Proper Hydration

  • As of right now, some researchers and providers feel that the water intake goal should be around 3-4 liters per day for adequate blood volume expansion (Sheldon et al., 2015; Coleby, 2022).

  • This can be especially difficult, however, for those in our community who have significant gastrointestinal symptoms and gastrointestinal dysmotility difficulties, and may vary based on the form of POTS an individual has.

  • Adequate hydration (alongside proper sodium intake seen below) can help increase our circulating blood volume, as it has been demonstrated that many individuals with POTS have reduced plasma and blood volume (Fu et al., 2010).

  • Volume expansion is incredibly important as it can help reduce symptom severity specific to orthostatic intolerance (Coleby, 2022).

  • It is important for providers to recognize that achieving adequate hydration may look different depending on the individual and potential co-occurring conditions.

Sources:

Coleby, C. (2022, October). Non-Pharmacologic Treatment Overview. POTS & Beyond. Salt Lake City; Utah.

Fu, Q., VanGundy, T. B., Galbreath, M. M., Shibata, S., Jain, M., Hastings, J. L., Bhella, P. S., & Levine, B. D. (2010). Cardiac Origins of the Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2858–2868.

Sheldon, R. S., Grubb, B. P., Olshansky, B., Shen, W.-K., Calkins, H., Brignole, M., Raj, S. R., Krahn, A. D., Morillo, C. A., Stewart, J. M., Sutton, R., Sandroni, P., Friday, K. J., Hachul, D. T., Cohen, M. I., Lau, D. H., Mayuga, K. A., Moak, J. P., Sandhu, R. K., & Kanjwal, K. (2015). 2015 heart rhythm society expert consensus statement on the diagnosis and treatment of postural tachycardia syndrome, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, and vasovagal syncope. Heart Rhythm, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2015.03.029