“It hit me, and it hit me like a truck,” Porziņģis said. “The breathing wasn’t good. I did everything I could potentially to feel as good as I could, but my engine wasn’t running the way I wanted.”
Doctors later diagnosed him with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, he said, more commonly referred to as POTS, an autonomic condition that can dramatically increase a patient’s heart rate when standing up instead of spread horizontal. Handled wrong — or not yet diagnosed — and POTS can lead to extreme exhaustion or dizziness.
In his worst moments, Porziņģis’ heart rate could stabilize while he was lying down, but the act of standing up could rev it to 130 beats per minute.
“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I’m so fatigued.’ I’ve never used those words. I don’t even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that,” Porziņģis said. “At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat.”
31 comments
Finally, an answer.
I feel for the guy, my daughter has POTS, and can randomly pass out after standing up. She is nauseous and can’t eat most mornings, randomly gets exhausted easily. Fucking sucks
> Today, Porziņģis is on a mission to prove he has the zoomies.
>He is eligible for a contract extension, though he said he is in no rush to sign one. Instead, he’d like to prove that his playoff performance was merely a one-off. **Post-diagnosis, Porziņģis and his doctors know how to manage POTS — and it’s without the need for any special medication. A high-salt diet and a more regimented non-basketball resting schedule is a must**.
Very interesting. A high-salt diet and extra rest is enough to keep this treated?
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/16450696/nba-new-york-knicks-kristaps-porzingis-journey-nba
they detailed him growing up with ‘fatigue’ when he was drafted and from what i understand was a big concern from the Knicks and the Phil Jackson front office at the time
Looks like POTS often affects those with long Covid, of course theres no mention of that in the article but I remember people speculating last season.
Luke Kornet would’ve been a better starter in the playoffs I think.
Why was KP starting
I’m glad we at least have an answer now. Sucks but that random luck is a part of sports, at least we got that Game 1 versus the Mavs.
Of athletes that didn’t work out for one of my teams, maybe my favorite of all time. When my Mavs lost the Finals two years ago, I hated it, but him getting a ring out of it was a good thing.
Glad he finally got an answer
>>“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I’m so fatigued.’ I’ve never used those words. I don’t even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that,” Porziņģis said. “At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat.”
Insert Leo pointing meme
He’s just like me fr
God I want this man to just have a fully healthy season
That sucks
Hopefully he will be alright long term, not even about basketball
Oh shit, that’s what it was? I know some folks with POTS, I can’t imagine trying to play basketball with that
This news coming out before game 1 kinda scares me
Woah thats not good. Got a coworker with this and she has to be very focused on her diet.
My wife has POTS and will always feel dizzy or want to pass out when standing up. I can’t imagine trying to play basketball with POTS. Glad he got an answer it’s something hard for doctors to diagnose, we went to about 5 different cardiologists.
As someone with POTS it definitely makes life interesting. I am pretty sure mine led to Idiopathic Hypersomnia as well (sister condition to narcolepsy). It is always funny seeing people’s reactions when I tell them I have high BP and heart rate but need to consume 10g of salt a day. Working out and being active is significantly harder as we tend to have exercise intolerance. I’ve been dealing with this for 20 years now.
not uncommon long covid result, unfortunately. and very little idea of how to treat either at this point. most doctors suggested trying to exercise out of it but now most research points to that making it worse.
hope hes able to get back to himself
Is that what Lamarcus Aldridge has?
130 beats per min by just standing! that is insane.
All the podcaster were so fucking ableist against tingues. I guess it was a real disease after all.
That doesn’t sound good
worked with a girl who had POTS. She would just pass out all the time.
Interestingly enough a doctor told me I might have POTs. Turned out I had a pheochromocytoma and thyroid cancer instead. He probably has better doctors than me but you never know
Man that’s terrifying, glad they figured out what it was
Anemia and now POTS
Friend of mine had this as a teenager (I think she largely recovered as we aged) – was really bad for her later teen years and cut short a swimming career that likely would have paid for most of her college.
Hope he’s able to recover from this, whether it’s to play again or just resume a good quality of life.
This brother got a House diagnosis.
I have POTS. I can’t imagine trying to play basketball let alone do anything when an episode hits.
I have hyperadrenergic POTS and it’s pretty rough. I was pretty athletic when I was young (basketball, rock climbing, martial arts instructor), but as I got into my 20s I started having a harder and harder time with fatigue and standing still would wear me down to the point that I would be at risk of fainting after about 10 minutes. I say standing still because the hallmark of POTS is that the body essentially doesn’t recognize that it’s standing, so it doesn’t make the necessary adjustments like constricting the blood vessels in your legs to make sure that the blood gets pumped back up from your feet to your heart. You end up with red swollen feet and feeling lightheaded and nauseous until you’re basically forced off your feet.
However, even at its worst I was still able to walk for hours at a time even if my overall level of fatigue was higher than before the onset because athletic activity will still cause the heart to increase blood flow even if standing doesn’t. So for a professional athlete that’s running around all the time, it shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance in the moment, but it will definitely wear him down long term since his heart will be working a lot harder over the full course of the day. My resting heart rate is typically in the 90s and will go up to about 120 when I stand.
Besides increased salt and fluids which help by increasing blood volume, there are medications that help as well. The most common first line is fludrocortisone to increase blood pressure. For me since I have the hyperadrenergic type, clonidine helps by reducing the amount of adrenaline I produce to normal levels so that my smooth muscles relax rather than staying tense all of the time. That makes such a big difference for me that my resting heart rate drops from the 90s down to the 70s, a normal level. Because the hyperadrenergic type is caused by an overproduction of adrenaline, it has some additional symptoms like anxiety and difficulty sleeping compared to the more common types of POTS.
Now that he has a diagnosis, it shouldn’t be too difficult to manage, but he’ll certainly have to make some adjustments to his lifestyle and workout routine.