POTS Symptoms

Individuals with POTS may not have all of these symptoms, as the severity and presentation can vary given the complexity of the nervous system and what happens when it is not properly functioning.

• Blood pressure fluctuations
• Brain fog
• Chest pain
• Coat hanger pain
• Cold intolerance
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Difficulty swallowing
• Dry mouth
• Exercise intolerance
• Extreme fatigue
• Gastroparesis
• Heat intolerance
• Incontinence
• Insomnia
• Joint pain
• Light sensitivity
• Lightheadedness
• Migraine headaches

• Muscle pain
• Muscle weakness
• Nausea
• Numbness or tingling in limbs
• Orthostatic intolerance
• Palpitations
• Presyncope
• Shortness of breath
• Sleep irregularities
• Sound sensitivity
• Sweating abnormalities
• Syncope
• Tachycardia
• Tension headaches
• Tremulousness
• Unexplained fever
• Urinary urgency or difficulty voiding
• Vision changes, such as blurry vision
• Vomiting

Sources:

Ashangari, C., & Suleman, A. (2015). A comprehensive study on postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) symptoms. Autonomic Neuroscience, 192, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2015.07.221

Raj, S. R. (2013). Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Circulation, 127(23), 2336–2342. https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.112.144501

Raj, S. R., Fedorowski, A., & Sheldon, R. S. (2022). Diagnosis and management of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 194(10). https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.211373

Spahic, J. M., Hamrefors, V., Johansson, M., Ricci, F., Melander, O., Sutton, R., & Fedorowski, A. (2022). Malmö pots symptom score: Assessing symptom burden in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Journal of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.13566