Hey Everyone! I'm a 24/yo Male from Washington state. I've been dealing with POTS-like symptoms since early July of this year (2012). It's really refreshing to find people, regardless of what my problem may be, who have been going through the same sort of symptoms. I thought I was the only one! Although I'd like to write a novel describing everything little thing that's happened since then, I'm trying to keep it short with a couple questions: 1) Before you were diagnosed with POTS, did you get tested for Chronic Venous Insufficiency? The blood pooling in my legs is the most persistent problem. I know it's not Edema and I'm unable to find anything besides POTS and CVI that could be causing this. It seems like the more obvious problem which (to my mind) could be leading to all of my other symptoms (Palpitations, and slow, throbbing contractions when standing or changing posture - like my heart doesn't have enough blood to pump). I can now feel the pressure in my legs - like they're full of blood. When I lift my legs above my head before standing up, symptoms are reduced by 50 - 90%. 2) I'm seeing my cardiologist this week, any recommendations for what I should address? I've already had a 2 day holter monitor, 2 week "Zio" patch, ER EKG's, chest x-rays and blood tests, and 1 stress echocardiogram. All "normal". My lifestyle has been reduced to laying in bed all day long with the exception of getting food, showering and feeding my dogs. It's incredibly depressing and to make matters worse, I've been sick for over a month straight. After urgent care put me in the ER, they diagnosed me with acute Bronchitis and prescribed me antiobiotics for 5 days - which didn't seem to help. Now, it feels like it's spread from my chest into the bottom of my throat - an inflamed infected feeling. It seems like it goes away, then comes back - and repeats itself over and over. 3) Falling asleep is terrifying If I'm awake for more than 13 hours or so, falling asleep becomes absolutely terrifying. So much so, that I fear of sudden death. It feels like at the exact moment I'm entering into the first stage of sleep, my heart stops beating, I stop breathing or both. Then, within that second or two, I wake up alarmed with a huge, pounding palpitation or contraction. It's like whatever controls my breathing/heart beat is malfunctioning between different states of consciousness. This first happened in 2010 after staying up for about 28 hours when I had a horrible anxiety attack and recurred horribly in January when I was the sickest I've ever been with a cold virus. Has anyone else experienced this?