Chloe

Hello, my name is Chloe and I’m 20 years old.
My PoTS story started back in 2020 after I tested positive for Coronavirus.

Following on from Covid, I became very unwell with Long Covid and pleurisy. Both of these resulted in my heart beating rapidly but this was just put down to anxiety!

In May 2023 I started developing new symptoms including dizziness and a fast heart rate whenever I changed position. After endless doctor’s appointments and monitoring of my heart I was eventually referred to a PoTS specialist, this was in August 2023. I cannot thank him enough for everything he has done to help me!

I was put on different medications to try and keep my PoTS episodes/ flare ups under control. However, nothing really seemed to be changing, I always ended up having to lie on the floor due to dizziness/ fainting episodes.

In December 2023 I became very ill and spent the Christmas period in critical care. My heart rate had dropped down to 26bpm and to this day I’m still awaiting treatment. Hopefully soon the cardiologist will be fitting me with a pacemaker as my heart is now constantly in bradycardia when resting.

Lots of people think there’s actually nothing wrong with me as I’m just a smiley, bubbly character. The hardest part about PoTS is not being able to do the things I used to do, the simplest of tasks like walking up the stairs or getting out of bed is so hard when your feel like the whole room is spinning constantly.

Others assume that people with PoTS just have a fast heart rate, but there’s so much more to it when you look into this condition. I cannot spread PoTS awareness enough, I feel like it’s not heard of that much and I would love to do anything to help others through these tough times.

At the moment I’m unable to work due to having PoTS, and this really upsets me, I am a health care assistant working with elderly dementia patients. I’m very passionate about helping and caring for others, so I’ll be very glad when I’m on the road to recovery and hopefully back to normality.

I’ve had to do so much research into PoTS as I had never really heard of it before it was queried at one of my appointments. To anyone who is looking for guidance or currently seeking a diagnosis, I would strongly encourage you to be persistent and keep pushing!

You know your body better than anyone else and if there is something wrong don’t be afraid to speak up.

Thank you for listening to my story.