I have Pots ever since.

liz 

[bombsh3ll]

I also did not have any symptoms whatsoever until my sudden onset, in my case provoked by a forceful Valsalva. I believe to this day I would still be healthy had that not happened. 

I have also heard of a person developing it suddenly following blood donation. 

This is just conjecture but I suspect that in healthy but perhaps constitutionally susceptible people, any acute event that reduces venous return like heat stroke, blood donation, my Valsalva, can alter circulatory dynamics in a way that would be transient in most individuals, but for some reason the system gets "reset" in us & we do not recover our preload. 

I do wish a detailed study could be done into inciting events, as this could be very helpful in revealing pathological mechanisms & eventually lead to treatment. 

There appear to be two distinct subgroups regarding onset - those with insidious symptoms which are compensated or easily brushed off at first & become pronounced over time, & a second group like us who where completely healthy with no hint of illness until one specific event which IMMEDIATELY provoked life changing symptoms. 

Researchers have paid lip service to this type of sudden, event-precipitated onset but seem to chalk it up to "bedrest" occurring at the time of whatever illness, injury or event happened, but listening to people's narratives, hardy any seem to have actually been confined to bed at all prior to developing POTS symptoms.

B xxx

[Pistol]

@bombsh3ll - although you lost me with a lot of the medical lingo ( most here are not in the medical field ) I do believe your theory has a point. Once we get symptomatic we become inactive due to our symptoms, which then lands us in bed or at least stationary. So by the time we go to see a physician we already are deconditioned - but the reason for this is our symptoms. In other words: the symptoms cause us to decondition - not the other way around. The same with anxiety: our symptoms are scary - so we become anxious when we get them, not the other way around. Unfortunately the medical community still thinks that the mind controls the body - many docs have not yet discovered that with the discovery of ANS dysfunction we now have proof that it is not always that way.  

[bombsh3ll]

On 7/20/2019 at 8:56 PM, Pistol said:

@bombsh3ll - although you lost me with a lot of the medical lingo ( most here are not in the medical field ) I do believe your theory has a point. Once we get symptomatic we become inactive due to our symptoms, which then lands us in bed or at least stationary. So by the time we go to see a physician we already are deconditioned - but the reason for this is our symptoms. In other words: the symptoms cause us to decondition - not the other way around. The same with anxiety: our symptoms are scary - so we become anxious when we get them, not the other way around. Unfortunately the medical community still thinks that the mind controls the body - many docs have not yet discovered that with the discovery of ANS dysfunction we now have proof that it is not always that way.  

Totally agree - I am no doubt deconditioned and anxious now, but was neither before POTS hit!

B xxx