Recovery After Viral Infection + Support in Japan

[POTSdad]

My daughter has POTS (diagnosed 10+ years ago), and is currently dealing with more extreme symptoms of dizziness after a non-COVID viral infection.  

How long do these symptoms usually last after virus recovery?

Is there anything that can be done to help with recovery?

My daughter is currently a student in an international study program at Osaka, Japan. We don't know how well the medical system in Japan understands POTS. Does anyone has any suggestions on how to communicate about POTS to the doctors in Japan, so we can get the support in Osaka that my daughter need.

Much appreciated.

[BaPon]

If I were in your position I would find a recently published research study on a topic that is in the field of research like this one:

Treatment of long COVID complicated by postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome—Case series research

 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jgf2.670

I would email the corresponding author using the email address listed on the published study. (tsuchidatomoya@gmail.com) and ask if he or she has any colleagues in the area where your daughter is living. 

Researchers are often very willing to help and have connections with other organizations. The worst they can say is no. Worth a shot. 

[Sarah Tee]

I have noticed that there is a fair bit research on dysautonomia published by Japanese researchers. Whether this knowledge trickles down to your average doctor, I don’t know.

Your daughter could use this lecture (perhaps with the English subtitles switched on) to find the name of POTS in Japanese.

 

Also this dictionary is very good:

https://jisho.org/search/orthostatic intolerance

 

Another option would be to go to an American medical centre. The university’s international student office should be able to help with this.

[Malkere]

Ｍedical care here in Japan that needs specific attention for something less common like this can take some trial and error in finding the right doctor, probably in any country though to be fair. Some doctors are very "old fashion" and will dismiss things that fall outside of what they learned 40 years ago, while others are very receptive to uncommon problems. I would recommend your daughter visiting a city hospital, usually a much larger hospital than the normal "clinic" we would visit over here, and consulting with the cardio specialist or the nose/ear/throat doctor, or even the nerve specialist. Getting seen by a doctor is quick and easy, and usually only costs around $20 for the initial paperwork, and can be as little as $3-10 for visits from then on. A larger hospital will have all of those doctors on hand for her to speak with, rather than running around to lots of different specialized clinics.