Laurie Hernandez, one member of the “Final Five” women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which took home the Gold in 2016, is asking for a little help after a recent health diagnosis.
The 25-year-old took to TikTok this week to reveal she has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS—a diagnosis she received among several other suspicions.
“gimme ur best and most outta pocket POTS hacks,” she requested over a video of herself sitting on the couch, looking at her laptop screen with a Starbucks cup in her hand before scanning over to meet the eye of the camera and sending viewers a bemused grimace.
“I thought maybe anxiety? asthma? high blood sugar post eating bc I was getting exhausted? depression? hot flashes startin hella early?” she listed off a series of her differential diagnoses in the caption, before revealing what her testing had uncovered.
“but technically, no! did a tilt table test last week and sure enough!! would u look at that!!”
The gymnast added that she was seated with her salt water and compression socks, dealing with “the worst week ever” following the test, admitting she’s been “a tired weepy mess” and reiterating her request for all of her POTS-suffering followers’ “wacky favorites.”
@lauriehernandez_ I thought maybe anxiety? asthma? high blood sugar post eating bc I was getting exhausted? depression? hot flashes startin hella early? but technically, no! did a tilt table test last week and sure enough!! would u look at that!! (no syncope tho). anyways I got my salt water and compreshy socks but gimme ur wacky favorites bc the week after this test has been the worst week ever lowkey and ive been a tired weepy mess POTS
♬ Club Penguin Pizza Parlor – Cozy Penguin
What Is POTS?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, POTS affects somewhere between one and three million people in the United States alone, primarily women between the ages of 15 and 50. It’s a form of orthostatic intolerance that causes a person’s heart to beat too fast when moving from sitting or lying down to standing up.
In people without POTS, the body’s autonomic nervous system works to maintain homeostasis, or balance, and regulates the heart rate and blood pressure at the correct pace. In POTS, it’s not always able to, which can lead to symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, and even fainting.
How Do People Treat POTS?
There’s no cure for POTS, and its symptoms and treatments vary greatly from person to person, but, according to the Cleveland Clinic, exercise and physical activity and diet and nutrition are the main focuses in symptom management.
As you might expect, this leads folks diagnosed with the disorder to try all manner of things to keep it under control.
There were endless amounts of “hacks” in the Olympian’s comments, with many sadly replying, “Welcome to the club!! 💙.”
“Straight up hoard the salt packets that you’d get at restaurants,” one recommended, comically adding, “Become a salt dragon.”
“A backpack pickle is KEY! My pickle goes everywhere with me 😝,” someone else suggested, adding that she should “always double bag” it.
“Black olives.. trust me👁️👁,” another advised.
Some focused on more physical relief, with one noting, “Everyone talks about compression socks but a compression SHIRT is a game changer in my opinion.”
“I wish I knew gurl, fainted and fell on my face just this morning,” someone else sympathized.
Halsey, Christina Applegate’s daughter Sadie, and Solange Knowles are just a few of the other folks out there dealing with the condition.
