When I saw the GP on Tuesday she suspected that Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) as a result of covid is the cause of my heart issues. As an extra security she is running a 24 hour ECG to rule out atrial fibrillation. I think her first assumption is the correct one. When I saw her my pulse was within normal range and my BP 112/80 which was spot on ð.
I’ve been doing some reading around post covid issues when mental ability allows - usually a ten minute read and then 30 minute rest. There is a cardiologist who specialises in PoTS and runs this website: www.stopfainting.com and he has shared how to conduct an active stand test which can then be shared with your GP. In hindsight I should have realised it was going to be an ‘off’ day when I had a bad head throughout the night and slept badly. I was desperate for a bath and hair wash and despite taking my time needed to lie down between drying and dressing and the same for drying my hair. When I was attempting to dry myself my legs and feet turned purple and I recognised it as ‘blood pooling’ something Pip suffered with before she was able to access medications. After a really good rest I asked Dave to help with the active stand by taking the readings at prescribed times and the results were very interesting! Most folk think that PoTS causes a drop in blood pressure but in fact the opposite is also the case, as shown in my readings below:
I’m hoping to repeat the test in a few days once my heart rate has calmed down to compare results but I think at least we now know roughly what is going on. Thanks for all your good wishes they are much appreciated ð
