Where Are All The Men?

[Guest danielvasel]

this is weird... there are almost no guys in here... i know that most of "POTsies" are women, but the ratio is like 1 guy/4 girls... and in here it must be like 1/20(im just guessing)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there must be an explanation for this...

id definitely like to talk to some men about POTS, as there are some things that only affect us....

but don?t get me wrong, you girls are awesome

take care you all

[MomtoGiuliana]

I think the ratio here may be more like 1:40!?

I don't know the explanation. Where did you see the ratio of 1:4 for POTS?

Katherine

[Jan]

I have a male friend with POTS and he says he never wants to go on the internet boards because he doesn't see the point in talking about it. He says he thinks it is better for him to put his time into exersize and if he has a questions he asks his doctor.

I don't know if that is more common for men? I know support groups I have gone to for illnesses are almost always women.

[Guest danielvasel]

I think the ratio here may be more like 1:40!?

yeah!! you?re probally right!!

I don't know the explanation. Where did you see the ratio of 1:4 for POTS?

hmm, in many websites, some say 1:4 and others say 1:5... i think that you?ll find this info in this very website(not sure though)

thanks for replying katherine

I have a male friend with POTS and he says he never wants to go on the internet boards because he doesn't see the point in talking about it. He says he thinks it is better for him to put his time into exersize and if he has a questions he asks his doctor.

hmmm, but I don?t think that?s very smart... i?m sure that his doctors doesn?t know everything there?s to know about POTS

I don't know if that is more common for men? I know support groups I have gone to for illnesses are almost always women.

yeah, that?s probally it... men tend not to like supportive groups...that?s also my case, hehe... but this forum is much more than that... it is awesome!! im so glad i found it

[MightyMouse]

I think, generally speaking, women tend to want to "talk" about this stuff more. We do have a good number of male members, but I think they come here for more practical reasons, such as to get answers to specific questions about their symptoms, their meds, or getting medical care.

Nina

[Ernie]

There are as many men with this disorder in my family as there are women.

[JacobyD]

Been here for since the beginning (check out my member number). Sure doesn't bother me!

[dano2718]

Hi Daniel -

Not sure what to think. Is it truly a lower occurence among men, or is that just inferred from our small vista on internet message boards?

I take epidemiology of poorly understood or non-specific disorders with a grain of salt. After all, the 'experts' say a majority of chronic syndromes resolve themselves over time, and are not that distressing. I am a guy. I have POTS, heart rate wise, and a number of non-specific symptoms that I have inherited from my father - so that makes two more males out there!

[vemee]

I'm here too. Diagnosis of pots for men could be overlooked since pots has the label of being primarily a woman's condition. From what little I know of the condition I can not see why sex would be a factor.

[Dawg Tired]

Like Ernie, as many men as women....

Hubby and I run a chronic illness/chronic pain support group and we have equal numbers of men and women. But we have been careful to be "welcoming" to men....

[desiree942]

According to Dr. Grubb "There is a 5:1 female-to-male ratio." The article doesn't explain why but he talked to me about some women doing better when they supress mensturation and it sometimes getting worse after menopause so that suggests something hormonal I would guess?

[briarrose]

I don't think it's hormonal.

Personally, I think that that men are under diagnosed, just like women of course but more so. The experts say that there are over a million people with POTS but if that's the case why do I only know of about 6 or so in my area? I know that the West coast population is even less diagnosed because doctor's don't usually recognize the symptoms. OK I'm getting side tracked but my point is that I think there is a greater population of males than is known about.

Do you know that this syndrome was first recognized in men and not women. Some of my early posts will show you the documentation.

AKA

Soldier's Heart

irritable heart

effort syndrome

neurasthenia

idiopathic hypovolemia

hyperadrenergic orthostatic hypotension

vasoregulatory asthenia

Timeline on Military with similar illness or called War Syndromes (very interesting)

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/medical/med_syndrome.htm

http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/N/Neurasthenia.htm

Neurasthenia disorder info sheet

http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/neurasthenia.htm

AKA put out by CS group - kind of interesting

http://www.cssa-inc.org/Articles/CFS_names.htm

[BuddyLeesWife]

My husband doesn't participate but he does ask me questions about the forum from time to time - especially if anyone has a specific symptom or if I heard of anything that might help. He likes to just "go on with life" and forget as much as possible that he has this condition (which can cause a whole different set of problems). Plus, he has his brother that he can talk to.