01/10/2025
🌸 October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month! 🌸
Many people living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) also experience a condition called dysautonomia.
👉 Dysautonomia (also called autonomic dysfunction) affects the autonomic nervous system - the part of the body that controls things like heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and temperature regulation.
For those with EDS or HSD, the most common types are forms of orthostatic intolerance - symptoms that happen when standing or being upright:
1️⃣ Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) – low blood pressure when upright
2️⃣ Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) – rapid increase in heart rate when standing without a blood pressure drop
💡 Common symptoms can include:
• Fast heart rate or palpitations
• Lightheadedness or fainting
• Brain fog + trouble concentrating
• Headaches, chest pain & shakiness
• Fatigue & exercise intolerance
• Cold hands/feet or swelling in legs
• Nausea, GI issues & bladder changes
• Sleep disturbance & temperature dysregulation
✨ Dysautonomia can look very different from person to person - but awareness helps people get the right diagnosis and support.
🔗 Learn more here: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/dysautonomia/
October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month!
Many people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) or hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) also have a type of dysautonomia. There are different types of dysautonomia with different symptoms.
Dysautonomia, also called autonomic dysfunction, is a group of disorders that affect the autonomic nervous system.
People with EDS and HSD most commonly have a form of orthostatic intolerance. “Orthostasis” means to stand upright, so orthostatic intolerance refers to symptoms that occur due to standing up or being upright.
The two most common types of orthostatic intolerance are:
1️⃣ Orthostatic hypotension (OH) — low blood pressure on being upright.
2️⃣ Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) — an abnormal increase in heart rate when standing without a drop in blood pressure.
Symptoms of dysautonomia include:
● Tachycardia (fast heart rate)
● Palpitations (feeling the heart racing or pounding)
● Hypotension (low blood pressure)
● Lightheadedness
● Presyncope (a sense of being about to faint)
● Syncope (fainting)
● Blurred vision
😶🌫️Brain fog (problems with concentration and memory)
● Headaches
● Chest pain
● Shakiness
💤Chronic fatigue
● Exercise intolerance and feeling worse after exercise
● Swelling and/or discoloration of the legs after standing for short periods of time
● Cold, discolored hands and feet
● Temperature dysregulation
🥵Sweating
● Sleep disturbance
● Gastrointestinal issues
● Nausea
🚽Bladder dysfunction
Click the link to learn more about dysautonomia, how it's diagnosed, and management strategies to help: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/dysautonomia/
