POTS.

This may be a long rant.

When I say POTS I don't mean the thing you use to make your soup, I mean Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I have it. I have had it. And I hate it. Before I get into my own experiences or my recent ones at least. What even is POTS??

POTS is a condition, that makes ones heart beat rapidly from going in a sitting/laying position to a standing one. Or honestly, for me?? Any little bit of movement whatsoever. Like walking to the kitchen.

⚠ IT IS NOT A HEART CONDITION ⚠ it is a condition caused by other symptoms.

No matter in what position you may be in, the autonomic nervous system of someone without this condition will balance their heart and blood pressure to keep their blood flowing at a healthy pace. With POTS, their body wouldn't be able to balance heart rate responses OR blood vessel constriction. Because of this, blood flow doesn't naturally flow to their brain and keep other organs stable.

⚠ Before I begin with my own experience... please do not self-diagnose yourself with POTS (or any condition, disability, or life-altering issue). It is not a toy to be played with. It is not something to make a mockery of. It is a struggle. Thank you. ⚠

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I always had issues with my health. Whether it was asthma, h. pylori, other stomach issues, physical disabilities etc. and then there was my mental and emotional health on top of that. However, I always tried to be active, because I refused to sit still. I still like to keep myself busy, except now it's not really outdoors. I partook in kickboxing, which was really brief lol. But I also did sprinting (track) and climbing. I loved doing both but climbing was where it was at for me. I loved it. I loved the feeling of accomplishing a project and feeling proud of myself every time. I loved the feeling of climbing and jumping from point A to point B. Didn't exactly love the feeling of falling on the mat but whatever. Until that stopped. POTS started developing gradually for me, in which I started suffering from dizziness, which wasn't exactly new for me. I mean, I am anemic after all, so I blamed it on that. Except it got worse. I think the friends I have, whom I'm extremely close with can say that my memory isn't really... the best. I started to forget things, I started to wonder more, which was new for me. I mean yeah, sure, who doesn't forgets things, right??? We all know the feeling of walking into a room and going ''huh... what the hell was I looking for again??''. But my memory used to be fine. And then the other symptoms came around. Painful hiccups. Near fainting. Purple discoloration. My parents were and still aren't the best. By far. They'd call me lazy for stupid reasons and sometimes still do, so the help I needed wasn't there. Until my mom caved and turned me over to the doctor. I then dropped the sports I loved to do because my life decided to jump me and hit me with something incurable. Going outside is a struggle too OHMYGOD ESPECIALLY IN SUMMER HOLY SHIT.

I've grown used to my current lifestyle, I guess. It still sucks. It really does. The bloating. ACTUALLY passing out. Brain Fog. All that schlepp. In recent, I've had a couple energy crashes. which is dizziness but even WORSE. I genuinely struggle to pull myself together right after because it feels like my whole brain just entered a field of fog (silent hill ref...? shhhhhhh)

there are ways where I deal with really bad days, honestly it's just me cooling myself down but it's more frustrating than it sounds. Don't get me started on the fainting. I don't faint often, I'm glad I don't, but when I do I lose recollection of it actually happening. It's like going to sleep, and waking up 2 seconds later to a world of sunshine. I've had an incident before that scared me a little, I'm forever grateful that I still have my head intact.

Anyhow, this is the end of this blog. It really does feel great to talk about what's going on in life - medical wise. I am definitely going to post a bunch of other medical blogs, not just about myself, but about different cases as well. + Biology blogs because I love biology and everything that revolves around it. Any suggestions or questions are welcome.