Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS, is a condition where the body goes
into a sympathetic overdrive when standing up.
This is Dr. Lam, founder of DrLam.com. In this video, we are going to go into much more
detail on what the causes of this syndrome are, because it can be very debilitating.
The typical symptoms of POTS is a rise in heart rate. It can go up very quickly from
a sitting to a standing position, from 80 to 120 or even more; and this can cause dizziness,
as well as lightheadedness and, in some cases, fainting. Now, the medical diagnosis is contingent
upon what we call a positive tilt table test where the person is put on a table that tilts
and upon tilting to a certain angle, then it will trigger the heart rate to go up significantly.
The problem with a fast heart rate that's over 100 and, in the case of POTS, goes up
to 110-120, is that the pumping volume of the heart becomes compromised.
In other words, when the heart is beating slowly, it has a full volume to go out; but
when the heart is beating fast like this, there's just not enough time for the heart
to fill up with blood; and therefore, the blood going out to the brain and the rest
of the body is actually reduced. So, POTS is a very serious problem and can be dangerous.
Now, what are the reasons for POTS? Sometimes it can be due to a variety of reasons including,
in the Adrenal Fatigue setting, a commonly observed event which is what we call sympathetic
overtone. In other words, when the body is in Adrenal Fatigue state at the last stages,
the body is activating the fight or flight response. When this happens, the adrenaline
is released from the adrenal glands and it is this adrenaline that causes the heart rate
to go up quickly. Norepinepherine, another hormone as well as a neurotransmitter, also
is released from the brain and that also augments the situation.
So when you have these two hormones, that is so much responsible for the flight or fight
response, flooding the body, then the heart becomes sensitized and it beats faster. It
also beats and pounds harder and people will say that, well they feel their heart pounding.
So this is oftentimes a reflection of the hormone. Now in the case of POTS, where it
is a medical condition versus what you experience in Adrenal Fatigue which are symptoms that
are similar to POTS, although usually less drastic, much less drastic as a matter of
fact, but it’s still uncomfortable and it is often times confused and mis-told and misdiagnosed
as POTS.
The situation clinically that is presented in the Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome is some tachycardia,
heart rate going up a bit, but not necessarily to 110 to 120. There may be some lightheadedness
or a little bit dizzy, but then that usually resolve if you get up slowly. So this is what
we call sub-clinical POTS or early undiagnosed and early POTS where the body is not in a
full blown POTS situation. Extensive medical work up also is normal and usually the sufferer
is told to go home, saying that they don't have POTS but they do have POTS-like symptoms.
Similarly, another group is that they can be diagnosed with POTS with a positive tilt
table test and then put on medications such as beta blockers but unfortunately the beta
blockers don't work well and in fact can make the sufferer feel even worse. So these are
all complications of conventional approach to POTS when there is an associated phenomenon
of the Adrenal Fatigue.
So knowing the reasons why you have POTS is very, very important because that dictates
whether you want to focus on suppressing the rhythm if it is a structural problem causing
POTS because of heart problems or if you just have a sympathetic overtone from Adrenal Fatigue
in which case you have to focus your attention on the adrenals and when the adrenals get
better, then the POTS symptoms tend to get better so the approaches are very different,
so understanding the symptoms of POTS and how its ramification in the setting of Adrenal
Fatigue is very important.
I hope you've enjoyed this video. For more information on this topic, head over to DrLam.com
where I have written over a thousand articles to help educate people. You can also call
me at 626-571-1234 for more information on Adrenal Fatigue and how to navigate it. Finally,
if you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.