Dysautonomia is a word that I have great difficulty in pronouncing. I would actually put it up there with millennium. It is a condition that shows up a lot on EDS forums and leaves a lot of people confused.
It is all to do with your autonomic nervous system, which is a network of neurons. This is a particularly busy network, responsible for controlling blood pressure, breathing, sweating, the bladder, heart rate, gastrointestinal tract mobility, pupil size and sexual function. It is also not largely under voluntary control. Any malfunction or disease of the system means you have dysautonomia.
It occurs in a number of disorders; one of which is Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The abnormal connective tissue in EDS sufferers is the believed reason that dysautonomia rears its unwanted head. Hypermobility type EDS appears to be the most commonly associated form with dysautonomia. Not all patients with EDS develop problems with their autonomic functions, but it is quite widely reported.
Symptoms vary widely from person to person and can be very different depending on what your main issue is. The primary symptoms include excessive fatigue, thirst, dizziness or vertigo, heat intolerance and gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying). Sufferers may also find that they crave salt, have headaches often, are flushed in the face and have abnormally large pupils.
From what I have seen online and from contact I have had with EDS patients, gastroparesis (another delightful word) is one of more the common complaints. In short, it means that food remains in the stomach for longer than it should. The stomach contracts, controlled by the vagus nerve, to move food along to the small intestine for further digestion. When the vagus nerve is damaged, this process of contracting and moving food does not happen properly. The food journey is slowed or simply stops moving through the digestive tract.
Symptoms associated with this are not pleasant. Often chronic nausea and vomiting, with abdominal pain and feeling full very quickly create the perfect storm of suffering. Other complaints can include heartburn, bloating, erratic sugar levels and weight loss to name a few.
There are ways of having this diagnosed with x-rays and scans and it is worth chasing up if you are unsure or only think you are suffering with this condition. Better to know and deal with it accordingly, as I have found with EDS in general.
Lots more detailed information can be found by visiting DINET- the dysautonomia information network.
http://www.dinet.org/
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