I went down the non-pharmacological route, for my POTS. Off the top of my head these were:-
1). Increase salt intake (iodised salt is best, if you can get it), this addresses several matters we seem to be affected by, mainly:-
Helps increase blood volume to a more normal level
Helps keep us better hydrated – as drinking water alone just flushes out essential minerals
Improves the quality of stomach acid, so that our food actually digests (instead of fermenting!)
2). Wear good fitting, full-length, support hose:-
Helps stop blood pooling in the legs
Helps stop oedema from further restricting normal tissue and circulation function
3). Sleep with the head of the bed raised, or sleep with your head in a sitting position
With regard to your sleep issues:-
Sleep comes in cycles, so make sure you have done all the necessary preparation for bed before you get tired, so that you can immediately take advantage of that particular point in your sleep-cycle, when it arrives – otherwise you go past it and that just adds to the difficulty of invoking sleep. Also, people usually think too much about things when they get to bed, this makes them hold their breath and this itself can worsen the pain and put the body under chemical stress. The way I get round this is to breath a little bit deeper and concentrate on the ‘breathing out’ bit, sort of making it a little bit noisy (if you can understand what I mean). This usually takes the focus away from everyday life and helps get me to sleep when otherwise I can’t.
Hope some of this helps.
Regards
Barbara
(UK)