Edited by Annie Storkey, Friday, 29 Oct 2021, 16:38
It's been over 12 weeks now since I developed Covid-19 and although I recovered from the infection in just over 2 weeks I still have the post-viral complication of presumed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). I've blogged already about some of my symptoms (as a lecturer in health I'm somewhat fascinated by how the body behaves!) but today I thought I'd focus on something I've only recently noticed - the affect of posture.
I noticed several weeks ago that I occasionally got mild air hunger (large intake of breath) when sitting at my computer, and that this apparently was common in POTS. It's a very odd symptom, given the condition, as the tachycardia occurs to improve oxygenation when standing. Clearly both responses are to improve oxygenation but they are very different.
But last week when I took a break from work/study, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table hunched over my iPad and getting increasingly lightheaded and gasping for breath. It was quite distressing as it felt like my breathing was deteriorating, when until then I had only noticed it getting better. I then realised that it improved with better posture, which would explain why I had it then but not sat on the sofa with the iPad in my hand. Interesting that it's positional, I thought, and carried on with life.
Then on Tuesday I did my yoga class. Until recently my post-covid fitness levels haven't allowed me to do a whole session without tachycardia but I'm now walking several miles a day and feel much fitter. I was pleased to do a whole class of mainly standing poses and have no tachycardia. But wait, I have postural tachycardia and can get a fast pulse just from lifting my arms up -why was it okay to do standing yoga? I suspected that the strict yoga posture was the answer and reflected on my walking tachycardia. I had noticed recently that my tachycardia when out for a walk is better when I'm thinking about it but my pulse starts galloping when my mind wanders, only that day it had suddenly leapt from 104 to 135 for no apparent reason. Was it because my posture dropped?
I tried it out today and worked really hard on my posture when walking; chest out, shoulders back and down. And my pulse stayed below 110 (normal walking pulse) throughout my 2 mile walk. Now, this might be because I walk slower when concentrating on posture but I've ordered a simple back brace and will explore this further. It might be a breakthrough at managing my pulse rate.
When postural tachycardia really is postural
It's been over 12 weeks now since I developed Covid-19 and although I recovered from the infection in just over 2 weeks I still have the post-viral complication of presumed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). I've blogged already about some of my symptoms (as a lecturer in health I'm somewhat fascinated by how the body behaves!) but today I thought I'd focus on something I've only recently noticed - the affect of posture.
I noticed several weeks ago that I occasionally got mild air hunger (large intake of breath) when sitting at my computer, and that this apparently was common in POTS. It's a very odd symptom, given the condition, as the tachycardia occurs to improve oxygenation when standing. Clearly both responses are to improve oxygenation but they are very different.
But last week when I took a break from work/study, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table hunched over my iPad and getting increasingly lightheaded and gasping for breath. It was quite distressing as it felt like my breathing was deteriorating, when until then I had only noticed it getting better. I then realised that it improved with better posture, which would explain why I had it then but not sat on the sofa with the iPad in my hand. Interesting that it's positional, I thought, and carried on with life.
Then on Tuesday I did my yoga class. Until recently my post-covid fitness levels haven't allowed me to do a whole session without tachycardia but I'm now walking several miles a day and feel much fitter. I was pleased to do a whole class of mainly standing poses and have no tachycardia. But wait, I have postural tachycardia and can get a fast pulse just from lifting my arms up -why was it okay to do standing yoga? I suspected that the strict yoga posture was the answer and reflected on my walking tachycardia. I had noticed recently that my tachycardia when out for a walk is better when I'm thinking about it but my pulse starts galloping when my mind wanders, only that day it had suddenly leapt from 104 to 135 for no apparent reason. Was it because my posture dropped?
I tried it out today and worked really hard on my posture when walking; chest out, shoulders back and down. And my pulse stayed below 110 (normal walking pulse) throughout my 2 mile walk. Now, this might be because I walk slower when concentrating on posture but I've ordered a simple back brace and will explore this further. It might be a breakthrough at managing my pulse rate.