Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I can only speak to my own experience and hope that gives you some insight into what POTS is and how it can affect you or the people around you.

Move everyday

Get outside, take a short walk even if it’s just around your house. Go out for coffee, move, get out of the house and out of your own head. The movement will be good for the POTS as well.

Eat small meals

The small meals will be less of a toll on your stomach and it will keep your energy up all day without taking energy from you from eating.

Drink a lot of Water

It’s not enough to just drink a lot of water, you also need to drink electrolytes and have salt too. Try to drink at least 64 oz a day with Liquid IV and LMNT.

Rest when you need to

If you push yourself too much you will be sicker the next day. Listen to your body when it tells you to rest, I’m not saying just stay on the couch but at some point you might feel the urge to lay down, listen to it. If you rest you will be able to do more later.

Put your feet when resting

When resting if you put your feet up the blood will flow better. Doctors will recommend that you rest with your feet above your heart. I find this helps when I am very sick but if I want to be up and about afterwards then it’s too extreme. What I mean by that is I find I have a worse reaction when I finally stand up than if I just rest with my legs on the couch.

Eat nutritious food

Nutrition is important for everyone but even more so in people with a chronic illness of any kind. With POTS there are so many stomach issues that make eating a decent amount of food hard so every bite you take counts.

Wear the compression stockings

They look silly and don’t wear them in the heat because they are hot but I promise they do help more than you want them to. You can wear them under jeans and with boots and they do help and they’re good for you! They help people without POTS get their circulation to work better so they’re going to help you.

Trust your gut

You know when something is off or wrong with your body. Trust yourself, it’s hard but you need to get used to it. When something is wrong you also need to figure out if you should go to the doctor or just leave it for a bit. My rule of thumb is 2 months to see if it goes away and if it doesn’t then I go see a doctor.

Ask for the tests you need

This goes hand and hand with trusting your gut. Your doctor might not always want to run the tests you need, make sure to ask for them and if they refuse, ask them to make a note in your chart that they are refusing, they’ll run it. 

Ask for help when you need it

The people around you know you’re sick and are willing to help you when you need it. Don’t take advantage but do ask for help when you need it. They’d rather help you then see you get hurt.