As if having celiac wasn’t enough, we also have to worry about dysautonomia as one of the related conditions. Actually, dysautonomia isn’t the actual condition, itself; it is an umbrella term for several conditions effecting the autonomic systems in the body. So, let’s talk about what dysautonomia is.
I am not a doctor, please talk to your doctor about dietary changes, testing and diagnosis. Make a plan with a trained medical professional on how to proceed with your health.
What is Dysautonomia?
Like I said, it is an umbrella term. These conditions effect the function of the autonomic nervous system. So, we are talking about, the things your body just does, without you thinking about and they happen automatically. Some examples are: dilation of pupils, lung function, heart rate, blood pressure, etc. When the body isn’t properly regulating itself you can have heart palpitations, shallow breathing, anxiety, fainting, feel light headed, have malnutrition and more.
“Dysautonomia is not rare. Over 70 million people worldwide live with various forms of dysautonomia. People of any age, gender or race can be impacted. There is no cure for any form of dysautonomia at this time, but Dysautonomia International is funding research to develop better treatments, and hopefully someday a cure for each form of dysautonomia. Despite the high prevalence of dysautonomia, most patients take years to get diagnosed due to a lack of awareness amongst the public and within the medical profession.”
What are Dysautonomia Conditions?
There are 3 conditions under this umbrella: POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), Neurocardiogenic Syncope (NCS), and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). These conditions are often secondary to a main condition, but not always. Some of the diseases dysautonomonia is found with are: diabetes, celiac, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, lupus and Parkinson’s.
The first two are invisible diseases while the third one progresses and becomes more pronounced and noticeable. Invisible, meaning you look great and function well; how could you possibly be sick?!
The signs and symptoms can be subtle and/or look like a symptom of many, many other issues. At My Heart they describe these symptoms in greater detail. Please, check it out.
- Getting dizzy when standing
- Having a fast heart rate when going from sitting to standing (or even bending over to standing)
- Abdominal pain
- Chronic pain
- Heart palpitations
- Shortness of breath
- Sleeping problems- waking up frequently and night sweats
- Brain fog- difficulty focusing, thinking or communicating
- Reddish coloring in legs after standing
- Abnormal sweating- too much or too little
- Chest pains
- Worse symptoms during menstruation
- Gynecological issues
Please go to this link http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=30 for more information on POTS and what it takes to get a diagnosis, as well as treatment.
This is the most common form of dysautonomia and what most people are diagnosed as having. Neuro means it has to do with the nervous system; Cardio means it has to do with the heart; genic means it is causing or forming something and syncope literally means to faint. So, the nervous system is malfunctioning and causing the heart to beat faster because blood pressure has dropped, causing you to be light headed, dizzy or faint.
From the Dysautonomia International website it looks like there is a name change for this condition and is now being called: Neurally Mediated Syncope (NMS). (Seriously, Neurocardiogenic syncope is much more fun to say!) Please follow the link for more information on syncope, diagnosis and treatment.
This is a chronic condition where the blood pools in the extremities. When you go from sitting to standing (or, I have had this happen, from bending over or altering my verticalness in some way and then standing), blood pressure drops and heart rate increases. This causes you to be light headed, dizzy and may cause fainting.
- Light headed
- Low blood pressure going from sitting to standing
- Fast heart rate going from sitting to standing
Multiple System Atrophy
This presents a lot like Parkinson’s disease and typically shows up after age 50. MSA is characterized by widespread nerve damage causing lots of problems, in lots of areas of the body. This means, symptoms can be in any part of the body. For a more comprehensive understanding of this condition please go to Dysautonomia International. Some of the symptoms are as the disease progresses and some are what happens late in the disease.
- Drop in blood pressure/ heart rate increases upon standing- causing light-headedness and fainting
- Dry mouth, eyes and skin
- abnormally dilated pupils
- Loss of bladder control
- Heart arrhythmias
- Difficulty eating, swallowing or chewing food
- Difficulty speaking
- Changes in voice
- Parkinson type symptoms
Treatment for Dysautonomia
For most of these conditions, the treatment is as follows:
- Increase fluids
- Increase salt
- Wear compression stockings
- Exercise- mild aerobic or reclined exercise (rowing, swimming, recumbent cycling)
- Sleep with elevated head
- Medications- help with symptoms
There is no cure, just a managing of symptoms.
Celiac and Dysautonomia
There have been small studies performed to suggest that more research needs to be done to find out more about this connection between celiac an dysautonomia. There isn’t a lot on it, but it is out there. It is something to consider, if you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about it. The majority of what I found, said that most dysautonomia patients were diagnosed after being diagnosed with celiac and while following a gluten free diet.
The question is whether dysautonomia patients should also be checked for celiac disease. It does seem to be found in a lot of celiac patients; is celiac in a lot of dysautonomia patients?
This may be the cause of the fatigue many celiac patients complain about, even when their celiac is well managed.
Kama kuwa na celiac haitoshi, sisi pia kuwa na wasiwasi kuhusu dysautonomia kama moja ya hali zinazohusiana. Kwa kweli, dysautonomia si hali halisi, yenyewe; ni neno la mwavuli kwa hali kadhaa zinazoathiri mifumo ya uhuru katika mwili. Hivyo, hebu majadiliano kuhusu nini dysautonomia ni. Mimi si daktari, tafadhali zungumza na daktari wako kuhusu mabadiliko ya lishe, upimaji na utambuzi. Fanya mpango na mtaalamu wa matibabu wa mafunzo juu ya jinsi ya kuendelea na afya yako. Dysautonomia ni nini? Kama nilivyosema, ni neno la jumla. Hali hizo huathiri utendaji wa mfumo wa neva wa kujitegemea. Kwa hivyo, tunazungumza juu ya mambo ambayo mwili wako hufanya bila kufikiria, na yanatokea moja kwa moja. Mifano fulani ni: kupanuka kwa pupils, kazi ya mapafu, kiwango cha moyo, shinikizo la damu, nk. Wakati mwili haujadhibiti vizuri unaweza kuwa na moyo wa moyo, kupumua kwa kina, wasiwasi, kuzimia, kuhisi kichwa nyepesi, kuwa na utapiamlo na zaidi. <unk>Dysautonomia si nadra. Zaidi ya watu milioni 70 duniani kote wanaishi na aina mbalimbali za dysautonomia. Watu wa umri wowote, jinsia yoyote au jamii yoyote wanaweza kuathiriwa. Hakuna tiba ya aina yoyote ya dysautonomia kwa sasa, lakini Dysautonomia International inatoa fedha kwa ajili ya utafiti wa kuendeleza matibabu bora, na kwa matumaini siku moja tiba kwa kila aina ya dysautonomia. "Hata hivyo, kwa sababu ya hali ya ""dysautonomia,"" wagonjwa wengi huchukua miaka kadhaa kupata utambuzi kwa sababu ya ukosefu wa ufahamu kati ya umma na ndani ya taaluma ya matibabu." Kuna hali tatu chini ya mwavuli huu: POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), Neurocardiogenic Syncope (NCS), na Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). Mara nyingi hali hizo ni za pili baada ya hali kuu, lakini si mara zote. Baadhi ya magonjwa dysautonomonia ni kupatikana na ni: kisukari, celiac, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, lupus na Parkinson's. Magonjwa mawili ya kwanza hayaonekani, huku ya tatu ikikua na kuonekana waziwazi. Usioonekane, ikimaanisha unaonekana vizuri na unafanya kazi vizuri; unawezaje kuwa mgonjwa?! Dalili na dalili zinaweza kuwa ndogo na au kuonekana kama dalili ya matatizo mengine mengi. Katika kitabu My Heart wanaeleza dalili hizo kwa undani zaidi. Tafadhali, angalia. - Kupata kizunguzungu wakati wa kusimama - Kuwa na msukumo wa moyo wa haraka wakati wa kwenda kutoka kukaa hadi kusimama (au hata kuinama hadi kusimama) - Maumivu ya tumbo - Maumivu ya muda mrefu - Pigo la moyo - Upungufu wa pumzi - Matatizo ya kulala - Kuamka mara kwa mara na kutokwa na jasho usiku - Ubongo - Ugumu wa kuzingatia, kufikiri au kuwasiliana - Rangi ya rangi nyekundu baada ya kusimama - Kutokwa na jasho - Maumivu ya kifua - Dalili mbaya zaidi wakati wa hedhi - Maswala ya gynecological. Hii ni aina ya kawaida ya dysautonomia na nini watu wengi ni kugunduliwa kama kuwa na. Neuro inamaanisha mfumo wa neva, Cardio inamaanisha moyo, Genetic inamaanisha kuamsha au kuunda kitu, na Syncope inamaanisha kuzimia. Mfumo wa neva haufanyi kazi vizuri na kusababisha moyo kupiga kwa kasi zaidi kwa sababu shinikizo la damu limepungua, na kusababisha kichwa chako kuwa nyepesi, kizunguzungu au kuzimia. "Kutokana na utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti.""" (Kweli, ugonjwa wa kukosa fahamu kwa sababu ya moyo ni jambo lenye kufurahisha zaidi kusema!) Tafadhali fuata kiungo kwa habari zaidi juu ya syncope, utambuzi na matibabu. Hii ni hali ya muda mrefu ambapo damu hujiunga katika viungo vya mwili. Unapohama kutoka kukaa hadi kusimama (au, kama nilivyofanya, kutoka kuinama au kubadilisha mwinuko wangu kwa njia fulani na kisha kusimama), shinikizo la damu hupungua na kiwango cha moyo huongezeka. Hii husababisha kichwa chako kuwa nyepesi, kizunguzungu na inaweza kusababisha kuzimia. - Uwezekano wa kupungua kwa shinikizo la damu wakati wa kukaa au kusimama - Kiwango cha juu cha moyo wakati wa kukaa au kusimama - Atrophy ya Mfumo Mengi - Hii inaonyesha kama ugonjwa wa Parkinson na kwa kawaida huonekana baada ya umri wa miaka 50. MSA ni ugonjwa wa mshipa wa neva unaosababisha matatizo mengi katika sehemu mbalimbali za mwili. Hii inamaanisha, dalili zinaweza kuwa katika sehemu yoyote ya mwili. Kwa uelewa wa kina zaidi wa hali hii tafadhali nenda kwa Dysautonomia International. Baadhi ya dalili ni kama ugonjwa unaendelea na baadhi ni nini hutokea marehemu katika ugonjwa. - Kupungua kwa shinikizo la damu, msukumo wa moyo, kuongezeka kwa sauti, na kuongezeka kwa maumivu ya moyo - Kwa sababu ya hali hizi, matibabu ni kama ifuatavyo: - Ongeza maji - Ongeza chumvi - Vaa soksi za compression - Mazoezi - Mazoezi ya aerobic au ya kupumzika (kuogelea, kuogelea, baiskeli ya kupumzika) - Majaribio ya kichwa iliyoinuliwa - Matibabu - Msaada wa dalili za usingizi - Hakuna dalili, ni kusimamia tu tiba. Celiac na Dysautonomy: Utafiti wa hivi karibuni unaonyesha kuwa kuna uhusiano kati ya ugonjwa wa celiac na dysautonomy. Hakuna mengi juu yake, lakini ni huko nje. Ikiwa una dalili yoyote ya dalili hizi, zungumza na daktari wako. Kwa mfano, katika utafiti wa kwanza, wagonjwa wengi wa dysautonomous walipatikana na ugonjwa wa celiac baada ya kufuata lishe isiyo na gluten. Swali ni kama wagonjwa wa dysautonomia wanapaswa pia kuchunguzwa kwa ugonjwa wa celiac. Kwa kweli, kuna uwezekano mkubwa wa kuwa na celiac katika wagonjwa wengi wa kisasa. Huenda hilo likawa sababu ya uchovu ambao wagonjwa wengi wa ugonjwa wa celiac hulalamika, hata wakati ugonjwa wao wa celiac unapodhibitiwa vizuri.