Who Gets Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)?
POTS affects more girls than boys, and is more common when one or both parents
had POTS. It often begins in the early or mid-teens.
Teens with these disorders often have POTS too:
How Is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) Diagnosed?
There's no single test to diagnose POTS. Doctors start by doing a complete physical
exam and taking a medical history.
POTS causes a heart rate increase of 40 or more beats per minute within 10 minutes
of when someone moves from a supine (lying down) position to a standing one. The heart
rate goes up dramatically, with little if any drop in blood pressure. Doctors can
measure this easily.
Sometimes, doctors do a "tilt-table test." In this test, a person is strapped to
a table, then tilted from a supine (lying on the back) position into a standing position
while heart rate and blood pressure are monitored.
Doctors also make sure the problem isn't due to anything besides the autonomic
nervous system. Depending on the symptoms, tests might be done on other parts of the
body. These might check the blood, heart, brain, eyes, ears, kidneys, muscles, nerves,
hormones, digestive tract, and more. Typically, a diagnosis of POTS is confirmed when
symptoms have lasted for several months and no other causes are found.
If someone has POTS, the medical team will look for reasons that the autonomic
nervous system doesn't respond normally to standing. Finding an answer can help
treatments work well.
How Is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) Treated?
POTS is a chronic (long-term) problem. So doctors try to prevent and manage the
things that cause it. That way, a child or teen doesn't have to take medicines for
a long time.
Helpful treatments include:
- more water and salt intake
- better and longer sleep
- a slow increase in exercise, starting with seated, reclined, or horizontal exercises
(such as rowing, recumbent bicycling, and swimming)
- wearing compression (squeezing) stockings
- raising the head of the bed so some pressure stays in the blood vessels in the
legs during sleep
- psychological counseling to help manage stress and choices that trigger symptoms
The autonomic nervous system is involved in many body functions, so managing
all the symptoms related to it can be hard. Sometimes, patients try a few different
treatments to find what works well without unpleasant side effects. Multiple doctor's
visits may be needed to find the best combination of treatments that improve symptoms.
Looking Ahead
POTS symptoms usually improve over time. Often, they'll completely disappear as
kids grow. If a clear and treatable cause is corrected, the symptoms are likely to
go away more quickly.
Date reviewed: April 2018