The POTS & Dysautonomia Encyclopedia

Your heart races when you stand. The room tilts in the shower. Every test comes back normal. You are not imagining it.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and the wider family of conditions called dysautonomia affect millions of people, most of them young women, and the typical patient sees several doctors before getting answers. The POTS & Dysautonomia Encyclopedia gathers what is currently understood about these conditions in one place, in plain language, so you can make sense of your body and walk into your next appointment prepared.

Grounded in published consensus statements and research, and honest about where the evidence is still thin, this reference covers:

• How the autonomic nervous system works and what goes wrong in POTS: low blood volume, blood pooling, and an overactive stress response
• The diagnostic criteria and every common test, from the ten-minute stand and NASA lean test to the tilt table, sweat testing, and blood work
• The conditions that travel with POTS: hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, long COVID, ME/CFS, small fiber neuropathy, gastroparesis, and migraine
• Treatment explained: fluids, salt, compression, recumbent-first exercise, and an encyclopedia of the medications doctors use, with the questions to ask about each
• Daily life: mornings, showers, heat, travel, work and school accommodations, relationships, and caring for someone with POTS
• Flares, fainting, and emergencies: counter-maneuvers, a flare plan, and when to seek urgent care

• An A-to-Z section of 290 terms you will meet in clinic letters and test reports
• Answers to the 40 questions people ask most
• Printed trackers to photocopy: 90-day symptom and fluid logs, an orthostatic vitals log, a 12-week exercise log, a doctor-visit preparation sheet, and cut-out emergency cards