Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

💜New Year, New Challenge… 2022 

I am going to attempt to walk 5km a day for a year to raise funds for PoTS UK. A charity close to our hearts since Lucy’s diagnosis in 2020  💜

💜Lucy’s PoTS journey began in November 2020 at the age of 12 when she started to feel extremely dizzy, light headed, headaches and complaining of chest pain and a racing heart. She was treated for vertigo by the GP and referred to a paediatrician.
Whilst waiting for the appointment we presented at A&E numerous times with a heart rate of upto 190 bpm. She was checked over and told it was anxiety related. Lucy is the least anxious person I know and as her mum knew it wasn’t anxiety.
The GP and paediatrician were amazing and mentioned possible PoTS syndrome. Months passed and she had multiple tests on her heart all showing normal.
Her health quickly deteriorated and she spent most days resting in bed with severe fatigue, dizziness, stomach pains, palpitations, very high heart rates on standing and generally feeling very unwell. She missed months of school. 
Lucy is now under the care of a PoTs specialist as well as  other medical teams. She suffers daily with many symptoms including dizziness, extremely high heart rate,  constant nausea and gastro problems, painful joints and chronic fatigue. She manages these by taking beta blockers, extra salt and fluids alongside other daily medications. She uses a wheelchair when out shopping or family day trips. She is currently on a part time timetable at school. 💜

💜Everyday Lucy amazes us with her determination and strong willed attitude, she tries her absolute best to do what she can. 💜

💜Please help support me in donating as what you can, every little bit will help to support this amazing charity  Thank you  💜

What is PoTS?
Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) can be a life altering and debilitating health condition. Simply standing up can be a challenge for affected people as their body is unable to adjust to gravity. PoTS is due to an abnormal response by the autonomic (automatic) nervous system and is characterised by orthostatic intolerance (the development of symptoms when upright that are mostly relieved by lying down). Symptoms include palpitations, lightheadedness, fatigue, sweating, nausea, fainting and headaches, and are associated with a persistant increase in heart rate from the lying to upright position.

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) is an abnormality of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). A malfunctioning ANS is sometimes called ‘dysautonomia’. The autonomic nervous system is in charge of all bodily functions that we don’t have to think about, such as:

• Heart rate and blood pressure regulation
• Digestion
• Bladder control
• Sweating
• Stress response 

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