From Wheelchair to Holistic Care: There is Hope for P.O.T.S Patients!

I realize now that I’ve had POTS symptoms since I was in 5th grade. I’m going into my junior year of high school now. It wasn’t until March of last year that POTS kept me home bound. Suddenly every symptom came crashing down on me. A complete list of my symptoms would be: blood pooling, low blood pressure, tachycardia, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, syncope and near syncope, dizziness, anxiety, muscle tension, tinnitus, nausea, extreme fatigue, shaking/trembling, twitching, light/sound sensitivity, neuropathic pain, horrible brain fog, non-epileptic seizures, tinnitus, temporary paralysis from the neck down, excessive thirst, frequent urination, mood swings, chest pains, chest tightness, orthostatic intolerance and irritability (obviously).

From March to August of that year, I was completely unable to do anything but lay in bed and watch T.V. I had to use a wheelchair to do anything that required standing for more than five minutes; otherwise, I would pass out. My life was miserable and I was a prisoner to POTS.

Unfortunately I was intolerant to almost every medication. Throwing a med into my body sent it into even more chaos. This made every doctor I saw not want to treat me. As a “last resort” my parents took me to the POTS Treatment Center in Dallas. I cannot describe how thankful I am that I went there. The holistic approach they took to my care is what has gotten me to be 100 percent better today.