Daily Exercise

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.

Exercise is so important with POTS and it is so hard to do. Every part of your body is telling you to lay down and that it’s in pain and you’re trying to get on a treadmill. 

It does help a lot to move each day.  It helps physically but also mentally. I’m not saying you have to go far but pace around your house if you don’t feel good enough to go outside. I do for 10 minutes walks in my neighborhood when I don’t feel good.  Anything helps.

You do need to push yourself a lot to do this.  As a teenager I hated going out everyday and my parents made me.  When I got to college I realized how much it helped after not going out for a couple of days.  It really makes a difference but you need to push yourself.

Get some new tv shows, buy a new coat, bundle up or stay cool.  Drink a lot of water before going and if you can take someone with you or let someone know where you’re going. 

Experient with different exercises, try yoga, try recumbent bike, walk a little, sit in a chair for a bit, engage your core while your breathe. It can be simple to start but then build on it. It can be just 5 minutes at the start of the day

Further Reading

Fu, Qi, and Benjamin D. Levine. “Exercise in the Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.” NCBI, 21 November 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4336603/. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“How Exercise Helps Patients with POTS Syndrome.” MyHeart, https://myheart.net/pots-syndrome/exercise-in-pots-syndrome/. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“Managing POTS through Exercise.” Standing Up To POTS, https://www.standinguptopots.org/livingwithpots/exercise. Accessed 4 April 2023.Rich, Emily.

“Making Exercise Count with POTS.” Tucson Medical Center, 3 May 2022, https://www.tmcaz.com/blogs/medical-services/brain-health/making-exercise-count-with-pots. Accessed 4 April 2023.