mercuryrising

I guess what I find confusing is how long that elevated HR from sitting to standing is sustained in a person with POTS vs a normal person? Does the change of 30bpm have to occur within 10 minutes or sustained for 10 minutes? I feel like by 10 minutes my HR will change back to the normal range. I always feel that way after a bath. I suspect that my HR usually gets that high or higher based on the fact that I always have fatigue, breathlessness and difficulty standing up right after a bath. Again thank you for all your help, I really do not know much about POTS.

also, forgot to ask- after what period of time is it not normal for one's heart rate to be elevated when simply standing?

Okay I tried it a second time and did have similar results. When laying completely flat my HR was 61, then upon standing it was 110. After a couple minutes it went down to 100 but then went up to 110 after 5 minutes. I'm going to test it out again today and try to remember to test it when I feel symptoms. I wish I could know for sure how accurate the HR monitor is because I don't have access to a BP cuff or anything. I guess if I wanted a more accurate reading I would have to go to the doctors? edit: I had a bath and my HR after it was 155. I always feel incredibly exhausted, breathless and drained after taking a bath, but I enjoy them much more than showers. The hardest part is getting out of the bath because you have to stand up and that is often when my vision is affected, sometimes it goes all black and I can't see anything, feeling like I'm going to faint.

I'm not sure about the accuracy either. I did my HR laying down (55) and then immediately upon standing (109).

thank you! I will look into it.

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I was tested for celiac about 8 years ago. Forgot to mention in the above post that I am currently 21 years old... I find it hard to keep up with other people my age who seem to have a lot more stamina than I do. I will see if I can find a HR app and see what that shows. I actually have blood pressure that borders on the lower end of normal.

Hi everyone, so I recently learned about POTS from a friend and was doing research on the internet when I came across this forum. I was diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome as a child, but thank god as of late that seems to be in remission. I feel as though I have many symptoms that could be explained by POTS, but I have always thought they were "normal" so I am not sure what to do with this information. Headaches: I have always gotten a lot of headaches throughout my life. Starting about 6 months ago, I began having a bout of severe pounding headaches, which I now believe are orthostatic headaches. They would usually occur 2-3 times a week, and would be so severe I couldn't concentrate on doing anything. As they would always occur later in the evening, I decided to just lay down and go to bed one night. Well, the strangest thing happened, about 5 minutes after I went to bed, the pain in my head went away completely. I got up to go to the bathroom and as soon as I was standing the crushing pain came back. Blood Pooling/ Poor Circulation: I've noticed that when I stand for prolonged periods of time or even sometimes when I am sitting, my feet turn a grey/purple colour, which goes away if I elevate them. My hands and feet are usually cold, and sometimes they get so cold that they physically hurt. This has happened to me a bunch of times when I've been in a lecture and I've had to get a friend to hold my hands to warm them up. Intolerance to Heat: probably why I hate summer. Any temperature above 20 makes me feel awful and I start to sweat buckets. Likewise, my feet turn all red and puffy, which can be quite embarrasing when people point it out. Stomach problems: as I said, I have CVS, so nausea isn't too uncommon for me. When I was younger I used to have a lot more bowel issues than I have now, and I'm fairly sure that I had IBS-C/D, as I would suffer from horrible boughts of sudden cramps and diarrhea. This is the one thing that has improved as I have gotten older, but I still do get cramps after eating. Sleep: I sleep pretty good for a person my age, but I have to get a lot of sleep (10 hours) to feel well rested, and it takes me at least 1 hour to *mentally wake up in the morning. I just feel groggy and like my head is full? I guess the only thing I am not sure if I am experiencing is tachycardia. I do have boughts where I feel extremely nervous, anxious and like my heart is pounding. Sometimes, after I stand up quickly my vision gets a bit wonky, but I've always thought that was normal and I've never actually passed out. I'm not sure if I am making a big deal out of these symptoms or if it is worth bringing up with my doctor. Any input would be greatly appreciated! ~mercury