Do this mean I have POTS? (heart rate +35 stand test)

[sometexan84]

I did a test this morning w my Polar HR monitor and Elite HRV app.

Can anyone w POTS please help me interpret? Looks like a +35 avg heart rate, and +34 max heart rate.

Laying Down (recording after waking up)

Standing Up (Straight, recording after getting out of bed)

 

[DrUniverse]

POTS is +30 Heart Rate raise from laying down to standing and/or Heartrate > 120 standing.
So yeah its clearly POTS (but im not a REAL Doctor though ;P)

 

[S-VV]

Possibly. Have you measured your standing blood pressure? You may have well compensated (or even over-compensated POTS). This is important because treatment is basically the opposite for hypotensive and hypertensive cases.

 

[sometexan84]

Hmm, can you measure blood pressure using the Polar strap heart rate monitor?

 

[sometexan84]

The reason I wanted to measure was because lately I've felt my heart pounding so hard in my chest, especially when lying down. And often pulsating strongly in my stomach area.

Also, very cold feet, and numbness in my hands and legs.

 

[DrUniverse]

Ye i feel that, typical symptoms. Get Eletrolyte / drink a lot of Water. Basic Treatment for POTS. For more u have to address the underlying cause. (Virus/ Mito Dysfunction)
You can measue ur blooid pressure with several tools available at the internet.

 

[sometexan84]

I bought a blood pressure monitor on Amazon yesterday because of this. It came today actually so I got to test.

I think I may have Orthostatic Hypotension, and not POTS. I measured a 21 systolic decrease from lying to standing, which supposedly is ortho hypo. (averaged about 133 lying down, got a reading of 112 about 1 min into standing)

"Orthostatic hypotension is a physical finding defined by the American Autonomic Society and the American Academy of Neurology as a systolic blood pressure decrease of at least 20 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure decrease of at least 10 mm Hg within three minutes of standing"

It's a cheap wrist cuff blood pressure monitor, so I'll need to do more testing to confirm.

Guess I need to check my blood volume next? Idk, this is new territory for me.

 

[Hip]

It says here:

POTS is diagnosed only when orthostatic hypotension is ruled out and when there is no acute dehydration or blood loss.

So that seems to suggest when you meet the criteria for both POTS and orthostatic hypotension (OH), the OH diagnosis takes priority.


Though I have seen some ME/CFS patients say they were diagnosed with more than one of the three orthostatic intolerance conditions often found in ME/CFS (namely POTS, NMH and OH).

Medical understanding changes fast in some of these areas. POTS I know is a young medical field which is constantly updated by new research. So medical practice may change.

 

[Zebra]

Hi, @sometexan84!

I don't know if you are interested in pursuing a work up for dysautonomia, but just in case you are, I wanted to let you know that UT Southwestern has a well-regarded Autonomic Disorders Clinic and is equipped to offer the full battery of autonomic testing.

Whether or not that will lead to actual treatment, I don't know ....

Dr Steve Vernino used to be to "go-to" doc there, but I've heard through the grapevine that he has reached a point in his career where he's more interested in research than patient care, which has become palpable in his recent interactions with patients.

Best of luck with everything!

 

[sometexan84]

That is great info, thank you!!!!

Idk what a "work up" is, but it sounds like a good thing

My levels for sympathetic dominance and autonomic dysfunction are off the charts. (as seen in my nocturnal HRV measurements)

Everything in my condition points to autoimmunity and major dysautonomia. I will definitely check it out.