About one week before my 35th birthday on August 24, 2009, my life was turned upside down. I was changing into my scrubs at work at the start of a typical day (I’m a surgical PA) when I began having a rapid heart rate and felt dizzy. I was having a run of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT, or abnormally fast heart rate). I tried to go back to work but was having stabbing chest pain and shortness of breath that landed me in the emergency center.

I was sent home after a minimal workup and told that I was likely just tired and stressed. That didn’t seem right to me, though, as I was perfectly healthy leading up to this point and there wasn’t anything different in my life causing me stress. But I just figured it would go away and I would be better the next day.

Unfortunately, my symptoms got worse, and I was still unable to work. I was having extreme shortness of breath and stabbing chest pain that increased with minimal activity. I made a few trips to my primary care doctor without any answers and then ended up back in the EC scared and frustrated.

Let the testing and doctor appointments begin. I had:

• Several EKGs

• A spiral CT scan of my chest

• A full panel of bloodwork (I think my thyroid has been checked 25 times!)

• Chest x-rays

• Tilt table test

• Regular and stress echo tests (I do have a small atrial septal defect or hole in my heart.)

• Transesophageal echo (TEE)

• Holter monitors including one that lasted for 21 days

• Pulmonary function studies

• An MRI of my heart, head and neck

• A cardiopulmonary study

• Lower extremity arterial dopplers

• Ventilation-perfusion lung scan

• CT scan of my adrenal glands

• Sleep-deprived EEG

• Electromyogram of upper extremities

• Sleep study

I also had a full cardiology workup by six cardiologists, a pulmonary workup, an endocrine workup, a rheumatology and autoimmune workup, and a neurology workup.

I was diagnosed with everything from pericarditis to asthma to anxiety. But nobody was sure what to do with me. I tried at least 15 different medications with no success. I went to three different institutions. I read and searched online.

Here I was in the medical profession and baffled by my own illness. I knew one thing for sure: It was not in my head! I was sick and I was struggling every day.

This went on for almost a year. I was pretty much nonfunctional in the beginning and out of work for nine weeks. I could hardly take care of my two small kids on a daily basis. I felt like I had no control for the first time in my life, and it was killing me. I understood the saying “at least you have your health.”

But I wasn’t going to give up. I made a VERY slow return, and most days were a real struggle. By the grace of God, my friend saw a patient who had a very similar story. She said that I had to see a Dr. Grubb in Toledo, Ohio. I started reading about him online. It was my illness for sure. I knew I had POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and there was hope for me.

POTS is a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS controls the bodily functions that we do not think about such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and vascular tone to name a few.  A person with POTS experiences a significant rise in heart rate upon standing. This in turn leads to a number of different symptoms including dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, chest pain, problems with digestion, temperature regulation, fatigue and many others.

I got the official diagnosis in Toledo on May 25, 2010. I have the rarer form of it called hyperadrenergic POTS. I am now on a good regimen of medications along with several supplements and doing very well. In fact, I’m training for a half marathon in May—not bad just two years after being diagnosed with POTS.

My message to anyone who gets this: Never give up, stay strong and be positive, pray and exercise. I’ll continue searching for answers and help as many people with this as I can. Thanks for listening!