POTS Syndrome Treatment That Targets the Root Cause

Dysautonomia is the term used to describe a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system regulates functions of your body that happen automatically, such as your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion, and temperature control.

Since this system regulates a large portion of the body’s functions, a variety of symptoms can be felt when it’s not working properly. Physical symptoms include dizziness, fatigue, fainting, chronic pain, headaches, abnormal sweating, shakiness, breathlessness, nausea, vision issues and more.

There are many types of dysautonomia, but the most common are postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), orthostatic hypotension, inappropriate sinus tachycardia and neurocardiogenic (vasovagal) syncope.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

One of the most well-known forms of Dysautonomia is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS can be diagnosed when someone has a normal or lower resting heart rate, but when they move against gravity they experience a change in heart rate of 30 points for adults and 40 points for children.

With POTS, we find neurological dysfunction often resides in the pontomedullary areas of the brainstem. This area is responsible for eye movements, motor and sensory control to the face, sound conduction, swallowing, taste and coordination to the tongue and throat, and motor control of some neck muscles.

Subcategories of POTS include:

• Neuropathic POTS, which is when small fiber nerves are damaged

• Hypovolemic POTS, which is associated with abnormally low levels of blood

• Hyperadrenergic POTS, which deals with elevated levels of a stress hormone

• Immune-Mediated POTS, which attacks elements of the immune system so the treatment would require immune-boosting strategies in addition to other strategies to address typical POTS symptoms

Because the autonomic nervous system controls almost every system in our body, subtypes of POTS can manifest differently for each individual. It is important to understand which subtype you have because this can alter symptoms and some symptom management strategies.

Dysautonomia has many possible causes including viruses, concussions, hormonal changes, surgery and anesthesia, vaccinations, autoimmune disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, mold toxicity, physical and mental trauma, genetics and more.

Sometimes it is easy to pinpoint an exact cause. For example, if you develop dysautonomia after receiving a concussion. Other times, however, it is not as clear.

Dysautonomia patients are most-typically found to have disruption in the communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the cardiovascular system. Our brains are what control our ability to shunt blood appropriately to the brain and body. If there is nothing structurally wrong with the heart or cardiovascular system, then the issue lies within the CNS.

At Carolina Functional Neurology Center, our goal is to help our dysautonomia patients understand where in the CNS that dysfunction is coming from. We use a variety of tests to pinpoint the direct area of dysfunction and then apply therapies to improve its functionality through neuroplasticity.

We know that once we locate the dysfunction in the brain, it is only a matter of time and repetition before the neuroplasticity that is created yields long lasting changes in symptoms and functionality. While there is no cure for dysautonomia, we help our patients have a more functional, less symptomatic life!