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DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be, this information was researched and sources are cited below. As always please double check this information with your doctor. What is Dysautonomia? Let's break apart the word. There are two parts of the word; the prefix "dys-" meaning bad or abnormal, and the second part "autonomia" which refers to the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system regulates everything that your body is supposed to do involuntarily, in other words, without you having to think about telling your body to do it. This includes things like the regulation of your heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, digestion, and much more. If you go back to the word dysautonomia and put it all together it is the dysfunction of your autonomic nervous system. The things your body should be doing automatically isn't working the way that it should. Now every person is different and the impact that Dysautonomia has on each individual varies greatly. What are some symptoms of Dysautonomia? POTS is one of the types of dysautonomia, it is your autonomic nervous system that is affected. The autonomic nervous system affects so many aspects of the body, depending on the individual the severity of the illness can vary greatly. These symptoms may include but are not limited to: • Neurological: migraines, brain fog, cognitive deficits • Pulmonary: shortness of breath, difficulty breathing • Cardiovascular: palpitations, chest pain, high or low heart rate, high or low blood pressure, blood pooling • Orthostatic Intolerance: pre-syncope, fainting, blurred vision, fatigue • Gastrointestinal: vomiting, nausea, indigestion, difficulty swallowing • Temperature Irregulation and difficulty sweating • Dry eyes and mouth Is POTS the only type of dysautonomia? No, there are actually 15 different forms of dysautonomia! • Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) • Orthostatic Hypertension • Vasovagal Syncope • Familial Dysautonomia • Pure Autonomic Failure (PAF) • Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) • Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (IST) • Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG) • Baroreflex Failure • Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN) • Autonomic Dysreflexia • Diaebetic Autonomic Neuropathy • Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) • Paraxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity (PSH) • Postprandial Hypotension Credits: https://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=227 https://www.healthline.com/health/types-of-dysautonomia#takeaway https://thedysautonmiaproject.org/dysautonomia/ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6004-dysautonomia

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be and you should always consult your doctor for any changes to your routine or healthcare. Many POTS patients have a very low exercise tolerance due to the nature of the syndrome. A lot of times POTS patients have exhasperated symptoms when trying to exercise which makes it very hard to continue to workout. Here is one of the great resources called that CHOP protocol that was developed specifically to help with exercise intolerance.

This is a place that you are able to talk and connect with other POTS Patients and share experiences and ask for advice. Share your thoughts. Feel free to add GIFs, videos, hashtags and more to your posts and comments. Get started by commenting below. This will be closely monitored, however please know that I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be. If you are having a medical emergency please seek help from your doctor.