I love the season of fall! The cooler temps and changing leaves are two of my favorite things! However, I don’t love that fall also means it is cold and flu season. The LAST thing you need if you have POTS is the cold or flu! However, if you find yourself with the sniffles this season, here are some tips for how to treat a cold when you have POTS!
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The Golden Rule of How to Treat a Cold When You Have POTS
If you have POTS, any sickness you get can trigger your symptoms and make you feel worse! So, it is very important to stay healthy. However, if you didn’t avoid the inevitable and came down with a cold, there is one very important rule to follow!
Golden Rule- consult with your doctor BEFORE taking ANY medication. (including over the counter medicine!!)
Why is this so important? Well, most medicines used to treat colds, such as decongestants, can increase your heart rate. Decongestants contain ingredients like pseudoephedrine which causes a temporary increase in heart rate and blood pressure. This can literally put you in the ER if you take decongestants when you have POTS!
So, practice the golden rule and talk to your doctor!!
Other Options to Treat A Cold
Ok, so we have ruled out the option for decongestants. So, what else can you do to treat a cold when you have POTS? Well, it turns out there are other great ways besides medicine that can help. Here are some safe options to try!
- Use Neti Pot or Saline Nasal Rinses
- Increase your daily intake of vitamin C and zinc
- Take elderberry supplements
- Drink golden milk
- Gargle Saltwater
- Eat raw garlic cloves
- Drink even MORE than your required daily amount
- Wear your compression stockings
- Try to exercise lightly at home
Use A Neti Pot or Saline Nasal Rinses
Neti Pots and Saline Nasal Rinses use a mixture of distilled water and saline to help rinse out your nose. I know this may be a weird feeling to squirt water up your nose, but I promise it does help!! This will serve two purposes; it will decongest your sinuses and help prevent you from developing a sinus infection.
However, it is very important to use distilled water instead of tap water!!
Shop Neti Pots and Saline Rinses Here
Increase Vitamin C and Zinc to Help Treat A Cold
Vitamin C and Zinc are essential to boosting your body’s immune system. You can actually take up to 2000mg of Vitamin C and trust me, you will need every one of those mg’s to get better!
You can also accomplish this by consuming foods high in vitamin C and Zinc. Here is a list of some foods to try!
Foods High in Vitamin C
- Citrus (oranges, kiwi, lemon, grapefruit)
- Bell peppers
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower)
- White potatoes
Foods High in Zinc
- Meat and poultry
- Shellfish
- Legumes
- Seeds
- Nuts
- Whole grains
- Vegetables (mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, kale, garlic)
However, if the supplements are the route you choose, then I recommend taking Garden of Life vitamins and supplements. Garden of Life products are made with real food instead of artificial products!
Take Elderberry Supplements
Elderberry is loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants. It has also been proven to decrease your chances of getting a cold and help you recover faster if you do get one! In fact, studies like this one show that people who took elderberry while sick with the flu recovered 4 days faster than those who did not!
You can take elderberry in the form of a pill, a chewable, or as a syrup.
Shop Garden of Life Elderberry Products Here
I personally prefer making my own elderberry syrup. It tastes great and it is actually a LOT cheaper than purchasing ready to eat supplements!
Check out this post to find out how to make your own elderberry syrup
Elderberry is not just a great way for how to treat a cold when you have POTS. It is also an immunity boosting powerhouse that you can take every day to prevent getting sick!
Drink Golden Milk
Golden Milk is a delicious, and nutritious drink that is traditionally made from milk, turmeric, and other spices. It originated in India but has recently become more popular in the Western culture.
This drink gets its bright yellow color from the turmeric and is also known to provide many health benefits like reducing inflammation, boosting your immune system, enhancing your mood, and improving your brain function and memory!
Check out this post to learn How to Make Golden Milk
Gargle Saltwater to Help Treat A Cold
Gargling saltwater has been used to fight off viruses and infections for centuries.
Salt has been proven to help draw water out of oral tissues, while creating a salt barrier that locks out water and harmful pathogens from getting back inside.
This makes salt water gargles valuable for blocking viruses and bacteria, reducing the chance of infections in the mouth and throat, and relieving inflammation. Not only will this help relieve your sore throat or cold, but it can also help improve the health of your gums!
How to Make A Salt Water Gargle
Mix about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt to every 8 ounces of warm water. Next, gargle for 10-15 seconds and spit out liquid. DO NOT swallow the salt water…even though that may be tempting for all you fellow POTS patients! (we have to increase our daily salt intake if you are not aware of this!)
Eat Raw Garlic Cloves
Eating raw garlic cloves will help fight off sickness and keep you safe from vampires! Ok, we all know vampires don’t exist, but if they did, you would be good to go!
In fact, consuming garlic has many health benefits, including reduced heart disease risk, improved cognitive health, enhanced immune function, and decreased risk of certain types of cancer!
Whole garlic contains a compound called alliin. When garlic is crushed or chewed, this compound turns into allicin, the main active ingredient in garlic. These compounds have been shown to boost the disease-fighting response of some types of white blood cells in the body when they encounter viruses, such as the common cold or flu. Some research has shown that eating garlic can also help fight off and lower your chances of getting COVID!
How Much Garlic Should You Eat?
Studies suggest eating three to four cloves per day. So, start eating garlic to keep viruses, and vampires, away!
Drink Even MORE Than Your Required Daily Amount
I know it is annoying to have to constantly drink water when you have POTS. However, it becomes even more important to drink water when you are sick! So, hydrate like you have never hydrated before!
Being sick with a cold also can lead to fluid loss, such as sweating from fever or blowing your nose. So, drinking more fluids helps replenish these losses. Increasing your fluid intake will also help your body flush out the toxins faster to help you heal!
I know water is flavorless so try adding some fresh citrus slices to add flavor and give you more vitamin C! You can also add these flavored electrolyte packets to your water to help rehydrate your body even more!
Wear Your Compression Stockings
When you are sick, your body needs rest to help recover. Unfortunately for those with POTS, increased rest will also lead to an increase in POTS symptoms. So, it is very important to wear your compression stockings all day when you are sick.
Compression stockings will help prevent blood pooling in your lower extremities. This will happen more if you are resting a lot during the day.
Shop Compression Stockings Here
Try to Exercise Lightly at Home
Trust me, I know the LAST thing you want to do while being sick is to exercise! However, it is SO important for people with POTS to not slack on your daily exercise therapy programs! Just be sure to listen to your body and not overdo it. Too much exercise can actually make you even more sick so it is very important to find the right balance!
Check out this post to learn how to exercise with POTS!
Prolonged periods of rest will cause cardiac de-conditioning to occur. This can happen in as little as two weeks! So, it is crucial to keep moving so you don’t lose all of your hard work! If you have a smart watch, like the Apple Watch or Fitbit, then still try to meet your daily move goals each day. Your watch will tell you when you need to get up and move around!
Here are some great at home exercises you can do while being sick:
- Stretching- this will be beneficial to help keep you moving and improve your blood flow
- Crunches
- Push ups
- Wall squats
- Tilt training
- Getting up and walking around the room during commercial breaks while watching TV
Remember, the goal is to keep moving. You don’t have to overdo it! Listen to your body and it will tell you what is needed.
Closing Thoughts: How To Treat A Cold When You Have POTS
Hopefully, you won’t have to practice these tips because that would mean you aren’t sick! However, if you do find yourself with a cold or other virus, following these tips will help you recover faster without doing or taking anything that can have a negative affect on your POTS symptoms.
Don’t forget to talk with your doctor before trying any at home treatments or taking any medication. It is SO important to do this! That’s why I call it the “golden rule” in the paragraph above!
Remember, the goal is to try your best to avoid getting sick in the first place. So, be sure to do whatever you can to help boost your immune system and avoid being around people who are sick. If you need some tips for how to give your immune system a boost, then check out this post below!
10 Easy Ways to Boost Your Immune System
I hope this gives you some great insight for how to treat a cold when you have POTS. Get to feeling better soon and feel free to share what works for you in the comments below!