YORK student Francesa Foxcroft was struck down with POTS just before Christmas, 2019.

POTS, or postural tachycardia syndrome, is a little understood illness that has striking similarities to Long Covid - and its treatment could hold the key to helping patients with the coronavirus related illness.

Francesa, now 20, from Newton-on-Ouse, was in the first year of an English degree at Newcastle University.

Then she started 'coming down with all sorts of illnesses', she said.

By the time she came home to be with her parents for Christmas, she was feeling 'really ill'. "I started to have these weird symptoms of dizziness and really bad nausea, to the point where I couldn't get out of bed," she said.

She spent Christmas in bed - and her symptoms didn't seem to be getting any better. She went to her GP, who ordered a battery of tests - which revealed nothing. "They were saying 'you're fine, it could be anxiety'," Francesca said. That was 'hugely upsetting', she said, because she herself knew she wasn't fine.

She began to do her own research, and found out about POTS and the work of York consultant cardiologist Dr Sanjay Gupta. Her GP wouldn't refer her to a cardiologist, because her ECG was not indicating any heart problems.

So she made an appointment to see Dr Gupta privately. "And he said 'You've got POTS!" she said. "It was such a relief to have a diagnosis."

That diagnosis came just as the first wave of the Covid pandemic arrived. Once she had been diagnosed, Francesca - who also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition which can cause fragile skin and loose joints that dislocate easily, and can be associated with POTS - was able to continue seeing Dr Gupta on the NHS.

He tried her on a number of medications to tighten her blood vessels and increase blood pressure when she stands up. She had mild allergic reactions to several, until he found one - midodrine - that suited her. She has now been on that for almost six months, and it has 'helped enormously', she says.

Dr Gupta also told her to to drink lots of water - three litres a day; to take salt tablets; and to wear compression stockings.

He even contacted her university, to explain why she had been off for so long.

She is now feeling much better, Francesca says - to the point that she has been able to resume her university studies.

There are still time when she feels unwell, she admits - days when she feels she can't do anything.

"But on the whole, I am able to live a semi-normal life. I'm so much better. Before, I couldn't move, couldn't get out of bed."

The charity POTS UK has a wealth of information about POTS, its symptoms and treatment - including an information page you can take to your GP.

To find out more, visit potsuk.org/