Chronic Fatigue

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.

What it feels like: You can feel every muscle in your body and each one ache and hurts even more when you use it. You are also extremely tired but not in a way that will be fixed with sleep.

What causes it?

They don’t know, not a single doctor has ever been able to answer this one. A lot of them seem to think it’s because of the circulation system working so hard to get the blood where it needs to go. This could be the cause? It does make sense too because of where the blood flows and when it struggles to reach certain parts, such as muscles, it would not allow them to get the proper blood flow. 

Personally, I just figured it was because it just took so much more work and effort to move my muscles when I over do it the fatigue is worse.

Solutions I’ve found

Rest. That’s really the only solution to fatigue I’ve found. You can preemptively stop it if you don’t overexert yourself. Like all of the other symptoms, working to get your blood pressure up will help a lot. 

Further Reading

“POTS: A Little Known Cause of Extreme Fatigue.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/pots-a-little-known-cause-of-extreme-fatigue. Accessed 28 March 2023.

Rice, Damien, and Matt Galbraith. “.,.” ., – YouTube, 16 November 2008, https://www.autonomicneuroscience.com/article/S1566-0702(17)30328-4/fulltext. Accessed 28 March 2023.Wellford, Jenny.

“Important Lifestyle Changes: Managing fatigue.” PoTS UK, https://www.potsuk.org/managingpots/managing-fatigue/. Accessed 28 March 2023.

Do you have Chronic Fatigue? How do you handle it day to day?