Woman with POTS shares experience fainting on the StairMaster

A woman with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has shared the scary moment she fainted mid-workout on the StairMaster.

Karina Drury, who has more than 1.4m followers on TikTok, has become known for her honest content about being diagnosed with POTS, a specific type of orthostatic intolerance. Her videos often show the frightening times she’s unexpectedly fainted in public and the necessary protocol she follows during the onset.

Whether it’s at a coffee shop or in the gym, Drury is typically by herself during the moment she faints due to POTS. However, in her viral TikTok video – which has accumulated more than 13.8m views since it was posted on August 19 – she shared footage of the moment she fainted during her fitness routine, and how her husband was there to help.

In the video, Drury is seen walking on the machine and lifting her feet carefully as each stair pulls down. When she noticed that her heartbeat had started to speed up, she gripped the side railings for support and stability.

“When I feel it happening, I hit the emergency stop. This stops it all at once rather than stopping slowly for a cool down,” she explained, as she was seen slowly climbing off the machine.

She then positioned herself on the floor with her back on the ground and her legs in a butterfly position, using the railings for control as she got down. Drury admitted she uses a StairMaster with multiple bars to hold in case she needs to quickly descend.

“My heart is racing and my blood pressure is quickly dropping,” Drury noted in the video. She readied her body in a position that was “safe” for her to faint, before resting her head on the floor and placing one hand on her chest.

“If you struggle with frequent fainting like me, you know the struggle and horrible feeling before you faint,” Drury wrote.

Being diagnosed with POTS, Drury experiences a change in her heart rate when she transitions from sitting down to standing up or vice versa. According to the Cleveland Clinic, POTS occurs when your body produces a heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute, the standard for adults.

“Normally, your body’s autonomic nervous system balances your heart rate and blood pressure to keep your blood flowing at a healthy pace, no matter what position your body is in,” the Cleveland Clinic states. “If you have POTS, your body can’t coordinate the balancing act of blood vessel constriction (squeezing) and heart rate response. This means that your body can’t keep your blood pressure steady and stable.”

The condition can bring about several symptoms, including regular fainting or near fainting. For Drury, her episodes can sometimes occur back-to-back, meaning just a few minutes after she regains consciousness she faints again.

In her viral TikTok video, she only fainted once and came to shortly after being out cold. “I noticed my legs were open,” Drury said. “This feels so vulnerable when you wake up and realize your legs were spread. If you have ever fainted, you know this feeling.”

Drury proceeded to sit up, once again using the bars on the StairMaster for support. Her husband had walked over to crouch behind her just in case she had another episode. “He holds me and makes me feel safe to faint again,” Drury explained.

Though she only fainted once, she explained that it had helped immensely to have her husband hold her while she felt dizzy and nauseous. “He was so sweet,” she added.

Drury’s viewers rushed to praise her husband, like one woman who wrote: “He seems so gentle and sweet.”

“It’s so precious to have someone you can count on,” another person added, before noting how they’re almost always alone when they experience fainting episodes. r

Meanwhile, one woman confessed: “I have POTS and I fainted on a toilet at work last week.”

While there are no treatments for POTS, doctors recommend maintaining a consistent fitness regimen and keeping a healthy diet, focusing on consuming more sodium and water.