VSD (vegetative-vascular dystonia) is a syndrome that occurs when the function of the autonomic nervous system is impaired.
Neurologists at the Yusupov Hospital are identifying the cause of autonomic dysfunction using modern research methods. To treat patients, drugs are used that relieve or reduce the symptoms of VST, psychotherapeutic methods and innovative methods of rehabilitation therapy. Due to the variety of symptoms of VSD, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists and other related specialists are involved in the treatment of patients. Severe cases of VSD that cannot be treated are discussed at a meeting of the Expert Council, in which professors and doctors of the highest category take part.
Causes of VSD
Doctors diagnose VSD if the following symptoms are present:
- weakness, loss of ability to work;
- sensations of goosebumps all over the body;
- heartbeat;
- body aches;
- trembling hands.
Vegetative-vascular dystonia can develop in the presence of constitutional characteristics of the body or burdened heredity. The autonomic nervous system can be exposed to traumatic factors during fetal development or childbirth. In most cases, vegetative-vascular dystonia syndrome is a manifestation of a disease of internal organs and dysfunction of the endocrine glands.
The occurrence or exacerbation of VSD is provoked by the following factors:
- changes in weather conditions;
- physical or mental fatigue;
- stress;
- unbalanced diet;
- wrong lifestyle;
- imbalance of hormones during puberty or menopause;
- sleep quality disturbances.
Body pain, numbness of the left or right arm, weakness in the legs with VSD occur after emotional stress. Patients “break” their arms and legs, their hands tremble, and body aches appear even after minor stress. A vegetative crisis can cause both negative and positive emotions.
What makes the body tired during VSD?
Well-read hypochondriacs with a rich imagination are capable of inflicting dozens of different ailments on themselves and frightening themselves into insomnia (which, by the way, will only worsen their fatigue). But the reasons for the tired state really lie in plain sight. So why does the body get tired during VSD?
From constant fantasies about health. This spoils the mood and immediately reduces tone; Lethargy and apathy appear, along with the conviction that some fatal illness is just around the corner.
From phobias, stress and neuroses. Every nervous shock is a load on the entire body. The body “thinks” that it is in danger from which it urgently needs to escape. Adrenaline is released, muscles and blood vessels tense, blood pressure rises, and the heart begins to work harder. Try to stand with your arms raised for a few minutes, and they will soon tremble, demanding rest, and when you lower them, you will feel that they have become almost like cotton wool. Try to recharge yourself with the strongest coffee, and after a short time you will have to “pay” for this energy with your energy resources. The same thing happens to a tired body. After the adrenaline shocks, he really doesn’t want to do anything. And housework and shopping have absolutely nothing to do with it. The body is tired because it “ran from danger” and not from your immediate everyday affairs.
From “lazy” heart muscle. Did you think that lying on the couch would do your heart a favor? No. The heart stops producing the proper amount of new protein, which is necessary for its normal functioning. Because of “laziness,” blood vessels begin to hypotrophy, and this disrupts blood flow, causing rapid fatigue. It is really difficult for such an organism to wash a plate after itself or stand in the shower for ten minutes. After all, any action requires “nutrition,” and the heart has to puff to supply the body with the necessary amount of blood through hypotrophied vessels. Such self-frugality is often the reason for the rapid pulse of VSD students.
The danger of such fatigue is that over time it can develop into chronic fatigue syndrome, and this is a more serious problem that requires long-term treatment.
Symptoms of VSD
With vegetative-vascular dystonia, the following signs of autonomic dysfunction occur:
- panic attacks;
- increase or decrease in blood pressure;
- heart rhythm disturbances;
- chills or sweating;
- increase in body temperature to 37.3°C;
- weakness in arms and legs;
- body aches.
Patients report that their hands are trembling, they constantly have “goosebumps all over their bodies,” and their arms and legs are “burning.” Twitching of the muscles of the face, upper and lower extremities, headache, nausea and vomiting, and pale skin occurs. Fainting often occurs, and patients continue to feel anxious. Often, darkening of the eyes and severe weakness with VSD occur with a sudden change in body position. When experiencing symptoms of VSD, a person begins to become afraid of them. This further enhances vegetative manifestations. A vicious circle is formed from which it is no longer possible for the patient to get out on his own. A person who has experienced a panic attack experiences fatigue, emptiness, lethargy, and drowsiness. In this case, psychotherapists from the Yusupov Hospital work with the patient.
Tired body - treat the psyche!
It is useless to invigorate yourself with coffee and vitamins, much less take heart medications that lower your heart rate. Since the cause of severe fatigue during VSD lies not in organic pathologies, but in nervous overload, stress will have to be eliminated.
No matter how hard a VSD person tries to adjust his lifestyle and improve his diet, a strong phobia of death always lurks in the depths of his soul, and it literally affects his entire life. I watched a scary movie - the subconscious turned on the phobia, the brain reacted, adrenaline was released. I read a lot of medical forums, fed my hypochondria, and again the same chain of reactions. No matter what the VSD worker does, he somehow returns in his thoughts the same phobia - the phobia of dying. This is where the strong desire to lie down, not move and take care of your heart, constantly control your body, listen to it comes from.
Any colic somewhere in the left side for a VSD person is like a signal of death, which is approaching him at the speed of a meteorite. A dystonic person constantly expects something bad and scary, which every hour brings himself to stress and depression. That is why rapid fatigue with VSD is a very common symptom that needs to be treated from its psychological side.
Diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia
Body aches, weakness in the arms and legs, and a crawling sensation can be symptoms of many diseases. Neurologists at the Yusupov Hospital conduct a comprehensive examination of patients with signs of VSD. Instrumental studies are carried out using the latest equipment from leading global manufacturers. For laboratory research, high-quality reagents are used to obtain accurate test results.
The cause of pain in the body, crawling sensations, numbness of the limbs, trembling of the hands may not be VSD, but organic lesions of the brain. At the Yusupov Hospital they are excluded or confirmed using magnetic resonance imaging. When performing an MRI of the brain using special modes, doctors see changes in the brain tissue itself.
If a patient with VSD has blood pressure that rises infrequently, these changes are reversible. With persistently high blood pressure, dyscirculatory encephalopathy develops. More often, such changes occur in areas of the brain with initially reduced blood flow. In the process of diagnosing the causes of VSD, a clear analysis of the cerebral vessels is necessary. Such a study is carried out at the Yusupov Hospital using the latest generation MRI machines using special MRI programs. They make it possible to determine the state of cerebral vessels without administering contrast. Timely assessment of the state of the brain is important for the prevention of hypertensive crises, since hypertensive VSD can result in a cerebral stroke.
An important addition to MRI studies for VSD is ultrasound of the vessels of the brain and neck. It shows the function of blood vessels in dynamics, allows you to navigate those parts of the VSD that are disturbed, clarify the cause of autonomic dysfunction and make a decision on the choice of treatment tactics. Ultrasound examinations at the Yusupov Hospital are carried out using expert-class equipment. In order to identify vascular disorders of the brain and VSD in particular, doctors analyze the venous component of cerebral blood flow. For this purpose, unique diagnostic developments are used, which make it possible to determine with a high degree of reliability the nature and cause of VSD using computer and ultrasound analysis of slow and fast cerebral venous blood flow.
Types of dystonia
There is no single typology of vegetative-vascular dystonia today. Let us list the classifications most often found in the specialized literature.
Based on the severity of manifestations, it is customary to distinguish between severe, moderate and mild forms of VSD.
Depending on the nature of the course, the following types of vegetative-vascular dystonia are distinguished:
- paroxysmal (in the form of attacks);
- permanent (permanent);
- mixed (includes both described options);
- hidden or latent (VSD occurs unnoticed and may manifest itself against a background of stress).
Depending on the reaction of CVD, the following types of vegetative dystonia are distinguished:
- VSD of the hypertensive type (range of blood pressure values: 145/90 -175/95 mm Hg, chills, feverish animation, panic attacks);
- VSD of the hypotensive type (blood pressure in the region of 100/50 - 90/45 mm Hg, weakness, sweating, dizziness, loss of strength);
- normotensive type of VSD (independent of blood pressure, characterized by interruptions in cardiac function and painful sensations in the chest);
- mixed type.
According to the degree of prevalence of the pathology, the following forms of the disease are distinguished:
- generalized (several body systems are affected simultaneously);
- systemic (one system is involved);
- local (local lesion).
1 MRI
2 Consultation with a cardiologist
3 General blood test
Treatment and prevention of VSD
Neurologists at the Yusupov Hospital begin treatment of VSD with symptomatic therapy. If vegetative-vascular dystonia manifests itself as a decrease or increase in blood pressure, it is stabilized. As part of the treatment of VSD, pharmacological drugs of several groups are used:
- peripheral vasodilators and antispasmodics;
- calcium ion antagonists;
- calcium channel activators;
- centrally acting angiotensive drugs;
- sympatholytics;
- drugs affecting the angiotensin system
- diuretics.
- psychotropic drugs.
More fine regulation of vascular tone in the treatment of VSD is carried out with the help of drugs that affect the sympathetic part of the nervous system - sympatholytics or sympathomimetics. Ganglion blockers act on the adrenal medulla, simultaneously affecting an important anatomical link in the central regulation of stress reactions.
Treatment of VSD with diencephalic crises is a different level of impact. It involves effects on the brain. For this purpose, doctors at the Yusupov Hospital prescribe vegetotropic drugs to patients suffering from vegetative-vascular dystonia. Their point of application is the sympathetic or parasympathetic part of the nervous system. Drugs act through the cortex and some associated subcortical structures of the brain. Reflexive methods of influence that are used by rehabilitation specialists at the Yusupov Hospital have a sedative effect:
- acupuncture;
- metameric receptor effects;
- craniotherapy (cerebral and scalpel acupuncture);
- RANC therapy (impact on the cause leading to the appearance of symptoms of VSD).
Prevention of VSD is of no small importance, especially if it is accompanied by trembling of the hands, numbness of the arms and legs, and weakness in the limbs. Rehabilitators use effective methods of physiotherapy, various types of massages and proprietary methods of influencing the autonomic nervous system. A senior exercise therapy instructor-methodologist individually selects a set of therapeutic and breathing exercises that helps prevent vegetative crises. Psychotherapists, using innovative techniques, teach patients to cope with stress and calmly deal with the manifestations of VSD. You can undergo a course of VSJ therapy by calling the Yusupov Hospital.
