What is POTS
POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and is a form of Autonomic Dysfunction. All types of Autonomic Dysfunction are conditions where the part of your nervous system you can’t control (the part that regulates body temperature, digestion, blood flow, and breathing) is out of balance. This is a condition where the autonomic nervous system’s signals telling blood vessels to loosen and contract aren’t doing their job. Circulation can slow down and blood to pool within the blood vessels. POTS can be characterized by a variation of symptoms including an exaggerated increase in heart rate and decrease of blood pressure, as well as chronic fatigue. Many symptoms intensify when changing to an upright position after lying down. Because of the autonomic nervous system’s inability to regulate blood movement throughout the body, blood cannot travel quickly enough to the brain causing dizziness, headaches, momentary loss of vision, and fainting.
