Vasovagl synocpe and autonomic issues

[Sherri0316]

Hi,

I am a 29 year old female who has been diagnosed as having vasovagal syncope for about 2 years now.  The problem I am having is I have numerous other symptoms and no answers.  On a day to day basis I am struggling with numbness in fingers and feet as well as sometimes in legs and a lot on my right side of my face.  I have been to a cardiologist who implanted a loop monitor and found my heart rate goes tatrachardic numerous times throughout the day even while sleeping.  I am seeing a neuorogist and go in  for autonomic testing on the 30th. Sometimes I wake up soaked with sweat and totally wiped out and worry that I may actually be having fainting episodes at night as well as during the day.  Iam currently pregnant and many tests cannot be done as such as a bdoy scan and follow up MRI because I haven't had one in over a year.  The issue I have is there seems to be no trigger causing my fainting spells it doesn't occur during pain or sickness or stress it just occurs a lot and with no specific cause.  I have fainted sitting or standing and so now I am unable to drive at all or even take a walk by myself.   On top of all this I am normally a very active woman butI am so fatigued after being awake for two hours I feel as if I need a nap.  I have a seven year old boy and I cannot enjoy any of the activities we used to love together baseball, soccer etc.  I do try and then 10 minutes into it I feel as if I am going to collapse.  I have had an EEG and MRI of the brain and both showed no major discrepancies.  My blood pressure is very low so they have me on 4 500 mg salt tablets daily but I still get dizzy constantly.  I now know the warnings and try to immdeiately get flat when I feel a spell coming on.  Sometimes it doesn't always work. I have pain alot throughout my neck and legs as well as the numbness.  My balance is off but not all of the time but I do find myslef walking in to walls a lot.  I have already had severe trauma to my face and head after a couple instances where stitches were needed and I was hospitlized for 4 days on two seperate occasions.  I have had a lot of pain in my legs and just got an ultrasound for blood clots last week which came back normal.  They say I didn't have a seizure but I have had a couple episodes where I could hear everything around me but not speak and my body went limp with tremors and my eyes were darting left to right but I couldn't see. It was very unlike my other fainiting spells where I just dropped in mid sentence and was out cold.  This time I could hear everything but could not move, see or talk.  I had been tested last year for numerous deficiencies after one spell I lost 37 pounds.  The weird thing is I am very petite and had gained weight then lost it in a matter of 2 weeks.  I dropped down to 100 pounds and no matter how much I ate I couldn't get the wight back on.  I lost 9 lbs during my first trimester of pregnancy which scared me because I had finally put on some weight and was back to 114lbs then dropped it again.  I have gained 3 lbs back in past 3 weeks thankfully but I sm so nervous.  I want my life back and I can't seem to get any answers.  I was put on florinef before pregnancy but was still fainting and having dizziness issues.  Scared and confused please help.

[Sherri0316]

Thank you Dr for your advice.  Is it possible to have autonomic issues and still have your reflexes be in tune?  When I went to neurologist he stated well your reflexes are ok so I believe all your numbness and everything is due to nerve issues due to pressure on the spine or what not.  I also have a total temperature intolerance for a person who used to love the sun I cannot even be out in it without feeling dizzy or still having goosebumps while hot.  They felt the goosebumps were due to when I was on midodrine months ago but I hadthem for about 3 months before even beginning the midodrine which did nothing for the fainting spells.  They did a diabetes test because when I went in for my last pregnancy check there was sugar in my urine.  The test came back normal.  They also believed I had addisons which I did the cortisol test and again it came back normal.  I had a colonoscopy to check for crohns disease due to the severe weight loss and again it came back normal.  All of these other autonomic issues seem to have started about 6-8 months ago long after I was diagnosed as having the vasovagal.  Of course due to the pregnancy they cannot perform another MRI or EEG at this time.  I am hoping maybe there is a test that is safe to do to check the nerves because it seems to be getting worse and worse with every day.  Before the numbness would come occasionally and it was mostly on right side of face with right eye twitching also now it is daily in different parts of the body whether face, hands, feet or just fingertips on some days.  My dr did warn me that the autonomic system is very complex and sometimes it can take years to get an accurate diagnosis.  That is a very scary thought but I am trying to stay positive but I have just read so many cases where people just get progressively worse and more symptoms arise and I worry how bad it may get.  Thank you for your reply.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.
I would suggest you to undergo a blood sugar test to rule out diabetes. It also important to rule out autonomic dysfunction so it is good that you will be undergoing autonomic testing soon.
I would suggest you to take all the measures to keep your BP in healthy range. Make sure your salt intake is adequate, maintain hydration and when lying down elevate your limbs above the level of your heart.
Lastly the most important thing is to relax and keep your cool. Make sure you get regular physical exercise, do some breathing exercises, meditation. Take care!