What’s POTS? Why Your Heart Races When Standing

why does my heart race when I stand?

I talk so much about Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) on this blog, but I haven’t yet dedicated a post to explaining what this syndrome is. Maybe you’ve just received a diagnosis, or maybe you’re asking yourself why your heart races when standing all of a sudden. Or perhaps you…

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How to Relieve POTS Flare Up Symptoms

how to relieve POTS symptoms in a flare

If you have POTS, then you know how awful it feels to be in a POTS flare up. You’ll want to try anything to potentially relieve your symptoms and get back to feeling like yourself. Whether it’s just one day long, persists more than a week, or is seemingly constant,…

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How to Calculate Your Levine Protocol Training Paces

If you’re using the Levine Protocol to improve exercise tolerance and build cardiovascular fitness with POTS, then you’ll need to know how to calculate your target heart rates for each training pace in the program. Sound daunting? That’s why I’m here! In this post, I’ll take you through all the…

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My Top 10 POTS Triggers To Avoid

Top POTS triggers

As I begin writing this post on a nearly 90 degrees spring day in Upstate New York, I am reminded again how much the heat and humidity are POTS triggers that worsen my symptoms. My blood feels thick. I’m lethargic. I can see the discoloration in my feet from the…

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The Levine Protocol For Exercising With POTS

Exercising with POTS is another lifestyle change you can make to improve your symptoms. You may be groaning, or you may be cheering, depending on how you view exercise. If you’re cheering — woo-hoo! I don’t need to convince you to exercise. But, if you’re groaning, hear me out. Exercise…

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Delicious Kale and White Bean Soup

Did you know that today is National Homemade Soup Day? To celebrate, I’ve got a delicious kale and white bean soup recipe for you packed with nutrients and flavor! Plus, since it’s a soup recipe, it’s easy for POTSies to add more salt to it.  My mom is amazing at…

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Compression for POTS Treatment

Compression for POTS management

I’ve gone over why you need a diet high in salt, and I’ve touched on the importance of water. Now I’m going to talk about the benefits of compression for POTS treatment and how this basic lifestyle change can lessen your symptoms. Whether it’s stockings, socks, or leggings, compression helps…

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Living With POTS: 6 month Cleveland Clinic Update

It’s official: I’ve been living with a POTS diagnosis for about six months now. So, naturally, I went to Cleveland Clinic for my six-month check-up last week. The last time I was in Cleveland was in November for a Shared Medical Appointment (SMA), which is basically a supportive and educational…

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Healthy & Yummy Vegetarian Chili

Yummy & Healthy Vegetarian Chili Recipe

There’s nothing quite like a warm bowl of chili during the winter months! Usually, I make turkey chili, but since my mom wants to eat less meat, I figured I would test out a vegetarian variation. Turns out, we both loved this healthy vegetarian chili recipe! Chili is a perfect…

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POTS & Fluid Intake: How to stay hydrated

Along with salt, fluids are your new best friends. Why you may ask? Because with POTS it’s essential to increase fluid intake to stay hydrated and treat symptoms. In fact, it’s another basic POTS lifestyle change I’m going to share with you! Since you need to increase your salt intake,…

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