Watching your teen or young adult struggle with dizziness, fainting, fatigue, a racing heart, brain fog, and constant anxiety can feel terrifying.
One moment they seem okay.
The next, simply standing up, walking across the room, taking a shower, going to school, or being in a warm environment can make their body feel like it is crashing.
As a parent, you may find yourself constantly watching.
Are they pale?
Do they need to sit down?
Are they going to faint?
Is their heart racing again?
Will they be able to get through school, work, practice, or even a normal day?
And if your family has been given the word POTS, you may feel both relieved and overwhelmed.
Relieved to finally have a name for what is happening.
Overwhelmed because the answers often feel limited.
Drink more water.
Increase salt.
Stand up slowly.
Wear compression socks.
Try medication.
Manage stress.
Those things may help some people, and they absolutely have their place.
But many families are still left asking a deeper question:
Why is the body having such a hard time regulating in the first place?
At Foundations Chiropractic, we look at POTS through a nervous system lens — because POTS is deeply connected to the Autonomic Nervous System, the part of the body responsible for regulating heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, temperature, sleep, and stress response.
When that system is overwhelmed, the whole body can feel out of balance.
What Is POTS?
POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
In simple terms, it means the body has an abnormal heart rate response when moving from lying down or sitting to standing.
For many people with POTS, standing up causes the heart rate to rise much more than it should. This can lead to symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, weakness, brain fog, heart palpitations, nausea, shakiness, fatigue, and sometimes fainting.
But POTS is not just “a fast heartbeat.”
It can affect nearly every part of daily life.
It can make normal tasks feel exhausting.
It can make school or work feel impossible.
It can make social plans feel unpredictable.
It can create anxiety around movement, temperature changes, exercise, standing, or being away from home.
For some people, symptoms are mild and manageable.
For others, POTS can be debilitating.
And for families watching their child go through it, the emotional weight can be just as heavy as the physical symptoms.
Common Signs of POTS
Every person’s experience with POTS is different, but common symptoms may include:
-
Dizziness or lightheadedness when standing
-
Rapid heartbeat
-
Heart palpitations
-
Fainting or near-fainting
-
Fatigue and weakness
-
Brain fog
-
Trouble concentrating
-
Headaches or migraines
-
Tremors or shakiness
-
Shortness of breath
-
Chest discomfort
-
Nausea or digestive issues
-
Blurred vision or tunnel vision
-
Sleep struggles
-
Temperature sensitivity
-
Anxiety or a sense of internal panic
Many families also notice that symptoms can flare with heat, stress, illness, busy seasons, poor sleep, dehydration, hormonal changes, or after infections.
This is one reason POTS can feel so unpredictable.
The body’s regulation system is struggling to adapt to normal changes.
Why POTS Is Often Misunderstood
Many people with POTS are told things like:
“It’s just anxiety.”
“You’re out of shape.”
“Your labs look normal.”
“You need to exercise more.”
“It’s all in your head.”
But POTS is not imaginary.
And while anxiety can absolutely be part of the experience, it is not always the root of the problem.
When the heart races, blood flow feels unstable, dizziness hits, and the body feels like it is going to collapse, anxiety is a very understandable response.
The body feels unsafe.
The nervous system feels overwhelmed.
And when no one can explain why it is happening, the fear often grows.
That is why understanding the nervous system matters so much.
The Autonomic Nervous System and POTS
The Autonomic Nervous System controls the functions your body handles automatically.
Things like:
-
Heart rate
-
Blood pressure
-
Breathing patterns
-
Digestion
-
Temperature regulation
-
Sleep-wake rhythms
-
Stress response
-
Blood flow
-
Immune and inflammatory responses
You do not have to consciously tell your heart how fast to beat or your blood vessels how to respond when you stand.
Your Autonomic Nervous System is supposed to coordinate that for you.
In someone with POTS, that coordination is disrupted.
When they stand, the body does not regulate blood flow, heart rate, and pressure as smoothly as it should. The heart may race to compensate. The brain may not get steady blood flow. The body may feel dizzy, shaky, weak, or panicked.
This imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System is often called dysautonomia.
And dysautonomia is one of the biggest pieces of the POTS conversation.
The Gas Pedal and the Brake Pedal
A simple way to understand dysautonomia is to think about the nervous system like a car.
The sympathetic nervous system is the gas pedal.
It helps the body respond to stress, increase alertness, raise heart rate, and move into action.
The parasympathetic nervous system is the brake pedal.
It helps the body rest, digest, sleep, heal, regulate, and recover.
Both are important.
A healthy nervous system can use the gas when needed and then apply the brake when it is time to calm down and reset.
But many people with POTS are stuck with the gas pedal pressed down.
Their body is running in a state of stress and overactivation.
At the same time, the brake pedal may not be engaging strongly enough to help the body recover, regulate blood flow, settle heart rate, digest well, sleep deeply, or feel steady.
This is why POTS can feel like the body is constantly overreacting.
Standing up feels like a threat.
Heat feels like a threat.
Exercise feels like a threat.
Stress feels like a threat.
Even normal daily life can feel like too much.
The Role of the Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is one of the most important parts of the parasympathetic nervous system.
It helps regulate:
-
Heart rate
-
Digestion
-
Blood pressure
-
Breathing
-
Inflammation
-
Emotional regulation
-
Recovery after stress
The vagus nerve acts like part of the body’s brake pedal.
When it is functioning well, the body has a better ability to calm, regulate, recover, and adapt.
When vagus nerve function is under stress, the body may have a harder time counterbalancing the fight-or-flight response.
This can contribute to symptoms like racing heart, digestive issues, fatigue, anxiety, sleep struggles, temperature sensitivity, and difficulty recovering after stress.
That is why, at Foundations Chiropractic, we care so deeply about how the nervous system is functioning — especially the connection between the brainstem, upper neck, vagus nerve, and Autonomic Nervous System.
Different Types of POTS
POTS can show up in different ways, and different people may have different contributing factors.
Some common subtypes include:
Neuropathic POTS
This type is associated with dysfunction in the autonomic nerves that help regulate blood vessel constriction, circulation, heart rate, and blood pressure.
When the nerves responsible for regulating these systems are not communicating well, the body may struggle to adjust properly when standing.
Hyperadrenergic POTS
This type is often associated with high sympathetic activation and increased stress hormone activity.
People with this pattern may experience palpitations, anxiety, shakiness, elevated blood pressure, or a body that feels constantly revved up.
Hypovolemic POTS
This type involves low blood volume, which may contribute to fainting, rapid pulse, weakness, and difficulty tolerating standing.
Hydration, electrolytes, salt intake, and medical guidance can be especially important in this category.
Secondary POTS
This type occurs alongside another condition, such as autoimmune challenges, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or other underlying health concerns.
This is why POTS care often requires a team approach.
There may be multiple layers involved.
What Can Trigger or Contribute to POTS?
POTS can be complex, and every person’s story is different.
Some people develop symptoms after illness or infection. Others notice symptoms after a period of intense stress, trauma, hormonal changes, injury, or a major life transition.
Potential contributing factors may include:
-
Viral infections
-
COVID-19 or post-viral stress
-
Chronic stress
-
Autoimmune conditions
-
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
-
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
-
Concussions or injuries
-
Birth stress or early nervous system stressors
-
Poor sleep
-
Deconditioning after illness
-
Long periods of sympathetic overactivation
-
Physical tension and stress in the upper neck and brainstem region
At Foundations Chiropractic, we often talk about The Perfect Storm — the layering of physical, chemical, and emotional stressors that can overwhelm the nervous system over time.
POTS may not come from one single event.
For many people, it may be the result of multiple stressors stacking up until the nervous system loses its ability to regulate smoothly.
Why POTS Can Affect So Many Systems
One of the reasons POTS feels so overwhelming is because it does not stay in one lane.
It can affect the heart, digestion, sleep, energy, focus, temperature regulation, mood, and movement tolerance.
That makes sense when we remember that the Autonomic Nervous System coordinates all of those functions.
When the body is stuck in dysautonomia, it may struggle to regulate multiple systems at once.
That is why someone with POTS may have:
A racing heart and nausea.
Dizziness and brain fog.
Fatigue and anxiety.
Sleep struggles and temperature sensitivity.
Digestive symptoms and migraines.
These are not necessarily separate problems.
They may all be signs that the nervous system is having a hard time coordinating the body’s automatic functions.
Why Anxiety and POTS Often Overlap
Many people with POTS are told they are “just anxious.”
But that can be a painful oversimplification.
The nervous system pathways involved in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion, and stress response are deeply connected to the pathways involved in anxiety and emotional regulation.
When your heart races, your body feels shaky, your vision changes, and you feel like you might pass out, the brain naturally interprets that as danger.
So anxiety can become part of the cycle.
But that does not mean the symptoms are fake.
It means the body and brain are caught in a feedback loop of dysregulation.
This is why supporting nervous system regulation can be so important.
Not because POTS is “just stress.”
But because the body’s stress regulation system is often deeply involved.
Lifestyle Support Still Matters
Many conventional POTS recommendations can be helpful for some people.
These may include:
-
Increasing fluids
-
Supporting electrolyte intake
-
Using compression garments
-
Standing up more slowly
-
Building exercise tolerance carefully
-
Prioritizing sleep
-
Eating enough protein and healthy fats
-
Avoiding long periods of standing
-
Managing heat exposure
-
Working with a qualified medical provider
These tools can support the body and reduce symptom intensity.
But for many families, lifestyle changes alone are not enough.
That is when we believe it is worth asking a deeper question:
How is the nervous system functioning underneath all of this?
How INSiGHT Scans Help Us Look Deeper
At Foundations Chiropractic, we do not want to guess when it comes to the nervous system.
That is why we use INSiGHT Scans.
These scans are safe, gentle, and non-invasive.
They do not diagnose POTS, dysautonomia, anxiety, EDS, MCAS, or any other medical condition.
They are not a treatment or cure.
Instead, they help us measure patterns of nervous system stress and dysregulation.
INSiGHT Scans help us better understand:
-
Autonomic balance
-
Stress response
-
Heart rate variability
-
Neuromuscular tension
-
Adaptability
-
Vagus nerve function
-
Patterns of dysautonomia
-
How the nervous system changes over time
For many families, these scans provide a clearer picture of what the body has been trying to communicate.
Not just “your child is anxious.”
Not just “drink more water.”
But a deeper look at how the nervous system is functioning, adapting, and recovering.
How Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care Fits In
At Foundations Chiropractic, our goal is not to treat or cure POTS.
We do not replace your medical provider, cardiologist, neurologist, specialist, or care team.
Our focus is supporting nervous system regulation, brain-body communication, adaptability, and resilience.
Neurologically-focused chiropractic care looks at how the nervous system is functioning, where stress may be stored, and whether the body is stuck in survival mode.
Through gentle, specific adjustments, our doctors work to support better nervous system function and help the body shift toward a more regulated state.
As the nervous system begins to regulate, some families may notice changes like:
-
Better sleep
-
More stable energy
-
Improved digestion
-
Less tension
-
Improved stress recovery
-
Greater adaptability
-
More calm in the body
-
Better tolerance to daily activity
-
Improved confidence in movement
-
More capacity for school, work, and life
Every person is different, and results vary.
But when the nervous system has more capacity, the body often has more capacity too.
This Is a Both/And Conversation
POTS is complex.
It deserves thoughtful medical evaluation and support.
Some people may need medication, hydration support, electrolyte guidance, compression garments, physical therapy, cardiology care, or other interventions.
And they may also need support for the nervous system underneath the dysautonomia pattern.
This does not have to be either/or.
It can be both/and.
Medical care can matter.
Lifestyle support can matter.
Movement and conditioning can matter.
Nutrition and hydration can matter.
And nervous system regulation can matter too.
You Are Not Defined by POTS
Living with POTS can feel discouraging.
It can make a young person feel like their body cannot be trusted.
It can interrupt school, work, friendships, sports, driving, independence, confidence, and hope.
But a diagnosis is not the whole story.
Your child is not lazy.
They are not dramatic.
They are not making it up.
And they are not defined by what their nervous system is struggling with right now.
The body can change.
Capacity can build.
Regulation can improve.
Confidence can return.
And with the right support, many families begin to see that life does not have to be ruled by every symptom, flare, or setback.
A Calmer Way Forward
If your teen or young adult is struggling with POTS symptoms, you do not have to navigate it alone.
There may be more to the story than hydration and salt.
There may be more to the story than anxiety.
There may be a nervous system pattern underneath the symptoms that has not yet been fully addressed.
At Foundations Chiropractic, we help families look deeper.
Not with fear.
Not with blame.
Not with promises of a quick fix.
But with clarity, compassion, and a focus on the system that helps the body regulate, recover, and adapt.
Because your child’s body is not broken.
Their nervous system may simply need support.
And when we support the foundation, the body has a better chance to move through life with more steadiness, resilience, and hope.
