How I Controlled Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

When I received the diagnosis from my cardiologist, we started an action plan of how I can control it and I feel now after 6 months of lessened symptoms, I am in a position of sharing how I controlled Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

I’ve had Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) for most of my life, more so the last 16 years. There are times it was worse and better, coinciding with stress levels, relapses and other things. So it took a lot of working out what made it worse, recording a diary and trying different medications and lifestyle changes.

So without further ado, I am going to get into how I controlled Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)!

How I Controlled Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

I took many steps, a lot of research and testing different things to see what worked and what didn’t work. I can write a separate post about what didn’t work, but this is mostly what I tried that worked and what I use to this day.

Before you try things, speak to your cardiologist or doctor and explain what you want to try, make sure you can take anything or do anything with the medications you are on and do not stop your medications under any circumstances.

Stopping medications can be dangerous, especially ones that are to do with your brain and heart. These can have withdrawal symptoms or cause severe adverse effects. So speak to someone before you think about it and talk it through, but also make sure you taper off. Even if you have been on them a few months.

The Medications for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

Before I get into this, medications work for some people, but not for all. It also depends on many things such as other conditions and how your blood pressure is, as you will see below!

The first one I had tried was Propranolol, Atenolol, then was given Bisoprolol fumarate. I had the same side effects with all, increased fainting, nausea and extreme fatigue (I know, fatigue when you are already heavily fatigued). After having blood pressure taken a few times, it had lowered my blood pressure to quite a dangerous amount. So I had to give up the ‘olol’s’ and was told to drink more water (This was a GP, not a cardiologist). At this point, I had been diagnosed, but no treatment plan as of yet as I needed to have an Electrophysiology study as well as a longer Holter monitor for 72 hours.

Another thing the GP wanted me to try for this (At this point, they thought it was just anxiety, even after I said I had been diagnosed with POTS, they just hadn’t received the letter at this point) and gave me Sertraline. I am one of those that are not able to tolerate SSRI’s and they cause a lot of side effects, as well as mental health issues like suicidal thoughts. So I took them for 3 days, then had to stop. So it certainly made the GP’s aware that yes, I am not able to tolerate them (That was the 3rd I’d tried over the years).

Now I have to add, I have always had low blood pressure. No one knows why, it’s just something I always had. My blood pressure is now in the lower normal range, so it has increased through the steps I took below. I often wondered if it was connected to Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

After a consultation with the cardiologist, they said I would try Diltiazem which I was very hesitant about after reading about it, especially the side effects. So I gave them a week, oh man. I could not get out of bed. I had a raging headache, nausea, couldn’t stand at all, I just fainted within seconds.

I’d stopped them and after a few days, then I felt fine. So I knew that taking these tablets for it wasn’t working for me.

However, I am due to start a new medication (propranolol) for the ectopic beats and atrial fibrillation as I don’t tend to do well with medications so this is the first step in controlling my heart rate. I will update this after some time.

Lifestyle Changes

The first thing I did was stop smoking as I heard it could potentially make it worse. I have noticed a difference since stopping smoking and feel less lightheaded a lot of the time. Smoking actually made me feel worse, looking back. I’ve been smoke-free since December 2019 although I did tend to stop for long periods and start again prior to this. So far, no cravings and as I have stress under control, I haven’t had a craving at all since.

Next was my diet. I went vegetarian again as POTS does give me a lot of stomach issues. So I wanted to keep meals light and easy to digest. I’ve also lowered my carb intake and plenty of fresh veg. I do eat really well and balanced!

Now coffee helps me. I fully faint when I don’t drink coffee. Although I have cut the amount I drink down to a couple a day, I have at least one coffee a morning. Quite a few people use coffee as a preventative with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

Coffee has shown to constrict the blood vessels, so this helps stop the pooling. I know it’s not exactly healthy, but I know what happens with no coffee (Not just withdrawals, I went no coffee for 12 months).

I also have a high salt diet, I prefer Himalayan salt in my food, but mostly it is sea salt that I use. I flavour all dishes with it and have an actively higher salt diet, but within a safe amount.

Included with the high salt, is 2l of water. This is sparkling water and cordial, I can’t drink plain water. I let it go a little flt so has a bit of fizz. I do get a bit gassy, but it is much better than drinking sugary drinks. As well as this, I also drink herbal and green teas. I have about 3/4 cups a day. The caffeinated ones I removed a coffee for. So swapped one caffeine for another.

This, in turn, has also raised my blood pressure a little so I am n longer just low, I am normal/low. Some days it is normal!

I needed to do more, so then I had to search for the holistic route.

How I changed my life with holistic therapy

I am not here to sell, tout, or tell you to try holistic therapy, I am here telling you how I changed my life and helped manage Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome POTS with using holistic therapy.

Now to add to this, I am a qualified holistic therapist, this is the reason I got into holistic therapy many years ago and why I have taken many courses to help myself, then eventually others when I decide I am well enough to start my own business.

I’ve also managed other issues I have such as M.E (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and Meniere’s disease with changes to my lifestyle.

Herbs and spices

Firstly, I use herbs, spices and petals/flowers within my diet, mostly through herbal and green teas.

For example, turmeric tea helps with inflammation, so I drink 1 cup of turmeric tea, or I use turmeric in food if it is something I can place it in.

Adaptogenic herbs, for example,  Siberian ginseng is a good one to try. I have a post on my other website going up about herbs to use for POTS, as well as other things so this will be pretty brief.

Herbs/roots/petals can help too, there are herbs for increasing blood pressure such as Licorice and Ginseng. I find they both make a good daily tea.

Nettle leaf, peppermint, lemon balm, and ginger are great at fighting viral infection, so if you have symptoms due to this, these will help. But also they are good for the stomach issues we get and also keeping us calm and soothed. Inside and out.

Turmeric daily is wonderful for pain. I have a 3 ginger tea which has ginger, galangal and other goodies which really helps with nausea.

Yoga

Now exercise is said to help but coupled with my other illnesses, this isn’t going to help me. The after pain is not worth it.

BUT and this is a big but, I do yoga. I tried 30 days of yoga and the change was insane!

I couldn’t tell you how much yoga has helped, as well as other things.

At first, it was really tough. I was stiff, inflexible and struggled. However, the more I kept at it, the more it eased and the better I felt.

Aromatherapy

Stress is a big trigger for me, so I had to also control my stress levels. Aromatherapy is fantastic for this, but also you can use aromatherapy and massage for other conditions also.

So I got using essential oils into my daily routine to help with both the POTS symptoms and also for aromatherapy.

Ginger can be used either in massage oil, in a diffuser, oil burner or dotted on a cloth and inhaled. Lavender is another great essential oil. I will do a more specific post on what I found was beneficial.

Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation can benefit to keep the stress levels down, therefore reducing the symptoms of stress is a trigger.

It’s a wonderful way to regulate my heart rate better by using breathing techniques just for this.

Meditation helps me with a number of things, but keeping my heart rate nice and low is the main benefit.

Final thoughts

Although I hadn’t gone too much in-depth about the holistic therapies, I will be linking posts over time which will give you more idea of the types of holistic therapy that are beneficial. Such as herbalism, aromatherapy, massage and reflexology, medication and mindfulness.

This really made a huge change to my life and I hope some of this helps!