Beta Blockers..

[wareagle]

Okay..I've been trying to figure this out for awhile and since there's been so much discussion on BB's I figured I'd go ahead and ask. I remember awhile ago Nina mentioned "functional tachacardia" which I thought was a great term. My understanding is that my HR increases in response to blood pooling into my abdomen..the heart has to work harder to pump it back up to our brains..thus preventing..in some cases..fainting. A BB prevents your heart rate from rising..as I understand it..soooo wouldn't it prevent your heart from compensating with the increased HR and cause increased fainting ect?

I guess my main question is..what benifit do BB have on POTS patients? I know a lot of you use them and have had success..but I don't understand how?

Or..are there different "types" of POTS? I know my doc. has said "florrid" POTS but I've never asked him what that means."

I would ask him..but it's all I can do to focus on discussing my symptoms when I see him..I usually don't have to energy to talk about other things!

Thanks for any input..like I said I was just curious.

[MightyMouse]

Hey there, I just wanted to let you know what florid POTS means. In medical terms, florid is when one is "manifesting a complete and typical clinical syndrome". Basically, it's a fancy way of saying that you have all the bells and whistles that come with POTS.

There are some people here who do fabulously on beta blockers... Other's don't. You can read a bit about bb's here: http://www.dinet.org/what_helps.htm ...beta blockers are near the top of the page, and if you click on the words, it will bring you here:

http://www.rxlist.com/bblock.htm

other than that, I'm not sure how to answer your question. If I remember correctly, I think the NDRF handbook (free pdf downloadable book) has a description of how each of the treatments works.

Nina

[Poohbear]

My personal experience....a SMALL dose of a beta blocker is sometimes effective at bringing my heart rate down to a more normal level (say around 100 instead of 160) yet a low enough does doesn't lower my blood pressure so low that I pass out from low BP. I think in theory this is how they want it to work but that's not to say it always does.

I could be wrong but this is my understanding as it relates to my circumstances.