Explain the differnece please?

[UnicornIsis]

Would someone please explain the difference between NCS, POTS, and MVPS to me?

From what I read it seemed like NCS and POTS would be mutually exclusive, meaning you would have one or the other, not both. But the doc I saw at Johns-Hopkins that diagnosed me, said I have both and the one I'm seeing now says both, NCS and POTS, but he doesn't want to say for sure yet and he doesn't want to rule out MVPS until he does some more testing. So what is the difference between NCS, POTS, and MVPS, and can you have more than one or all three at once? Are there any other types of dysautonomia, also?

Thanks y'all!!

[justme]

I know for sure you can have both NCS and POTS. My wife has been diagnosed with both and those dx were confirmed by Mayo. It does make for a very difficult ride on the health roller coaster though. My wife's heart rate can vary from 50bpm (can't go lower because of her pacemaker) up to 230bpm and can sustain for 20 minute intervals at 220bpm. This takes place for no apparent reason. They are not mutually exclusive.

[MightyMouse]

The lines between these diagnoses aren't always all that clear. I have a confirmed dx of NCS and POTS (by Columbia Presbyterian's Syncope Center, and confirmed at NIH).

Please read the main sections of the DINET site for the distinctions.

http://www.dinet.org/

Nina

[UnicornIsis]

I've done the reading now, thanks Mighty Mouse. I've checked a bunch of websites now too. I could just be looking the wrong places, but I can't find much on MVPS. Can someone tell me what the main thing for that over NCS and POTS is. I know now, after reading duh! why didn't I think of that on my own?, the main differences are rise and drop of the heart rate and blood pressure. But even reading the MVPS sites, I can't seem to find the main thing for that. I want to figure out if I have that too, or just the NCS and POTS. My doc, like I said, isn't sure yet and told me since I know my symptoms well enough, to go online my self an look it up and see what I think, then he'd tell me what he thinks when I come back to him.

Thanks for all y'all's help!!

[briarrose]

Here's a couple of MVPS websites, maybe you haven't read yet.

http://www.consciouschoice.com/holisticmd/hmd093.html

http://www.mitralvalveprolapse.com/

http://www.mvpsupport.com/

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic316.htm

[Merrill]

I don't think you can figure out whether you have mitral valve prolapse on your own and/or on the basis of your symptoms. I think a heart scan (aka echocardiogram), which is an ultrasound of the heart, is required for that. Probably best to be combined with a stress test (walking on a treadmill for set amount of time ...) First they'll do a scan of the heart at rest and then repeat it after hr is elevated on the treadmill.

POTS is typically diagnosed with a tilt table test. Do you faint? (That would indicate NCS, right?) Your doc at Johns Hopkins is a cardiologist, yes? (a fantastic place to be treated)

Best,

merrill