NFL star's wife suffers from a disorder that doctors said was all in her head

The wife of NFL star Nick Foles, Tori Foles, had been suffering from a disorder that was all in her head and was said to be very common.

Tori spent about two months looking for answers for her constant dizziness. She had been experiencing the uneasy feeling a while back when she just graduated college.

In the end, it was discovered that she has a postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which is a malfunction of the automatic nervous system.

The disorder, which is commonly known as POTS, triggers fatigue, fainting, dizziness, as well as a fast heartbeat.

Even though POTS is considered by doctors as something common, most people tend to take years just to figure out that they have the disorder. For more details about POTS, follow us on Twitter at AmoMama USA.

As for Tori, she said she is lucky to have received proper diagnosis earlier than everybody else.

In an exclusive CNN story featuring the couple’s experience with Tori’s condition, she shared that doctors first thought she had anxiety or depression.

She went on to have additional tests where it was finally discovered that she has POTS.

In her blog, Tori detailed how she was diagnosed and revealed that her doctor had her stand up to check her vitals.

‘My heart rate went up by about 40 bpm. BINGO. If your heart rate is increasing by more than 30 bpm upon standing, then you have POTS and your autonomic nervous system is not regulating things. It took 1 minute to figure out,’ she wrote.

According to the Mayo Clinic, treatments for the disorder include aerobic exercise and strength training, cognitive behavioral therapy, and improvements to sleep hygiene.

As for medical treatments, a person with POTS can be given Fludrocortisone, beta blockers, and serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Over the weekend, Nick and Tori shared their experiences during the annually-held meeting of Dysautonomia International, which is a nonprofit organization that researches POTS.

Talking about his wife’s condition with CNN, Nick said, "It was tough for me because I was still healthy and I could see what she was going through. But she's amazing and we've grown closer together."

Since her diagnosis, the couple has been attempting to raise awareness of POTS, which has been revealed to affect 1-3 million Americans.