Living With POTS?

Your Laundry Detergent Might Be Making Symptoms Worse

If you live with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardic Syndrome) like me, small triggers can make your nervous system unpredictable.

Your heart rate spikes the moment you stand up… the intense brain fog… sudden fatigue…and something as simple as walking across the room can feel impossible.

Most people with POTS become extremely aware of their triggers: hydration, salt intake, sleep, stress…

But there’s one everyday exposure I never thought to question:

laundry detergent.

The Discovery That Changed Everything

I had been living with POTS for years.

I had already figured out most of the usual strategies: electrolytes, salt, pacing my energies, and staying cool.

But I would still lose 1 day of work a week due to a flare-up: intense migraines, fatigue, and palpitations I just couldn’t explain.

At first I thought it was random, but then I noticed something strange. My worst symptom days often happened right after laundry day.

So I tested my symptoms by putting on a freshly washed shirt… and within an hour I would feel:

increased heart rate
• dizziness
• that heavy, familiar brain fog

So I started researching the ingredients in my detergent…and was shocked.

The truth about laundry detergent

I assumed that removing scent solved the problem, but that’s only one part of the equation.

Most laundry detergent brands contain optical brighteners, fragrance blends, dyes, and surfactants designed to coat clothing fibers 24/7.

Certain manufacturing byproducts, such as 1,4-dioxane, which has officially been linked to cancer, may not appear on ingredient labels at all.

I needed a detergent that could actually clean clothes without leaving behind residue from harsh chemicals. After months of digging through ingredient lists and reviews, I came across a newer type of detergent:

laundry sheets.

One brand that kept coming up was Clean People Laundry Sheets. Unlike traditional liquid detergents, the sheets dissolve completely in the wash.

They’re formulated without:

Optical Brighteners
Harsh Fragrances
Parabens
1,4 Dioxane
Surfactants

And because each sheet is pre-measured, it helps prevent residue caused by using too much detergent. I also love that there are no heavy plastic jugs to carry. Because of my POTS, lifting bulky bottles can trigger dizziness or fatigue.

My Honest Review After Switching

Within the first week, I noticed my clothes no longer had that synthetic “detergent smell.” They just smelled neutral. My clothes also feel much softer and less irritating to my skin.

Most importantly, I’ve noticed much fewer flare-ups and episodes of sudden sensory overwhelm that came with my previous detergent.

Of course, switching detergents didn’t cure my POTS. But removing one daily chemical exposure made my environment feel a little easier on my nervous system.