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For those living with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), the journey often involves an exhausting cycle of managing symptoms without ever truly addressing why they started. The debilitating orthostatic intolerance, the chronic fatigue, and the persistent “brain fog” don’t fit neatly into a one-size-fits-all treatment plan.
As a Holistic Cardiologist, I believe the key to finding lasting relief from POTS lies in shifting our focus from the symptom (the rapid heart rate or dizziness) to the root cause of the autonomic nervous system dysfunction. This is the core of Personalized Functional Medicine.
If you are tired of merely coping with POTS, it’s time to explore a comprehensive approach that treats you, not just your diagnosis.
Conventional Care vs. Functional Medicine: A New Perspective
The standard conventional treatment for POTS is invaluable in stabilizing acute symptoms. It often focuses on:
- Fluid and Salt Intake: Increasing volume to stabilize blood pressure.
- Medication: Using drugs like beta-blockers or Florinef to manage heart rate and blood pressure.
- Compression: Using garments to limit blood pooling.
While these measures offer support, they rarely resolve the condition entirely. They primarily focus on the effects of dysautonomia, not the cause.
Functional Medicine (FM) offers a fundamentally different pathway. FM for POTS is an investigative process that asks: What triggered the nervous system to malfunction in the first place?
This perspective understands that POTS is not a disease of a single system; it is a manifestation of imbalance driven by one or more underlying factors.
Why POTS Demands Personalized Care
If every POTS patient were the same, a standard protocol would work every time. But the reality is that the origins of POTS are highly diverse. For true, sustainable healing, your care must be personalized to address your unique triggers.
Common root causes that Functional Medicine investigates include:
- Chronic Infections: Identifying and addressing stealth pathogens like Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), or reactivated viruses that trigger chronic immune dysfunction.
- Gut Health and Inflammation: The Gut-Heart connection is powerful. Leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability), dysbiosis (imbalance of gut bacteria), or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) can create systemic inflammation that affects the vagus nerve and autonomic balance.
- Hormonal Imbalances: Evaluating thyroid function, adrenal health, and sex hormones (particularly in women) is essential, as hormonal fluctuations significantly impact the nervous system’s ability to regulate.
- Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS): An over-reactive immune response where mast cells inappropriately release mediators, causing systemic symptoms that often mimic or exacerbate POTS.
- Nutrient Deficiencies: Optimizing levels of B vitamins, magnesium, Vitamin D, and iron, all of which are critical for nerve, energy, and cardiovascular function.
What Personalized Functional Medicine for POTS Looks Like
Working with a Holistic Cardiologist who specializes in Functional Medicine means you receive a deeper, more detailed level of care:
- Advanced Diagnostic Testing: We go beyond standard blood panels. This may include comprehensive stool analysis, advanced hormone testing, specialized inflammatory markers, and testing for heavy metals or environmental toxins.
- Creating the Timeline: We meticulously trace your health history back to the first moment you felt unwell, looking for key life events, exposures, or infections that preceded your symptoms.
- Customized Treatment Protocols: Treatment is tiered and personalized, focusing on:
- Dietary Healing: Implementing specific nutrition plans (often anti-inflammatory or low-histamine) to cool systemic inflammation.
- Gut Restoration: Using targeted supplements and probiotics to repair the gut lining and balance the microbiome.
- Nervous System Retraining: Utilizing techniques like vagal nerve stimulation and intentional breathwork to improve autonomic balance.
- Targeted Supplementation: Using high-quality nutrients to correct deficiencies and support mitochondrial function (cellular energy).
POTS is complex, but it is not hopeless. By utilizing the principles of Personalized Functional Medicine, we can uncover the underlying mechanisms driving your condition and build a bespoke pathway to restoration.
Dr. Cynthia Thaik provides telehealth options for follow-up appointments and consultations, making it easier to receive specialized care regardless of your location.
Call us at (818) 842 1410 to discuss your health journey and learn more about our comprehensive care model.
Important Note: Personalized Functional Medicine Case Reviews and other initial telehealth consultations are not covered by insurance, but other options may be eligible. Our telehealth consultation service provides a high level of personalized service and accelerated insight into your care from the comfort of your home. Call us if you are interested in learning more about an in-person consultation, which may be eligible for insurance coverage at (818) 842 1410.
