Question About POTS

College Life
1

I’ve already sent e-mails to my various professors and to my counselor about this. However, I am also interested in hearing the opinions of other people in regards to this:

Over the last month, I have developed a certain health syndrome. Based on the symptoms, I think that it is POTS syndrome; however, I haven’t been officially diagnosed yet.

Anyway, though, do you think that it would be better for me to withdraw from UCI for this quarter and to (hopefully) return to UCI to complete my studies at some future point in time? Or do you think that it would be better for me to remain at UCI for this quarter and to seek accommodations for my health syndrome?

Also, for the record, I am incapable of sitting up non-stop for more than half-an-hour or so; indeed, after half-an-hour or so, my head pressure literally becomes so much that I absolutely have to lie down.

Anyway, what exactly is your advice is to what exactly I should do in regards to this?

2

You need to go to a cardiologist and get tested. They’ll do a tilt table test which, as far as I know, is very accurate in diagnosing someone with POTS. If diagnosed, they’ll try to figure out if it’s primary or secondary POTS and go from there with treatment.

It’s often very difficult to get accommodations without an official diagnosis or at least some medical documentation for your condition.

If you feel as though your condition is going to significantly affect your work, you should probably take a leave for a quarter and try to get your health under control. Health trumps all IMO.

3

At our school, you will not get any accommodations without medical documentation. Based on what romamigypsyeyes wrote, it sounds like you will need a specialist to get an accurate diagnosis. That could take weeks to months to just get an appointment. So if you feel you need accommodations on day one then you might need to take an semester or more off to get to the point you need to be at to be successful.

If you still have access to the student heath center, it might be worth it to see if they can get you the necessary referrals to get evaluated. Sometimes they might have more pull to get you that first appointment.

4
  1. See the appropriate doctor. If you get diagnosed, tell them about college and ask if they think you should be able to finish out the semester with accomodations, a lesser schedule, or should you medically with draw.
  2. Talk to the Dean of Students about options.
  3. Under no circustances should you stop going to classes without telling anyone or suffer through the semester and do poorly.