5 Things You Need to Quit Immediately When You Find Out You Have POTS

Receiving a diagnosis of POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) can feel like finally getting answers—but also stepping into major lifestyle changes. If you’re searching for how to manage POTS, what makes POTS worse, or what triggers POTS flare-ups, one thing becomes very clear: healing often begins with what you stop doing.

These are the top 5 things you need to quit immediately to stabilize your symptoms, support your autonomic nervous system, and start improving your POTS symptoms within 30 days.

1. Quit Ignoring Your POTS Symptoms

Many people with POTS have spent years pushing through dizziness, brain fog, rapid heart rate, nausea, headaches, or fatigue—because they had no name for it yet. Now you do, and listening to your body becomes essential.

Why this matters:

Ignoring early POTS symptoms leads to more frequent POTS flare-ups, worsens dysautonomia, and slows recovery.

What to do instead:

• Stop when your heart rate spikes

• Sit or lie down during dizziness

• Hydrate and salt before symptoms escalate

• Track triggers like heat, stress, meals, or standing

Listening to your body becomes one of the most powerful forms of POTS treatment.

2. Quit the “All or Nothing” Lifestyle

Trying to live exactly how you did before your diagnosis is one of the fastest routes to burnout. Overdoing it leads to crashes. Under-doing it leads to deconditioning.

Why you need to quit this:

The boom-and-bust cycle is a major POTS symptom trigger, creating more tachycardia, weakness, dizziness, and fatigue.

What to do instead:

• Practice pacing

• Break tasks into small movements

• Add gentle, recumbent, or low-impact exercise

• Avoid sudden posture changes

• Build strength gradually and consistently

This balanced approach stabilizes the nervous system and reduces symptoms.

3. Quit Overloading Your Nervous System

POTS is a form of dysautonomia, meaning your autonomic nervous system is already struggling to regulate itself. Stress and overstimulation overload it instantly.

Stop overstimulating your nervous system by quitting:

• Chronic stress and overcommitting

• Excessive screen time

• Loud, bright, or chaotic environments

• Staying up late or sleeping inconsistently

• Ignoring burnout signals

What to do instead:

• Use grounding techniques

• Create calming routines

• Prioritize quality sleep

• Build in quiet time

• Reduce mental and sensory overload

Lowering nervous system stress is one of the most effective POTS management strategies.

4. Quit Eating and Drinking Like You Used To

This is the BIG one—and the one most people overlook.

To improve POTS symptoms, your diet often needs a complete reset. Certain foods and drinks can dramatically worsen dizziness, tachycardia, bloating, fatigue, and blood pressure swings.

Here’s what to quit immediately:

Quit Drinking Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the biggest POTS flare-up triggers.

It:

• Dehydrates you

• Lowers blood pressure

• Causes tachycardia

• Intensifies fatigue

• Disrupts sleep, which worsens symptoms

Even one drink can cause a multi-day flare for many people with POTS.

Quit Consuming Excess Caffeine

Caffeine can be tricky for people with POTS:

• It may increase heart rate

• It can worsen anxiety

• It may trigger palpitations

• It can dehydrate you

• It may cause crashes later in the day

Most people benefit from reducing caffeine or swapping to low-caffeine or caffeine-free options like herbal teas or matcha.

Quit Eating Inflammatory Foods

Inflammation is a major trigger for dysautonomia symptoms.

Try reducing or avoiding:

• Highly processed foods

• Seed oils

• Fast food

• Refined sugar

• Gluten (for some people, inflammatory)

• Dairy (for some people, inflammatory)

• Artificial sweeteners

• Fried foods

Inflammatory foods increase gut dysfunction—which is closely tied to POTS symptoms.

What to do instead:

Fuel your body in a POTS-supportive way:

• High protein at every meal

• Small, frequent meals

• Electrolytes daily

• 2–3 liters of water

• Increased sodium (if recommended)

• Whole foods focused on anti-inflammatory nutrients

Changing your diet is one of the most powerful ways to stabilize POTS syndrome.

5. Quit Comparing Yourself to Your Old Self

The emotional side of POTS is real, and comparison is one of the biggest sources of stress—which directly worsens physical symptoms.

Why you need to stop this:

Constantly looking backward keeps your nervous system in a state of pressure, frustration, and survival mode.

What to do instead:

• Allow yourself to grieve

• Accept that healing is nonlinear

• Celebrate the wins, no matter how small

• Focus on what your body can do

• Build a new version of yourself based on strength and self-awareness

Your healing journey won’t look like anyone else’s, and that’s okay.

If you want to reduce POTS symptoms, avoid flare-ups, and support your body through dysautonomia, start by removing what’s harming your nervous system.

Quitting these five things will help you:

• Stabilize your symptoms

• Prevent flare-ups

• Improve daily function

• Feel more in control of your POTS diagnosis

Removing what’s hurting your body is just as important as adding what supports it.

And you deserve to feel better—not someday, but starting today.