It is common to hear a celebrity speak up about an illness due to their own experience with it or due to a close friend or family member who has the illness. I decided that I wanted to see if I could find any celebrities with hPOTS. I did a search on several variations of "celebrities with POTS" or "POTS and celebrities" etc and not suprisingly, discovered numerous sources of information on celebrities who smoke pot! :-)
I'm sure that if you have POTS and are reading this, you can relate to the kind of awkwardness you feel when you try to explain it to someone. You can either state the whole long name (and add "hyperadrenergic" to the front of it if you have h-POTS) and find people's eyes glazing over before you finish saying it. Or you can say, "I have POTS" and watch them look at you as if you are a little loony. Which you actually are sometimes due to the POTS.
But getting back to the celebrity search...
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As I pretty much expected, I could not find any confirmed information on a celebrity with the hyperadrenergic form of POTS. I did discover however, that Greg Page, one of the founding members of the children's band "The Wiggles" has POTS. Wikipedia posts this article about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Page_%28musician%29.
I also saw several references to the late actress Brittany Murphy as possibly having had POTS as well as her brother but could not confirm it 100%.
And finally, I read that the series "House" did an episode where the mystery illness was POTS. Here is the wikipedia article about the episode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choice_%28House%29 . Although the episode was not one of it's highest watched, at least it may have raised awareness of POTS for those who saw it.
So any celebrity who is reading this, if you need a cause to support, there aren't many (none so far) takers for POTS or hPOTS so you would be the first!
Oprah or George Clooney...who I'm sure are reading this...we need you!!
The House episode definitely raised awareness for me. In fact, the first time I heard of POTS was when I was home sick (because of dizziness and low blood pressure) and I was watching House. So, I can basically say that even though House doesn't 'really' exist, he still saved my life! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Carissa,
ReplyDeleteWow, that's pretty amazing! I'm glad that you were able to get a diagnosis even if you learned about POTS through a fictional television show :-) I hope that you are doing well and that you have had some recovery since your diagnosis.
http://www.potsuk.org/news/49
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend has been diagnosed with a rare syndrome called P.O.T.S (Positional orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and is a big part of Auburn NY community. She has been referred to the Mayo clinic in Cleveland however we need to raise $5000 just to set up an appointment. Through out this she has lost her appartment, car, job and a normal way of living.
ReplyDeleteFrom Danielle Dutcher
So everyone knows my story and in case you don't here's what's going on for the past 4 years I've been passing out and doctors haven't been able to find out why. So on October 6th 2017 I had a loop recorder in planted which is an internal EKG. 6 minutes after it was put in during my discharge vitals I passed out again this time thank God my friend who was the nurse Beth O'Hara was the one who saved me I was the rapid response at Auburn Memorial Hospital at which my new loop recorder caught my six second pause in my heart. I was done admitted and had to stay for 4 days in Auburn then 4 days in Syracuse. Where they dianoisngd me with P.O.T.S. positional orthastatic tacardic systoms ever since then I can go about 2weeks before I need go to ER and get fluids they keep me over night .long story short it's getting worse... so I was recommended recently to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In order for me to go I need $5,000 the day before my appointment. The hard part is I am no longer allowed to work I have no money in the process of talking to a lawyer about being denied for disability I'm not getting unemployment. And my boyfriend Jeremy Thorpe is busting his bottom to support us and our kids. We need help and in thinking between a go fund me or flat out benefit to get me to Cleveland this hospital will help me and my quality of life would dramically improve. Thank you everyone for your support prayers and help I appreciate all of you my hands are tired and I dont know what to do.💕
https://www.gofundme.com/help-with-medical-bill039s
Jeremy A Thorpe