The POTScast

Having POTS, myocarditis, COVID and a heart attack right before your 40th birthday is not for the faint of heart, but Randi is a smart, strong, stoic surgical nurse who tells us all about it and more in this episode.  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. If you are so moved, donations are accepted to help to support our production costs  ht...

Caelum Schild is a Senior Exercise Physiologist in Adelaide Australia who specializes in POTS and related conditions. In this episode he describes some of the tools he uses, such as tVNS (transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation) and HRV (heart rate variability), sharing some important research findings plus his clinic experience with these therapies.  Caelum's website is  https://loftyhealth.com.au...

Kai has severe ME/CFS, and is using precious energy for this episode to help us understand what life is like with profound energy limitations: what an average day is like, the price paid for doing basic activities, what it's like to pass the time avoiding sound and light, and what more people should understood about severe profound ME/CFS. Kai wrote this document for anyone who wants to learn more...

Dr. Todd Maderis is a naturopathic physician in Marin, CA, who began his career in environmental medicine and now specializes in helping complex patients by searching for the root causes of their illness.  He and Dr. Dempsey discuss their hypotheses about how and why some patients can get so sick, their favorite newer tests and treatments -- including genetic testing, SOT, phosphatidylcholine -- a...

Clare is a law student who has a genetic condition that causes epileptic seizures, which may have ultimately led to POTS.  She is unfortunately highly experienced in losing consciousness.  But she is still rocking law school (and studying health law) and in this episode discusses how she makes it all work.  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you don't miss an episo...

Dr. Jennifer Curtin is using the latest technologies to improve patient care and offerings.  She was a ME/CFS patient herself when she went to medical school, and now is Medical Director of the RTHM Clinic .  Dr. Curtin describes her approach to care including traditional clinic care plus several innovative offerings that allow patients easier and remote access to common safe treatments for dysaut...

Alici'a has spent a LOT of time hugging garbage pails, due to extreme nausea, and she did not get the support she hoped from her school or  insurance company, but that didn't keep her from figuring out how to graduate high school, get accepted to college with needed accomodations, and feel she has become a better person for the challenges. If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscrib...

This is an excellent discussion for patients and practitioners alike who are interested in the connections between MCAS, POTS, venous compression, pelvic venous disorder, and MALS.   Cardiologist Dr. Cutchins and Dr. Tania Dempsey share tons of information plus their latest thinking on how to treat patients with these complex presentations, including an in-depth conversation about how MCAS patient...

Caitlyn was a 4th grade teacher, mom, group fitness instructor and general ball of energy until she got Mononucleosis.  Faced with all sorts of challenges, including losing relationships because her health was "too much", what did she do?  She wrote.  And it evolved into a book about her experiences and included thoughtful questions for readers, which Caitlyn wishes she's asked herself sooner.  Ab...

Dr. Marie-Claire Seeley explains new published findings from the Australian POTS Registry, looking at sex differences in symptoms, care seeking, diagnostic delay, and other parts of the patient journey.  You can read the published article here and learn more about the Australian POTS Foundation here .  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. I...

The DysCourse event is presented by The Dysautonomia Project .  It is 100% free and is intended to provide practical strategies, information and community to patients and caregivers.  Hope to see you there!

Sam was enjoying a post-graduation road trip when a series of unlucky medical issues left her with POTS including non-epileptic seizures.  Although she still faces new challenges (MALS this time),  Sam is still smiling, optimistic, and sharing her experiences and tips as an influener on TikTok.  You can find her channel here. If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you...

Dr. Anna Cabeca started her career as a researcher and busy physician, until her own fertility issues drove her to search the world over for better solutions for women's sexual health.  In this interview with Dr. Dempsey we learn about hormones, symptoms, treatments, natural alternatives, that vaginal health is important for overall health, and much more. Dr. Cabeca's website is here:   https://dr...

Meet Reilly, a 29-year-old director of nursing from Northern British Columbia, Canada. Reilly shares insights into her life and career, details her experience with the healthcare system as both a provider and a patient, talks about the challenges of traveling with POTS, and describes her journey from the onset of symptoms to receiving a diagnosis.  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click...

Hyperventilation and POTS: Do POTS patients "breathe wrong?"  Dr. Jacquie Baker explains the high-tech research studies performed in her (and Dr. Satish Raj's) lab to untangle the mechanistic causes and effects of hyperventilation in POTS.  She also explains findings on how hyperventilation in POTS differs from hyperventilation in anxiety.  You can find the discussed  publications here  and here ....

Megan is a literacy advocate in Georgia and is very passionate about her work.  When POTS and comorbid conditions struck, she had difficulty making it through the work day, and didn't get any relief or answers from the first 20 doctors she saw.  Luckily she persisted and eventually found the one that made ALL the difference.  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you...

Dr. Donna Kirchoff is an integrative developmental and behavioral pediatrician who works with children who have complex conditions, often involving MCAS, autism and other neuroinflammatory conditions like PANS and PANDAS.  In this episode she and Dr. Dempsey discuss the role of mast cells in these conditions and what can be done to help these young patients. Dr. Kirchoff's website is here. Dr. Dem...

Karen is a healthcare professional in rural Canadian who had onset of confusing and scary symptoms six days after her third COVID shot.  It took a year to figure out symptoms like "feeling drugged when upright, yet feeling able to solve world problems when lying down."  Karen shares how she found answers and the ability to be back at work, now able to recognize POTS in her patients. If you liked t...

POTS patients with cognitive dysfunction had SPECT imaging done to measure the blood flow to their brains and lead author, Marie-Claire Seeley, RN, PhD, discusses the dramatic findings.  You can read the published article here and learn more about the Australian POTS Foundation here .  If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. If you are so move...

Jill shares four nutrition findings from general nutrition (not done on POTS patients) that might still be of interest to POTS patients, as they have been shown to affect cognitive function, mood, pain and exercise tolerance.  As always, this is not medical or dietary advice.  Check with your own medical team about what is right for you. If you liked this episode, we hope you will click subscribe...

Lily was our first POTS Diaries guest (Episode #2) as a college student with severe POTS.  She's back to discuss how she navigated planning a POTS-friendly career, the job hunt, cross-country move, 2 hurricanes, and maintaining her relationship with her partner -- all while managing fairly severe POTS and related conditions.  Lily's smart strategies, insights and sense of humor make this episode e...

Gillian Ehrlich's NeuroVeda Clinic in Seattle treats complex patients with a wide variety of treatments including peptides, Ayurvedic medicine, diet and nutrition, imaging, mind-shifting therapeutics, plasmapheresis, and more.  In this episode, Dr. Tania Dempsey interviews Gillian about her Ayurvedic approach and also her experiences with plasmapheresis.   More information about Gillian and her cl...

Patients with sensitivities to medications or their inactive ingredients ('excipients') often use NIH's DailyMed website to look up excipients or alternative drug formulations that might work better for them.  This is important as 38 "inactive" ingredients have been reported to cause allergic reactions at the doses found in medications.  Data Scientist Mike Brook explains the research project that...

POTS and related conditions are not psychiatric conditions, but can have neuropsychiatric symptoms.  Nurse Practitioner Tena McLarty PMHNP-C , FNP-C specializes in POTS and comorbid conditions, with a particular interest in neuropsychiatric symptoms both from the conditions themselves and as possible side effects from drugs commonly used in these conditions.  In this episode she shares the researc...

Erica was busy, active and career-focused when her health challenges began.  She survived a thrice-collapsed lung, two lung surgeries (one with complications) and COVID, but was left with debilitating POTS with blood pressure spikes and chest pain.  She spent thousands of dollars consulting concierge doctors, long COVID clinics, and even having a stent placed, but the thing that made the biggest d...