Surviving Senior Year with a Post-COVID POTS

I am 17 years old, and I live in Morocco. I developed POTS after a COVID infection during my second year of high school. Here, high school only lasts three years, which means my illness appeared at a critical academic moment.

I was diagnosed about a month later, and since then, I have been struggling to find the right treatment. Like many people with POTS, it took time. Symptoms were unstable, medications had to be adjusted, and daily life became unpredictable. Living in a very hot country made everything harder, as heat is a major trigger for POTS, and treatments like compression garments were often unbearable.

At the end of that school year, I had to take an important exam. I did pass it, but by a very small margin—not because I lacked ability or motivation, but because my condition was still new and untreated, and there were no academic accommodations adapted to illnesses like POTS. The only adjustment available was extra time, which does not help when fatigue, stress, and difficulty staying upright are the main issues.

This year, I hoped treatment would finally be enough. It wasn't. I was exhausted, barely keeping up with classes and long exams that often last two hours. Things only began to improve when I started midodrine, which helped me regain some stability and save my trimester. Still, medication cannot fix an educational system that is not designed for this kind of illness.

Today, I am facing exams that can last up to four hours, while even two hours remain extremely challenging. I am sharing my story because POTS is real, disabling, and often invisible. With more awareness, schools could create accommodations that actually reflect the reality of this condition, so students do not have to succeed despite their health, but with it.