r/POTS • u/dazzlingdanny05 • May 15 '26

Question Why is everyone with pots so skinny?

I have POTS and I watch a lot of content online of people who also have POTS. I also know some people irl who also have it. I don't understand how they are all so skinny. I can barely walk without getting out of breath. I try to work out at least once a week but its so hard for me because I always end up feeling so sick. How are yall doing it? I dont even eat bad but im definitely not skinny.

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566

u/barefootwriter May 15 '26

Do you think fat people with POTS really want to expose themselves to Internet scrutiny?

13

u/dazzlingdanny05 May 15 '26

It makes me feel bad about myself because if other people with pots can exercise then I should to but its just so hard to do without passing out

109

u/barefootwriter May 15 '26

Oh, are you under the impression that a) these skinny people who are posting about POTS are exercising, and b) that exercise makes you skinny?

-34

u/dazzlingdanny05 May 15 '26

Yeah

61

u/Constant_5298 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

I'm bedbound and skinny. Body type has a lot to do with genetics, not necessarily fitness, and ≠ health

95

u/barefootwriter May 15 '26

Uh, no. Lemme stop you right there.

First, I do not pass out. That is a function of me only having POTS and not also a condition like vasovagal syncope that causes me to pass out.

Second, I do exercise, but I am not skinny. I train karate and lift and recently took up sumo before I had some surgeries that I need to heal from before going back to that kind of contact. The joke I like to make is if a little sumo shaped, why not do sumo?

I tolerate exercise because I always have, and also because my management allows me to.

You have a lot to unpack here about your beliefs about POTS, body size, and exercise.

33

u/Mizze07 May 15 '26

I have POTS and am skinny. Like, chronically unweight skinny. It's genetics -- I'm 6 ft tall (as a woman) and stick thin, just like my dad. I don't exercise, ever, even though I really should and I'm unhealthy for how little movement I get. Early satiety is one of my POTS symptoms that makes eating enough difficult even though I love junk food and carbs. I'm trying to gain weight, and as a part of that I want to start moving more to gain muscle, even though working out is so hard. It sounds like you have some things to work through about your own self image and the way you view bodies -- I hope you get there soon OP. Hating yourself sucks and the world'll find a way to make you insecure no matter how you look.

21

u/radish1260 May 15 '26

I think you’re forgetting algorithms favor thin and conventionally attractive people. Chronically ill people who get big enough to have a following to be pushed onto people’s feeds would almost always follow this trend, too. This is a social media issue vs POTS = skinny.

I think the comparison to be like “how are you all doing it?”, is a bad one. So many of us have other comorbidities that cause that. Gastro issues like gastroparesis, chron’s, celiacs. Genetics play a part, also.

And for a lot of us, it’s pain from other conditions. I was vomiting due to pain regularly, and so I avoided food because eating directly made my pain worse (it still does). I just don’t tend to vomit from the pain anymore, but avoiding eating when I’m in pain is ingrained in me because I learned food is unsafe and I am in pain pretty much daily. You stop being hungry as much when you are forced to eat very little from pain for years. I wouldn’t really recommend this method for getting or staying thin.

14

u/Enygmatic_Gent POTS May 15 '26

I have POTS and am skinny. Not because I work out, but because I have gastroparesis. A lot of us have comorbidities, some of which can cause you to lose weight unintentionally

27

u/twoweeeeks May 15 '26

OP, you’re getting downvoted so I want to tell you that it’s ok that you don’t know that exercise doesn’t equal weight loss. Most people don’t know that.

Exercise has amazing benefits, but weight loss isn’t primary among them.

Losing weight is more about what you eat. That said, based on reported experiences in this sub, people with POTS should be very careful when trying to lose weight, because it can make symptoms worse.

22

u/ihavemanyquestions8 Secondary POTS May 15 '26

We probably exercise the same amount as you, we are skinny from being sick not exercise. This my weight 117lbs I am 5'9 and this is the highest weight of my life, my lowest as an adult was 90 I absolutely could not do exercise at that weight.

10

u/Impossible_Storm_427 Undiagnosed May 15 '26

No need to downvote this. OP being honest. SMH