Difficulty Breathing

While you can exercise control over your breathing, it is a primarily autonomous vital function. Neurological issues can prevent your body from taking in oxygen normally and distributing it throughout your body. Feeling as though you can’t get enough air is not always the product of problems inhaling and instead results from trouble exhaling, which means your body is not expelling carbon dioxide like it needs to.

This is an example of dysautonomia that may not be correctly diagnosed right away. When patients report respiratory difficulties, physicians first instinct is to treat patients for common viruses. This is particularly true throughout the cold and flu season. However, respiratory symptoms associated with an ANS condition will not subside on their own because they are not the product of an invading viral organism but rather a neurological pathology originating from within the body. 

Low Blood Pressure

A sudden drop in blood pressure could be a sign of a neurological condition. Individuals experiencing an ANS disorder may have fainting spells, vertigo, or lightheadedness when their systolic pressure gets below a certain threshold. 

A moderate drop in blood pressure is not necessarily cause for alarm. Typically, people think of lowering blood pressure as a good thing. Nevertheless, dramatic changes merit further analysis and treatment. It is important to take action if you or someone in your family is experiencing this particular symptom because it can be very dangerous. A bout of dizziness or a fainting spell could cause a sudden loss of consciousness and lead to a fall.

Irregularities in Your Heart Rate

If someone’s heart rate falls or spikes at random times without any increase in activity, it may be attributable to some form of neurological problem. Other indications involving cardiac function can include rapid fatigue when you exert yourself.

An unstable heart rate could have a physiological etiology, but it may also occur when the nervous system cannot maintain consistent control over the heart’s muscles. This issue is commonly accompanied with drops in blood pressure and dizziness described above. 

Incontinence

A loss of bladder control that develops out of the blue might involve a neurological inability to regulate bladder function. Of course, you may think that releasing one’s bladder is a voluntary function and thereby not relevant to disorders affecting the autonomous bodily functions. However, the body continuously exercises autonomous control to prevent your bladder and bowels from releasing their contents. If it ceases to perform this function consistently, children or adults may have intermittent discontinence. 

Anxiety

Mood changes whereby a person is excessively nervous might be a sign of an ANS disorder. When someone is feeling anxious without any readily identifiable stressors behind it, there may be a neurological reason. People who have had anxiety for non-neurological reasons in the past may be apt to dismiss it as a mental health concern necessitating treatment from a psychologist or a clinician rather than a neurological condition requiring evaluation and treatment from a physician. 

Ultimately, you should seek medical treatment for symptoms that are persistent or severe. A diagnosis of your condition is the first thing that you need to begin treating symptoms effectively.

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