Patient Stories

I'm 46 now.. my first 'meeting' with POTS/Dysautonomia was when i was 23.. i lost 50 pounds, high heart rate, fatigue. pain.. no one knew what was going on. It took me 4 years to feel better. Its like i grew a bit out if it. It never was completely away, but i was able to study, sport..LIVE.. Then may 2008.(i was 35). i became unwell one morning and it never went away. It took 8 long tough years t [...]

I have had tachycardia and fainting issues since I was 15. After my bcg and hpv injections, I was struck down by flu, shingles, glandular fever and many bouts of tonsilitis, one after the other. At 15 year of age, I was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope and told I would grow out of it and to manage it on my own. I always struggled with fainting and fatigue. I went to university and worked for as lo [...]

In my late twenties I was a homeschooling mama with three children and one on the way. I was exhausted all of the time with all over body pain. My legs felt like I was walking on toothpicks and I was worried I would collapse. I felt better when I could lay down flat, so we would often do school from my bed or the couch. When my husband would get home around 2:30 each day, I would go straight to be [...]

When I first realised something wasn’t ‘normal’ I was 20 years old, and training to become a paramedic. My very early symptoms were palpitations, fatigue, hot and cold sweats (especially during the night) and bladder incontinence- also a night time issue. Months later I developed recurrent chest pain and breathlessness, and thats when i realised i needed to get this seen to! I’d put off going to t [...]

When you live with POTS, a form of dysautonomia, or dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, every day is a battle. From getting out of bed, to brushing your teeth, to showering, to getting to work and school... these simple tasks that so many often take for granted are often impossible for those who live with this uncommonly heard of syndrome. This is my story on finding out that my own body [...]

I am a 51 year old woman and college professor. I started with occasional chest pain in my late 20s. It was always attributed to costocondritis, dehydration, or anxiety. My tests were always normal. This continued a couple of times a year until my early 40s. I then developed intermittent lightheadedness and a racing heart , often worse around certain times of my menstrual cycle, sometimes accompan [...]

Pre-POTS Before POTS engulfed my life, I was an active stay at home mother.  I ran four to six miles a day followed by yoga or pilates.  I was athletic and played numerous sports in high school.  I then went college and majored in Psychology/Sociology.  I wanted to be a counselor.  Before going to grad school, I met my husband on a blind date and married him fifty-two days later.  Three months aft [...]

For me, mine started with a sinus infection. I had the head cold for a few days when I noticed that I was becoming very short of breath, extremely fatigued, and had pretty severe chest pains. After about two weeks, the head cold had gone away, but the new symptoms remained and I started having numbness in my hands and feet, which was when I called the doctor. The doctor’s office declined to see me [...]

I have had symptoms of pre-syncope for as long as I can remember. My mother was a nurse so she would just tell me that I had postural hypotension and to get up slowly. This started as far back as when I was 8 years old. I also have always had gastrointestinal issues, whether it was just an upset stomach daily to as bad as severe gastroparesis. That has mostly resolved after my gastric bypass. I wa [...]