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Alt text- image is a person laying down with pets beside them
Dysautnomia Awareness month.
Dysautonomia is a term that covers a range of disorders related to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS plays a crucial role in regulating involuntary bodily functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and temperature control. When the ANS malfunctions, it can reek havoc.
Common Types of Dysautonomia
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): POTS is characterized by a rapid heart rate when when siting or standing upright. This can lead to dizziness, fainting, fatigue, brain fog, pain and many other symptoms. These symptoms can last days or weeks for patients after an episode/trigger. This can also trigger post-exertional malaise .
Some patients also have cyanosis when upright, this like many symptoms are often ignored by healthcare professionals and brushed off as the patient 'just being cold". Yup blue/purple legs and hands are perfectly normal (sarcasm)
Neurocardiogenic Syncope (NCS) aka vaso-vagal syncope: NCS involves fainting or near-fainting episodes triggered by certain situations or stimuli, like stress ,sudden changes in position , heat, or even eating.
Multiple System Atrophy (MSA): This is a rare and progressive neurological disorder that affects movement, balance, and autonomic functions.
Pure Autonomic Failure (PAF): PAF is characterized by severe orthostatic hypotension, which means blood pressure drops significantly upon standing, leading to dizziness and fainting.
There are other types of dysautonomia than those listed above.
Living with dysautonomia can be incredibly hard. Many people face misdiagnoses, delayed diagnoses, and a lack of understanding from healthcare professionals . Oftentimes, especially in female patients , conditions such as POTS are written off as anxiety or white coat syndrome (note anxiety is a legit medical condition but it is not POTS or dysautonomia -though they can in some cases be co-morbid)
Mis-diagnosing or failure to diagnose can lead to serious injuries from fainting or near syncope events. Even with fainting this condition often goes undiagnosed for years. My diagnosis took literal decades- I have had this since childhood.
I can't count how many times I have hit my head following instructions from doctors for dealing with my non-existent anxiety. Instructions such as "When you are feeling really hot and your heart is racing, get up and open a window, turn on a fan etc". Please do not "get up" if you have any type of orthostatic intolerance and are experiencing symptoms. Laying down is a much safer option.
While there are treatments available to manage symptoms, there is no cure for dysautonomia, and many treatments only offer partial if any, relief. Dysautonomia can severely limit a person's ability to work, socialize, and engage in everyday activities.
This is putting it mildly. Dysautonomia can be completely debilitating often leading to patients being fully or partially bedbound.
I hope this post can help raise awareness for dysautonomia.
❤️🦄