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Click here to read about our community member, Meredith

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Dealing with horrible teachers who bully me for being ill and make class worse and harder than it already is.


What has been most helpful for you?
My friends supporting me and tutoring me.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
It’s been very difficult to, but my counselor has been good and a 504 is helpful.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Don’t downplay your symptoms. and it’s okay for you to be sick. Ask for help if you need it and don’t be afraid!

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Click here to read about our community member, Lynn

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Navigating around the school building safely.


What has been most helpful for you?
Keeping up fluid intake.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
No. We are in the process of getting a 504.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
It will be uplifting for your spirit to be around others. Try a homeschool co-op if public school isnt for you.

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Click here to read about our community member, Haven

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Getting through the day even while feeling sick plus going to school in the first place.


What has been most helpful for you?
Making sure i'm eating properly and that i am able to use certain resources (breaks/walks).


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
i have a medical plan.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Advocate for yourself and don't let others tell you about how you feel, you know yourself the best.

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Click here to read about our community member, Sarah

Where are you currently a student?
College.


What has been most difficult for you?
Walking on my campus is so difficult and my fatigue makes my afternoon classes really hard. I go to a pretty small school but it's on a big hill so I really have to pace myself. There's no accessible parking either (don't worry, we're working hard to fix that) so it makes parking my car to walk anywhere extremely hard.


What has been most helpful for you?
I take the elevator, walk really slow, eat a snack before my afternoon class, and drink lots of water with liquid IV! For the parking thing, we have a shuttle so I take that a lot.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
My school only has one full-time prof. working to get over 150 students accommodations so she's very overworked. I got an appointment with her and she worked with me to get me exactly what I needed! I have both an invisible chronic physical illness and a few mental health diagnoses so I was open about my struggles and got what I needed.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Don't be scared or worried about getting accommodations if you need them! Most likely, the person you'll be seeing will be super understanding and sometimes, know exactly what it's like to struggle. It's their job to help you succeed the best you can so just be honest and open and they'll try their best to accommodate you :)

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Click here to read about our community member, Charlotte

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Getting teachers to understand that when I’m not in school it’s not because I’m lazy but because I physically can’t.


What has been most helpful for you?
Having good friends/support group to lean on.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
I haven’t in all honesty.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Just to keep pushing for the things you need because with time it’ll happen.

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Click here to read about our community member, Lou

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
I really struggle with the unpredictability POTS brings into my daily life. It’s really hard to plan activities, classes and studying when I don’t know how well my body will function on each day. I also really struggle with the fact that I can feel the difference of energy I need to complete easy tasks compared to before my symptoms worsened. I now need to put in the same effort to even get up and get ready for classes I used to put in for an entire day of studying and activities.


What has been most helpful for you?
One thing that helps me a lot is that I “rate” all my tasks and all the activities I wanna do on a scale from high to low energy for every week. So instead of just having a to-do list that I feel bad about not being able to complete, I do tasks based on how much energy I have. If I’m having a bad POTS day, I will stay in bed and do some low energy tasks, rather than trying to force myself to go to my classes. I think noticing my symptoms and stepping out early has been really helpful.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
Mostly. I’ve been able to get extensions on most of my deadlines whenever needed. I am also in close contact with my school’s nurses, so I can call them when I am too dizzy to get to class and they can mark me off. This helps a lot, as I’m usually not able to go to a nurse physically. My teachers are informed and most of them allow me to eat snacks in class or lay down whenever I need to.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Inform your teachers about POTS and the accommodations you could benefit from. Many don’t know anything about it and don’t understand how much effort it takes to keep up with classes when you’re chronically ill. Also, finding study techniques that better adapt to fluctuating energy and pain levels, such as using audiobooks or movies to learn content. If you’re struggling with what to prioritise always remember that your health & wellbeing comes first :)

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Click here to read about our community member, Avery

Where are you currently a student?
Graduate school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Being present during lectures - brain fog, and exhaustion getting in the way.


What has been most helpful for you?
Recorded lectures that way I can watch them at my own pace.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
Taking only online classes, reaching out to student accessibility.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
You must advocate for yourself and don’t take no for an answer when it comes to accommodations in your education.

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Click here to read about our community member, Katie

Where are you currently a student?
High school.


What has been most difficult for you?
Finding ways to communicate with my school community about my situation.


What has been most helpful for you?
My POTS survival kit.


How have you received the accommodations you have needed?
Self advocacy and not letting myself put other peoples preferences before my needs.


What advice would you give to someone else in our community who would like to go back to school or who has been struggling with their POTS while in school?
Communicate your struggles with your school and don’t settle for second class care. Advocate for your needs and make sure to reach out to people who can help you get what you need to go to school everyday. I’m always here for anyone who needs advice, help, or even just to talk.

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