Why Dizziness and a Racing Heart Can Be Part of Eating Disorder Recovery

"The cardiovascular complications in eating disorders are primarily linked to malnutrition... most cardiovascular abnormalities are fully reversible with nutritional restoration." Friars et al., Journal of Eating Disorders, 2023

Eating disorder medical specialists, including Friars, Walsh, and McNicholas writing in the Journal of Eating Disorders, describe how the dramatic heart rate and blood pressure changes seen in people with low-weight eating disorders can look nearly identical to POTS, making it genuinely difficult to tell the two apart.

Their clinical conclusion, which reflects the broader consensus in the eating disorder medical field, is that POTS should not be formally diagnosed while an eating disorder is active. This is because the symptoms are most likely being driven by malnutrition itself, and unlike primary POTS, these effects typically resolve as eating habits, weight, and compensatory behaviors stabilize.