Dr. Rob

Hi Bigskyfam!

There are physiologic dips that occur in the release of cortisol during the day. They occur at 10AM, 2PM and 4PM with concomitant adrenaline surges, especially with altered adrenal function which is quite commonly seen in dysautonomia patients, to include myself when my POTS was uncontrolled, having had POTS now for 6 years and controlled for 4 years. In my opinion....the answers lies in your nutrition, intracellular nutrient testing, methylation genetics (correcting BH4 cycle mutations, Dysautonomics commonly have MOA, COMT, & GAD1 mutations leading to the slower degradation of catecholamines which contribute to the increased sympathetic drive "surges") and in gluten and cross reactivity proteome testing.

Hey P!

You could try switching to brown rice if not allergic, quinoa, while healthy does not provide enough slow carb., in my opinion.

Hi Lewis!

Dysautonomia symptoms are quite common in triathletes and marathoners who become overtrained, in my experience. Overtraining syndrome presents very much like POTS, in my experience. In my opinion it is quite common for "endurance athletes" to create enough diaphragmatic irritation to affect the vagus nerve (the principle parasympathetic nerve of the thoracoabdominal viscera). The patient then suffers from multiple viscerosomatic reflexs making the patient absolutely miserable, such as esophageal spasms and difficulty swallowing food.

A Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) knows how to do a diaphragmatic release and also how to treat mid-thoracic dysfunction.

Just got done with 2 years of testing with finishing up with autonomic testing. I've had every test I've ever heard of. Everything has come back normal. I failed a ttt my cardiologist did a year ago but passed the autonomic one they did again just fine. I have alot of pots type symptoms that come and go. I am not sure what could be causing my problems. I have been very slowly making progress and feeling better and nerve pain almost gone until last week. I've had problems before with palpitations when doing push ups. I decided to do some work out dips. I felt fine when done and started eating an avacado. It didn't go down all the way but didn't feel stuck. My heart suddenly went into what felt like a fib. I tried coughing a bunch of times and bearing down but nothing. Adrenaline began to surge and I was feeling really bad. I decided to take a drink and it pushed the avacado and I slowly felt better. I felt horrible after for a week and feel like all the progress I made has been wiped and I'm starting over. I have a hiatal hernia that has felt jacked up since. I feel like the vagus nerve and my hernia have something to do with what's going on with me. I have esophageal spasms all the time. Anyone heard of something like this causing dysautonomia? Or could this be a reaction to the adrenaline surge? Any opinions or insight would be appreciated.

Hi p8d!

In my opinion, catecholamine surges happen at the same time everyday around 4pm because cortisol levels are reaching their lowest point of the afternoon. In your body's attempt to create energy because there is low cortisol, (cortisol instructs the liver to start gluconeogensis for energy) your adrenal glands release epinephrine to instruct the fat cells to release glycerol and 3 fatty acids for energy, hence your "Clockwork Adrenaline Surges". In order to prevent these surges eating low glycemic fruits like apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries may help, before the low cortisol dips, which generally occur at 10AM, 2PM, and 4PM.

Hi NavyBlue!

I can certainly empathize with your frustration! I am a physician with POTS and it took 8 months to convince all my specialist doctor friends that this is what I have. You name the symptom and I had it! The most troubling was the "chest pain and tightness" with extreme exhaustion and profound weakness in my legs. I ended up having 1 left heart cath, which of course was normal and then a 2nd left & right heart cath to rule out pulmonary hypertension, which of course was normal.

Unfortunately, the majority of Docs have never heard of POTS/Dysautonomia and have very little knowledge of what to do to manage or be able to offer curative treatment/therapy.

I hope you find a physician who will work with you to recover and the back control of your LIFE!

Hi NavyBlue!

I used to have that quit a bit early on ( chest pain, headache, anxiousness), whenever I would focus/concentrate/think for extended periods of time it would get pretty severe. When mentally tasked your brain is using lots of energy and if you are also adrenal fatigued it puts a great deal of pressure on your adrenals to release cortisol to stimulate gluconeogenesis to raise your blood sugar fast enough. The additional release of catecholamines to stimulate glycerol and fatty acid release then puts you over the top causing arteriole constriction ( chest pain, headache, anxiousness). When I made sure to eat well balanced meals that contain more MCTs like coconut oil, symptoms happened quite less. Stress, physical or mental can certain set off a whole host of symptoms.

All the Best in Health & Wellness!

Rob

Hi Mike!

I also had numerous daily brain fog/altered mentation for quite some time that started several years ago and then became seriously out of control for about 3 months. Have not had now for quite sometime. The key for me was having comprehensive gluetin/gliadin testing and cross reactivity. Turns out I was positive for Gluteomorphin + Prodynorphin IgG & IgA. After I eliminated ALL gluten, which means ALL processed foods it diminished then disappeared completely and then has not returned since. I also found following the Levine Exercise protocol very helpful at clearing my head which made me significantly more confident about traveling alone. My eyesight unfortunately did degrade and has not returned. Biofeedback therapy has gotten me back to about 90% of my recovery base prior to pre-competition.

All the Best in Health & Wellness!

Dr. Rob