Conditions we treat
There’s no cure for autonomic disorders. But treatment can help you manage symptoms that keep you from living your best life. That’s why we’ve brought together a highly skilled team and equipped them with today’s most sophisticated diagnostic tools. We’ll work quickly to pinpoint the cause of your pain and create a treatment plan that includes advanced treatment options that are just right for you.
DGBI is an umbrella term used for a group of common gastrointestinal problems like irritable bowel syndrome or chronic heartburn. It’s unclear what causes DGBIs. But these conditions are often linked to anxiety, depression and infections that trigger nausea and diarrhea.
Orthostatic Hypotension causes your blood pressure to drop quickly when you stand up after sitting or lying down. You may feel dizzy or lightheaded, and sometimes even faint.
With this disorder, symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, headaches, nausea and sweating are so intense that you can’t tolerate standing up. Lying down is the only way to relieve your symptoms.
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome is a type of orthostatic intolerance. If you have this disorder, your heart beats faster than normal when you stand up.
Syncope is another word for fainting. It happens when you stand up — your blood pressure drops, and you temporarily lose blood flow to your brain.
Testing options
Diagnosing an autonomic disorder can be difficult. In some cases, your symptoms may look like they’re linked to an underlying condition, such as an autoimmune disease, vitamin deficiency or infection. Other times, the signs you experience may appear unrelated to any other health problems. As a result, identifying your autonomic disorder may be a process of elimination.
Our team offers a wide variety of tests to confirm if you have an autonomic disorder.
Blood tests
Blood tests can help us measure markers in your blood that contribute to autonomic function. For example, they can detect autoantibodies that attack your healthy tissue or measure neurotransmitters, the chemicals that help your neurons talk to other cells. We may order a blood test alongside a QSART or Tilt Table test.
Pupil measurement
By shining a light into your eye, we can measure your pupil’s reflexes. Pupil reflexes that are too slow or too big can indicate an autonomic disorder.
QSART
The Quantitative Sudomotor Axon Reflex test, also called the “sweat test,” examines the nerves that control your sweating. To diagnose a possible autonomic disorder, we use small amounts of electricity to measure how much and how quickly you sweat in response to stimulation.
Skin biopsy
We examine a small sample of your skin cells to see if you have any damage to or loss of small nerve fibers. These small nerve fibers play a role in pain and temperature regulation.
Tilt table testing
A tilt table test can help us diagnose POTS. During the test, you lie down securely on a table, and we slowly raise you until you’re standing. This exam shows us how your heart rate and blood pressure respond when you change positions.
Treatments we provide
Treatment for an autonomic disorder is unique for every patient. For many, the first step toward feeling better is gaining control of an underlying disease, like diabetes. For others though, an underlying condition isn’t the culprit.
Regardless of your specific condition, a combination of these approaches will likely be considered for you.
Making dietary changes, like adding more daily fiber for example, can help ease digestive symptoms and boost your overall health.
Other helpful changes can include modifying your daily routine to include:
- Adjusting how you sleep
- Being intentional about staying hydrated
- Getting more exercise to keep your muscles active
- Keeping stress at bay
- Limiting alcohol
- Staying hydrated
Your care team will work with you directly to suggest any changes that might be helpful to you.
Our team will ensure you have everything you need to manage bothersome symptoms, including compression garments to improve blood flow, catheters to help you empty your bladder and more.
Your doctor can prescribe or recommend medicines to help you. The specific medication, however, depends heavily on your specific symptoms. From medicines to ease digestive issues like constipation and diarrhea to drugs aimed at regulating your bladder or blood pressure, there are many options available today to help you feel better.
A wide range of supportive therapies can be considered, including bladder retraining, physical therapy, neurostimulation