Beth

My name is Beth, I am 25 years old and have Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), alongside living with several other serious medical conditions.

My initial symptoms were constantly feeling very unsteady on my feet upon moving, and  I felt very faint most of the time. My symptoms progressively got worse and had a massive effect on my quality of life. I started having heart rates over 180 beats per minute, through doing the most simple things, constantly feeling very dizzy, shaky and circulation problems. I had orthostatic headaches, loosing awareness of my surroundings, constant nausea and becoming sleepy. I suffered breathlessness with collapsing, which affected me to where I wasn’t able to walk very far due to how debilitating my PoTS became. It also had an effect on me mentally due to the embarrassment I felt with my PoTS symptoms, especially when I found people staring at me when I was very shaky. I also have a fear of leaving the house on my own because of the fear of collapsing and not feeling in control of my own body. 

I am now on medication, I take Ivabradine at the maximum dose and Midodrine. I use a walking aid for flare ups when my symptoms are harder to control, this has improved my quality of life. I am finally able to walk a little further than I used to and my symptoms are more under control.  I have good days and bad days, and I make sure I try to avoid triggers that flare my PoTS up the best I can. Whilst my PoTS still very much effects my everyday life, I am thankful for being able to have medication as PoTS is a very debilitating condition for myself and many.