It took me a while to learn that I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and post-viral syndrome. I had never even heard of these illnesses before. But these conditions are among a group of overlooked infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs) that mostly affect women and are under-researched, under-funded and under-treated. And they affect teens too. This is not an exhaustive list of what could be affecting you, but it is a good starting place to look if you haven’t found easy answers.

Some of these conditions overlap and people can have a mix of them:

• Dysautonomia — Information from the Cleveland Clinic

• Fibromyalgia — Information from Bateman Horne Center

• Long COVID — Information from Bateman Horne Center

• Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) — Information from Johns Hopkins

• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome — Hypermobility — Information from The Ehlers-Danlos Society

• Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) — from the Cleveland Clinic

• Myalgic Encephalitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) — Information from Bateman Horne Center