What are the symptoms?

 

Since dysautonomia affects all automatic functions of the body, you can imagine how the symptoms are endless. There's the main symptoms that are most popularly attributed to dysautonomia like fast heart rate, shortness of breath, fainting, high/low blood pressure, lightheadedness. and then there's everything in between, like tunnel vision and tunnel hearing (you don't know it's a thing until you experience it, let me tell ya), IBS, nausea, joint pain, heat intolerance/temperature disregulation (which is fun considering I live in practically the hottest place on earth).,exercise intolerance, migraines, face flushing, cognitive impairment (I'm talking a mean mean brain fog) and incredible weakness and fatigue. POTS is also newly considered an autoimmune disorder. Which helps explain why I suffer from chronic infections (I have an antibiotic script I take regularly to try to keep them at bay). And then there's the emotional impact that comes along with the baggage of chronic illness. I'm tellin' ya, the fun never stops. 

When non-potsies stand up, their bodies nervous system kicks in to signal a bunch of different automatic responses, like your veins tightening, to get sufficient blood and oxygen to the brain. But for us potsies, those automatic responses don't kick in like they should. The longer we're upright, the more our blood pools, the harder our hearts work, which leads to not enough blood returning to the brain, leaving us dizzy beyond belief, more fatigued than ever, and suffering from some pretty debilitating brain fog.

There are three kinds of POTS. I have HyperPOTS (Hyperadrenergic POTS) which means that I have an excess of adrenaline hormones pumping through my veins which causes my sympathetic nervous system to be in constant overdrive. In simpler terms, I'm always in fight or flight mode. For those of us with HyperPOTS, the adrenaline hormones are released to try to help in tightening the blood vessels, which ultimately causes our heart rate to increase further. This is where the shakiness and presyncope kicks in.

For those of us with IST, all of the above happens except this time, when we're sitting. Sitting makes me sick and standing makes me sicker. Elevated legs make for more blood for my brain which makes for a happy Olivia. Which is why you'll find me in bed 22 hours of the day.

If this sounds like a lot, almost like too much to

be true. I get it. This is where I've been doubted

in the past. “You're so young and you look normal. There's no way all of that can be going on in your body." Two words. Invisible. Illness. It sounds like a lot because it is a lot. Before you judge a seemingly healthy person who pulls into a handicapped parking spot or who is using a motorized wheelchair at target (been there, done that), please just……don't. 

Just because someone looks healthy, doesn't mean they are. 

As always, thank you for coming to my TedTalk.