POTS Fainting or Near-Fainting Days: What to Log

Updated 29 Oct 2026

A faint or a near-faint is over in moments, and the details fade fast. A short note written soon after shows what led up to it, what helped, and whether episodes are changing.

This guide covers what to log on fainting or near-fainting days: warning signs, position, triggers, what helped, recovery, and the signs that need emergency help.

Why log fainting and near-fainting with POTS

POTS Journey (part of Health Journey Labs) reviewed the NHS guidance: PoTS is when your heart rate increases after getting up from sitting or lying down, and fainting or nearly fainting is one of the symptoms that can happen when you stand up and get better when you sit or lie down (NHS PoTS guidance). The NHS adds that symptoms may be worse in the morning and may change from day to day (NHS PoTS guidance).

The NHS fainting page lists many possible causes, including standing up too quickly, not eating or drinking enough, being too hot, being very upset or in severe pain, heart problems, and alcohol or drugs (NHS fainting guidance). Because a faint can have more than one cause, a dated record of each episode helps your GP or specialist judge which ones fit PoTS and which need checking.

A near-faint is worth logging too. A run of near-faints can show a pattern before a full faint happens.

In POTS Journey, the Flare Tracker marks each episode with a category, intensity, and duration.

What to log about warning signs

The NHS lists symptoms of fainting: dizziness, sweating, feeling warm or hot, feeling sick, and changes to your vision (NHS fainting guidance). The PoTS page adds problems with sight, such as blurred vision or tunnel vision, shaking and sweating, and noticeable heartbeats (NHS PoTS guidance).

For each episode, write which warning signs came first and roughly how many seconds or minutes you had before you sat or lay down. Note whether you lost consciousness or only came close, since those are different entries for your team.

If someone was with you, ask them later what they saw, such as how long you were out, your color, or any jerking movement, and add it in their words. You may not remember these details yourself.

For first-hour mornings, see what to log on POTS morning spike days.

In POTS Journey, the Daily Journal holds the account, including voice notes right after an episode.

What to log about position and triggers

The NHS lists things that can make PoTS symptoms worse: getting too hot, standing or sitting upright for long periods of time, eating, especially carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and rice, not drinking enough fluids, drinking alcohol, resting too much, and exercise (NHS PoTS guidance).

So for each episode, log your position: standing, sitting, getting up, or lying down. Note how long you had been upright, the temperature or a hot shower, the time since your last meal and what it was, what you had drunk that day, and any alcohol or exercise in the hours before.

Use the same few words each time, such as standing in a queue or getting up from bed, so episodes can be compared across weeks.

Log one more detail that matters for safety: whether the episode happened while exercising or lying down, because the NHS lists both among the reasons to call 999. In the US, call 911 or go to the ER for these signs, and use urgent care or your primary care doctor where the NHS mentions a GP.

In POTS Journey, the Food Tracker holds meal, drink, salt, and fluid timing beside episode days.

What to log about what helped

The NHS suggests that if you suddenly feel faint or dizzy, you can try lying down and raising your legs until you feel better (NHS PoTS guidance). If you cannot lie down, it lists crossing your legs with 1 in front of the other while standing, rocking up and down on your toes, clenching your buttocks and tummy muscles, and clenching your fists (NHS PoTS guidance). The NHS fainting page adds drinking some water, or sitting with your head lowered between your knees if you cannot lie down (NHS fainting guidance).

After each near-faint, note which of these you tried and whether it stopped the episode. Over a few weeks, that shows which moves work for you in which places.

Log how long it took to feel normal again and how the rest of the day went. The NHS notes that usually, a person who has fainted will wake up within 30 seconds (NHS fainting guidance).

In POTS Journey, the Daily check-in records dizziness, heart rate spikes, fluids, and heat each day.

How to log medicines and lifestyle changes

The NHS says a GP or specialist may suggest lifestyle changes first, such as drinking more fluids, eating small meals with fewer carbohydrates, and wearing support tights or stockings, and that medicines such as fludrocortisone and beta blockers may be prescribed (NHS PoTS guidance). It adds that you may need to try several different medicines or combinations (NHS PoTS guidance).

Log each medicine and each lifestyle change with its start date, such as compression, a raised head of the bed, or a new fluid routine. Then compare episode counts in the weeks before and after.

Never stop or change a prescribed medicine on your own because of a pattern in your log. Bring the dates to the clinician who prescribed it.

For test details, see what the tilt table and active stand tests measure.

In POTS Journey, My Meds keeps medicine names, timing, and start dates.

When to get help and how to share the log

The NHS advises seeing a GP if you have fainted, saying it is probably nothing serious but important to get checked (NHS fainting guidance). It says to call 999 if someone is not breathing, cannot be woken up within 1 minute, has not fully recovered or has difficulty with speech or movement, has chest pain or heart palpitations, has seriously hurt themselves, is shaking or jerking, fainted while exercising, or fainted while lying down (NHS fainting guidance). The NHS also says not to drive yourself to A&E (NHS fainting guidance).

On driving, the NHS says you must tell the DVLA if you are fainting regularly, and must not drive if your GP has referred you to a specialist and you are waiting to be assessed (NHS fainting guidance). Outside the UK, ask your clinician about local rules. For more, see POTS and driving: questions and notes for the visit.

Bring a summary: dates, faint or near-faint, position, triggers, what helped, and recovery time.

In POTS Journey, the Doctor Report builds a dated summary for a clinician saved in My Care Team.

How POTS Journey can help

A notebook can hold episode times. The harder part is keeping faints, warning signs, heat, fluids, and medicines in one dated record, so a pattern is clear when you need to describe it.

POTS Journey is a personal POTS tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records symptoms, heart rate notes, medicines, and tests in one dated history. For a side-by-side look at POTS trackers, see the best POTS apps in 2026. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:

• My Meds — Medicine names and timing, such as beta blockers, midodrine, or fludrocortisone, so you can see how a start date lines up with standing tolerance.
• Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including dizziness, heart rate spikes, salt intake, dehydration, heat, and fog.
• Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than your usual hard week, with a category, intensity, and duration, so you can tell a one-off spike from a pattern.
• Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when fog or fatigue makes typing hard, such as how you felt after exercise or notes after a visit.
• Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a glass of water before getting up or a short recumbent workout three times a week, and see whether it held.
• Food Tracker — Meal or drink lines when meals, caffeine, alcohol, or salt and fluid timing come with worse upright or fog days.
• AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with visit wording or pacing ideas.
• Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report, a list of questions to prepare before a visit, and Generate Report, a dated summary of your recent progress to show a doctor saved in My Care Team.
• My Labs — Result dates for tilt-table notes, blood counts, iron, thyroid, or other tests, so each result sits next to how you felt that month.
• My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus visit notes used before, during, and after appointments.
• Learn — Short education topics on standing tolerance, exercise done lying or sitting down (recumbent exercise), pacing, and visit preparation.
• Weight Tracker — Weight entries when weight or fluid shifts are part of what you and your clinician are watching.
• Period Tracker — Cycle dates and flow, so you can line up cycle timing with upright symptoms or heat weeks.
• My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.

Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. POTS Journey is free to download.

Sources

• NHS — Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS)
• NHS — Fainting

FAQ