Postural Orthostatic Tachycadia Syndrom

Posted by maria11 to Disease/Illness, Aug 30, 2010 11:24am

I am writing to raise awareness of a fairly unheard of medical condition called "POTS". It is only through education and publicity that the thousands of people who share my condition, but who have not been accurately diagnosed, may awaken from the nightmare they have been living and take the necessary steps to begin living a somewhat normal life.

Three years, 14 doctors, and numerous misdiagnoses later, I was finally properly diagnosed with a medical condition shared by 500,000 to 1,000,000 people in the United States. Throughout this time, I suffered numerous debilitating symptoms, vague to specific, many of which are common to other medical conditions, such as extreme anxiety and panic disorder. Unfortunately, the continued inability to obtain a proper diagnosis, and, therefore, proper treatment, only added to the symptoms, creating a vicious circle from which there was no apparent escape.

POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) is a form of Dysautonomia, meaning that it affects the Autonomic Service System—the system that regulates the body’s organ function. Patients with POTS have the same degree of functional impairment as those patients diagnosed with COPD or Congestive Heart Failure. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness, tachycardia, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, migraines, gastrointestinal problems, heat intolerance, visual impairment, and a litany of others.

The ability to complete a shower without feeling sick, speak without gasping for air, and walk, instead of crawl, up a flight of stairs, represents a “good” day for me. This is because my resting heart rate is 100 beats per minute. The inability to obtain any form of relief prior to being properly diagnosed created a situation in which my family and friends questioned my honesty and integrity, which only magnified and increased my symptoms, and left me with a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Not one more person should have to wage this war alone, and that is why I ask you to spread the word and by knowledge together, we can defeat this illness.
Thank you for listening to my story and I hope to hear from you soon!!

Maria S*
m.sinistaj11@gmail.com
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