![]() ![]() I did feel a bit let down because I didn’t get any new information, and I just needed to keep doing what I’ve been doing on my own all these years. ![]() So the good news was my POTS was getting better and I don’t need medications. I was told to up my water intake to 3 liters per day and begin working out slowly to improve my blood pressure and heart rate. But it was my low blood pressure (not tachycardia) that my doctor seemed more concerned about since I said I never notice my tachycardia. Based on vitals, I still met the criteria for POTS (pulse went from 60 to 97). In the end, he felt it was not necessary to prescribe medications because he didn’t want to over treat me since I didn’t have frequent episodes and was improving with time. Most of my episodes occurred when I was sitting doing something relaxing like watching TV. I hadn’t worked out since my relapse last July so definitely it was not heavy exertion that caused my episodes. He mentioned around noon every day I would have tachycardia and symptoms, and asked if I was exercising during that time. We discussed in detail what happened during each episode. The doctor came in shortly after to go over my results and vitals. Before leaving, the nurse gave me comprehensive instructions on how to use the Zio patch, record my symptoms in the provided journal, and how to return it.Īt my follow-up appointment, it began with the nurse taking my orthostatic measurements - blood pressure and heart rate measured lying down, upon standing, and standing after a minute. Then the area was lightly rubbed with a piece of sandpaper (at least that’s what it felt like) to abrade the skin, which improves the adhesion and signal of the Zio patch. A nurse cleaned and prepped my skin (if you are hairy, a razor will be used to remove any hair). My Zio patch was placed at my doctor’s office. In my case, I believe my doctor wanted to see if my symptoms correlated with my heart rhythm. This can help your doctor look for heart rate trends, rhythm abnormalities, burden on the heart, and many other things. With no interruptions, it minimizes missing critical information. So what is it exactly? It’s a small device placed on your skin that continuously measures the heart’s rhythms. Well, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to wear the Zio patch for 7 days on the order of my cardiologist/POTS specialist. However, there’s a new, more “fashionable” monitor called the Zio patch that claims to eliminate the annoyances of the other heart monitors while offering superior diagnostics. And on top of that, having to wear it for weeks or months while going about your day normally is no easy feat. There’s nothing glamorous about wearing a heart monitor.
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