I presented with insomnia, palpitations, increased sweating (nighttime is worst), and anxiety.
Doctor did ECG - all clear no follow up. My heart rate during the ECG was higher than normal (100bpm) and told I have white coat syndrome as usually at home it’s 70-85ish
I was diagnosed with anxiety.
Sometimes when I stand my heart goes over 30bpm. I’ve seen it 110,115 usually highest. I can also feel breathless and like it is pounding. Sometimes it doesn’t do this and will be 90’s or around 105. If I concentrate on measuring it whilst stood I get freaked out about it and can become more anxious.
Does this sound like POTs or anxiety? I don’t faint or get lightheaded.
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Littledancingtiger
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Hi I got diagnosed with POTS about 6 months ago and I am a 23 year old male What I did was 4 times a day every 3 hours I would check my heart rate at rest, count it accurately over 15 seconds then times the number by 4. Then stand up wait a few minutes and do the same.
If your heart rate increases by at least 30 each time then that is a pretty good indicator that it is POTS. POTS is a syndrome so it is a dysfunction of your autonomous nervous system so it normally effects more than just your standing pulse. Do you every feel sick and bloated after eating? Do you sometimes feel your pulse through your entire body randomly even when sat down etc. I ask this as your blood pressure and bowel movements are all controlled by the same thing as your heart rate so if you experience other weird symptoms like that then that adds to the chances it is POTS.
For me the most obvious symptom was when I am stood up as well as the fast heart rate my legs start to feel weird and then they go a blue and red colour. This is because the blood in my legs gets stuck aka blood pooling.
There is a small chance your doctor could be right and it is "Anxiety" but I was left to suffer with my condition and believe it was all in my head for 2 years before I got diagnosed. It was an uphill battle that I wish on nobody. POTS is very rare and most doctors have never heard of it, and when a doctor has no answers they normally take the easy route and just say its anxiety. Kind of annoying and completely broke my trust in the medical system.
Thanks for the info. It doesn’t do it every time I stand but quite often but then it’s hard to tell if I’m driving it sometimes by just being too aware of it if that makes sense. I never feel lightheaded, never see black spots and never feel like I’ll faint.
Sometimes I just feel like I can hear my heart pounding just walking around and after I’ve walked for a while at a regular pace it’ll still pound for a long time afterwards. Sometimes I hear it pound just standing up. I also get palpitations.
I don’t have issues with meals and I don’t randomly feel my pulse when I’m sat. I also don’t have any noticeable discolouring.
At the moment I feel a little like I’m off balance and have had nausea but this has passed and now I’m having headaches around my eyes. I wonder if I’m having sinus problems currently however as my nose and top teeth have pressure. It’s very hard to tell. That could be sending me off balance.
My family have banned me from taking my pulse for the time being as they said I’d become fixated on it. My partner seriously thinks my pulse has always run a little high when standing and I’ve literally just become fixated.
I have an appointment with my doctor next week so I’ll mention all my symptoms.
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