“There is always a reason for illness. You may not have all your answers today, but that doesn’t mean answers don’t exist. Never give up.” – Dr. Diana Driscoll
In this episode, Dr. Diana Driscoll — optometrist, researcher, patient, and founder of POTS Care — takes us inside her groundbreaking journey to uncover the hidden mechanisms of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
After years of worsening illness and dismissal by the medical system, Dr. Driscoll combined her medical expertise with relentless patient-driven research. What emerged is now known as the Driscoll Theory, a framework that explores:
What drives POTS: high intracranial pressure, vagus nerve dysfunction, neurotransmitter disruption, and systemic vascular irregularities.
How to intervene: restoring vagus nerve function, reducing inflammation, supporting acetylcholine activity, and managing oxidative stress.
Practical tools: supplements like ParaSym Plus and NAC Max, targeted use of histamine blockers, and non-invasive approaches to improving quality of life.
Emotional resilience: how she navigated years of invalidation, supported her sick child, and created POTS Rebels, a community for patients seeking hope and science-backed solutions.
This conversation is both deeply personal and highly practical, offering clarity for patients, practitioners, and caregivers searching for answers.
00:00 – 02:00 | Intro & sponsor message (Healthgevity) Healthgevity our sponsor : Website Enter: ONETHING for a 10% discount
02:00 – 03:00 | Adam introduces Dr. Driscoll & her personal journey with POTS
03:00 – 08:00 | The turning point: realizing medicine had no answers → “I’m on my own”
08:00 – 13:00 | Discovering high intracranial pressure and what eye patterns reveal
14:00 – 18:00 | The emotional toll & why she built the POTS Rebels community
19:00 – 24:00 | The what: inflammation as the hidden driver of POTS
25:00 – 33:00 | The how: vagus nerve, acetylcholine, nicotine patch experiment, and ParaSym Plus
34:00 – 38:00 | Genetic predisposition, hypermobility, and EDS connections
38:00 – 41:00 | Identifying intracranial pressure symptoms (coat hanger pattern, nausea, insomnia)
41:00 – 44:00 | Framework for healing: vagus support, histamine blockers, antioxidants
45:00 – 48:00 | Take-home: “Never give up. Illness always has a reason.”
49:00 | Closing thoughts & listener call-to-action
POTS Care → potscare.com
POTS Rebels community → [Patreon link if available]
TJ Nutrition (ParaSym Plus, NAC Max) → tjnutrition.com
Healthgevity our sponsor : Website Enter: ONETHING for a 10% discount