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POTS & Dysautonomia

Practical guidance for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and broader dysautonomia, from daily patterns to what actually moves recovery.

Recovery from Post-Viral Dysautonomia: Turning Data Into Decisions
Austin Spaeth July 7, 2026 Recovery

Recovery from Post-Viral Dysautonomia: Turning Data Into Decisions

Post-viral recovery is real but slow, and it moves in a noisy zig-zag, not a straight line, so judging it day to day is demoralizing and misleading. The winning strategy is to zoom out: track your HRV, resting heart rate and stand test as trends over weeks, pace within your energy envelope to avoid crashes, and log context so you can find the specific triggers that move your numbers. Many people see their data improve weeks before they feel better; catching that early is what keeps you going. Trends, not days. That's the whole game.

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POTS, Long COVID & MCAS: Why They Travel Together Long COVID

Jul 5, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

POTS, Long COVID & MCAS: Why They Travel Together

POTS, long COVID, ME/CFS and MCAS overlap so much that many people are told they have several at once. Here's what actually connects them, how they differ, and which parts of each you can track at home.

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The Autonomic Nervous System & Dysautonomia: A Complete Guide Basics

Jul 2, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

The Autonomic Nervous System & Dysautonomia: A Complete Guide

Your autonomic nervous system runs everything you never think about: heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, temperature. When it stops regulating properly, that's dysautonomia. Here is how it works, what goes wrong, and why it's measurable.

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Opeoluwa Fasanya / Unsplash POTS

Jun 30, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

The Best Wearables & Home Tools for Tracking POTS

A practical guide to the affordable devices that capture POTS at home (chest straps, rings, watches, blood-pressure cuffs and pulse oximeters), plus the one test that needs no gadget at all.

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Nik / Unsplash Long COVID

Jun 27, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Is It Long COVID or POTS? How to Tell Them Apart

Long COVID and POTS are not competing labels: one is a broad umbrella and the other a specific, measurable diagnosis that often sits inside it. Here is how to tell what you are actually dealing with.

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engin akyurt / Unsplash Food

Jun 23, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

SIBO, Histamine & Why Dysautonomia Wrecks Digestion

Dysautonomia doesn't stop at your heart rate, it slows your gut, invites bacterial overgrowth, and can stir up histamine problems. Here is how POTS, SIBO and MCAS feed each other, and the dietary tools that actually help.

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Jacopo Maiarelli / Unsplash Food

Jun 16, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

The Low-Histamine Diet for MCAS: A Practical Food List

A low-histamine diet can calm the flares of MCAS and histamine intolerance by lowering your total histamine load. Here is a practical eat-versus-avoid list, the freshness rule that matters most, and why this is a short-term tool, not a way of life.

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Luke Chesser / Unsplash The app

Jun 15, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Autonomic vs. Fitness Trackers: Built for Recovery, Not Performance

Fitness trackers are built for healthy people chasing performance. When you are recovering from POTS or long COVID, that framing can quietly mislead you. Here is what a recovery-first tool does differently.

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Rajasekhar R / Unsplash POTS

Jun 11, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

POTS Treatment: Salt, Fluids, Compression & Medication Explained

POTS treatment usually starts with volume, compression and a careful exercise ramp, and adds medication when those aren't enough. Here's how each piece works and why it's almost always a combination.

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Anna Pelzer / Unsplash Food

Jun 9, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

The POTS Diet: What to Eat, and Why Small, Salty Meals Help

There is no single POTS diet, but a few patterns reliably help: smaller and more frequent meals, generous sodium and fluids, and steady blood sugar. Here is what to eat, what tends to backfire, and why.

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Jordan Bauer / Unsplash Recovery

Jun 6, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Pacing 101: How to Find and Expand Your Energy Envelope

Pacing is the single most important recovery skill for POTS, long COVID and ME/CFS. Here is how to find the edge of your energy envelope, stop the boom-and-bust cycle, and expand your capacity without triggering a crash.

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Maria Petersson / Unsplash Research

May 28, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Salt & Fluids for POTS: What's Proven and What Isn't

"Drink more, salt more" is the most repeated advice in POTS. Here is the physiology behind it, what the evidence actually supports, and where the guidance runs ahead of the data.

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What HRV Actually Is, And Why It Matters for POTS Recovery HRV

May 28, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

What HRV Actually Is, And Why It Matters for POTS Recovery

Heart rate variability is one of the clearest windows into your autonomic nervous system. Here is what it measures, why it drops in POTS and post-viral illness, and how to read it without obsessing.

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Briana Tozour / Unsplash POTS

May 23, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Exercise for POTS: The Levine Protocol & How to Start Safely

Upright exercise often backfires early in POTS. The recumbent-first approach (the Levine and CHOP protocols) trains your heart lying down first, then works toward standing over months. Here is how to start without crashing.

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The Orthostatic Stand Test: How to Do It at Home (and What the Numbers Mean) POTS

May 21, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

The Orthostatic Stand Test: How to Do It at Home (and What the Numbers Mean)

The lying-to-standing heart rate test is the single most useful at-home measurement for POTS. Here is how to run it consistently and how to read the rise and recovery.

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Stacey Koenitz / Unsplash Long COVID

May 16, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

Long COVID Symptoms That Point to Dysautonomia

Racing heart on standing, dizziness, brain fog, exertion crashes and temperature swings after COVID often share one root: a dysregulated autonomic nervous system. Here is how to recognize the pattern and what to do next.

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Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash POTS

May 9, 2026 · Austin Spaeth

How POTS Is Diagnosed: The 30-BPM Rule, the Tilt Table & What to Expect

POTS is diagnosed by a sustained heart-rate rise on standing without a big blood-pressure drop, symptoms lasting months, and other causes ruled out. Here is what the criteria mean and what the tests feel like.

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