Does anyone have any suggestions for people with Neurocardiogenic Syncope?
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Although there is no known cause for Neurocardiogenic syncope, it is easily treated. At the first signs of fainting, one should lie down immediately, until the symptoms disappear.  The person fainting may die if not allowed to lie down, but only in rare cases (4). Increased salt intake and water consumption are other ways to treat this condition. Food and drink such as soup, Gatorade, frozen meals, chips, and pretzels are excellent sources of sodium. Other treatments include taking shorter showers with cooler water temperatures, avoiding saunas or hot tubs, avoiding alcohol, and reducing caffeine intake (1).\n\nIf these treatments do not work, the next option is medication.  Several types of medication are used to treat Neurocardiogenic Syncope, but no one medicine is intended for this use. The types of medication include beta-blockers (Toprol or Atenolol), fludrocortison (Florinef), disopyramide (Norpace), and sertraline (Zoloft) (1). The type of medicine prescribed varies, depending on the patient. Different types of medicine are used to treat patients whose blood pressure drops, while others are used for those whose heart rate drops. In the case that none of the above treatments are effective, a pacemaker may be implanted.
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Get checked out - you need your blood pressure to be checked as well as a thourough neurological history and exam by your doctor.  Any major system in your body can be to blame.  A proper evaluation by a physician will help defne the cause - he or she will get the aprporiate information from you thrugh targeted questons, a good exam and tests as needed.  Best of luck.  Post how you do - G
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Hello-Have your friend visit an Ear,Nose and Throat doctor.  Sounds like she may have a condition called BPPN.  That stands for Benign Proxysmal Positional Nystagmus,  basically, vertigo.  Anyway, an ENT may have some exercises she can do to relieve some of the symptoms.  Hope that helps.
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Registered Nurse Here; Okay now lets review the symptoms, \n#1 hard to speak\n#2 Difficult to make sense of what people are saying\n#3 You feel unsteady,clumsy\n#4 Right Arm becomes slightly numb\n#5 Neck hurts Left side.\nNo sir, nothing weird about this, I'm not trying to alarm you, but having worked 24 years as a Registered Nurse in Emergency Room and ICU.  You have the classic, textbook picture, of some sort of neurological abnormalities.  Could be TIA's transit ischemia attacks, mild stoke.  I'm not a doctor cannot diagnosis.  However I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU WITH MY ENTIRE HEART AND SOUL, TO GO THE EMERGENCY ROOM NOW.  PLEASE DO IT NOW, THESE SYMPTOMS ARE VERY SIGNIFICANT AND REQUIRE IMMEDIATE EVALUATION BY A PHYSICIAN.  THESE ARE STRONG WARNING SIGNS, THAT SOMETHING IS AMIDST.  BELIEVE ME PLEASE, WHATEVER YOUR DOING, STOP NOW AND GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM.  MANY NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS CAN BE STOPPED, WITH THE PROPER TREATMENT.  Now I pray they will find nothing, but again please trust me and go NOW.  Thanks for the opportunity to address such a well thought out, intelligent and most worthwhile question.
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Go to a neurologist like I had to before your legs become numb and you lose sensation like my left leg did. There's medications out there to give relief. That I didnt know.
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Hi Smoothladyb.  I am a retired Chiropractor so I will suggest a good Chiropractic evaluation, but I would like to make a couple of additional comments.\n\nYour condition is very unusual, which makes it very challenging for any doctor to 'sort out'.  However, just because your symptoms are unusual it does not mean they are not real!\n\nYears of experience (meaning my many screw-ups that turned into learning experiences) have taught me that when the patient has a strong sense about the cause of their condition it often 'pays off' to listen to their insights.  So, if you truly feel like you are dealing with a circulation problem, continue to push your doctors to evaluate that.\n\nYour hypertension and kidney issues clearly indicate that you have problems with your vascular endothelium (the lining inside your arteries).  It doesn't sound like your doctors are addressing this underlying problem, but rather, are merely treating the sign of the problem - the hypertension.  It may be a good idea to find a doc that is more focused on treating CAUSE rather than signs and symptoms.  A good Naturopathic Physician, Chiropractor, or Medical Doctor interested in 'Functional Medicine' may be able to help you.  You can find a list of Functional Medicine docs on the website for "The Institute of Functional Medicine" (just do a web search of that name to find their website).\n\nAn excellent book on Hypertension and related cardiovascular issues just came out called:  "The High Blood Pressure Hoax".  It is written by Sherry Rogers, M.D. and covers a large variety of underyling causes of hypertension and damage to your endothelium (issues that most medical doctors don't care enough about to educate themselves on).\n\nThe last time I checked, this new book was not yet available at Amazon.com, but it may now be there.  If not, you can order directly from the publisher at 1-800-846-6687.  I highly recommend this book for someone like you who clearly has the intelligence and motivation to do a little 'real' learning about your health.\n\nAnother book on hypertension that I might suggest for you is by Mark Houston, M.D., professor of cardiology at Vanderbilt Medical School.  The book is called: "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypertension".  This book is available at Amazon.com for only $10.17.  I have heard Dr. Houston lecture at professional educational semiars and his info. is cutting edge 'medicine'.\n\nI hope this long discourse has been helpful to you.  Best wishes and good luck.
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Hi.I would strongly recommend a visit to her GP.Most palpitations (exaggerated perception of one's heartbeat) are benign and caused by stress, anxiety, coffee, smoking, etc.Some of them require immediate attention, especially when accompanied by shortness of breath, dizziness , nausea or other worrisome signs. Please get her to visit her GP and I would also recommend check-ups in a cardiologist's office once every 2-3 years for everybody. Good luck! Bogdan Vulcan
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check out these links:\n\nhttp://www.healthsquare.com/mc/fgmc0111.htm\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia\n\nhttp://www.advocatehealth.com/system/info/library/articles/heartcare/common/supratac.html
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I am not a physician but when I had this problem I went to one.  Turns out that my blood-pressure and blood sugar were all out of whack.  PLEASE see a physician immediately.  Have a freind drive you or take the bus but do it soon and please don't drive a car until you have this solved.  Today if possible.
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Hi, I've had PVCs for many years and they come and go.  At first, I was scared to death and thought that something was seriously wrong with my heart.  After visiting the cardiologist and having a bunch of tests, I learned that my PVCs are totally harmless and most likely the result of stress.  I'm not a doctor, but I've had PVCs off and on for over 10 years and I can tell you that in the absence of other symptoms they're considered totally harmless.  Mine tend to come at night, right around bedtime, if at all.  Like you, I take vitamins (including all the ones you mentioned).  I would suggest you try taking some Magnesium, that seems to have helped me a great deal.  The other thing that helps is exercise -- cardio, and lots of it.  Oh, and by the way -- everyone gets skipped heartbeats, but not everyone notices them.  I think you can relax about your PVCs.  Mention them to your doctor at your next regular checkup, or if they return and suddenly get worse then by all means make that appointment sooner rather than later.  However, your PVCs are most likely just a nuisance.
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I am so sorry that you and yours are having to experience that malady. A specialist in Neurology is my suggestion. If you've already consulted a Neurologist, check out yet another one. Truly, I will pray that you get the wisdom and help to deal with this.
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I have seen this make a person's heart rate drop close to a fatal ending at where I work.. Please stop taking it and tell your doctor and demand something else in its place..
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you should have gone to the neurologist in the first place, anything above the neck is for a neurologist, don´t be scared it is always better to know what you are dealing with, don´t wait any longer
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The term is a "premature ventricular contraction"  (aka PVC).  It is common and benign.  Although it feels like your heart stops, the large part of your heart actually beats earlier than it was supposed to have....then the signal comes through to tell it to beat...but it doesn't beat because it needs to reset after having just beat....then there is a slight pause until the next signal comes down telling it to beat.  It resumes completely normal function thereafter.  If you have many of these episodes or if you become light-headed or dizzy with them, then you should get it checked.  Otherwise it requires no medical attention.
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Hi.  Im sorry you have this terrible condition, but the good news is that there is lots you can do to live with it and make it better. \n\nIve had mild vertigo now for almost 5 years after getting labrynthitis. \n\nThe worst part at first was the anxiety that came along with vertigo and being in public places.  Best thing to start doing right away is yoga.  Seriously.  It helps on so many different levels from balance, to calmness, blood flow, etc. \n\nAlso I would start doing vestibular rehab exercises--just type this into google and you will find a list somewhere.  They can help with balance and retraining your vestib. system.\n\nAvoid caffeine, high salt.\n\nI have found that antiverts do nothing for true vertigo.  Its not all in your head!  Also it helped me to talk about it with others who have it.  I think healthboards.com is the website.  Good luck.
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I'm really sorry to hear that - labyrinthitus is a horrid thing to have.  It's almost impossible to explain how miserable it is to someone unless they've had something similar.\n\nI had labyrinthitus for a year, with vertigo episodes for over two years.  It was triggered by a viral infection, so antibotics were useless - I had to wait it out, which was a complete nightmare.\n\nDuring that time, I learnt a few tricks to cope with it, which I hope you'll find useful.\n\n- If you are in the acute phase of the illness, accept the anti-nausea medication from the doctor.  I found Scopolamine particularly effective, although it did make me incredibly drowsy.  \n- Crystallised ginger really helped with the nausea and is a good way of getting over the sickness with taking strong medication.\n- Take your time getting out of bed in the morning.  The sudden change from lying down to standing can make you feel incredibly ill.  The same is true of getting up suddenly from sitting.\n- Try avoiding watching the television.  I found sudden camera movements and focus changes triggered severe dizzy spells.\n- Even if you feel OK, wait a couple of days to confirm that your labyrinthitus has definately passed before walking up or down stairs upright.  You may get a sudden dizzy spell and take a fall.\n- There are exercises that you can do to accelerate the compensation process following labyrinthitus.  One recommended to me by my ENT consultant was the Brandt-Daroff exercise for vertigo.  It had an amazing effect on my symptoms and I would strongly recommend it although beware that it is actually quite hard to force yourself to do it at the start.  The secret is to build the number of repetitions up slowly and listen to your body, but it can significantly reduce the length of your labyrinthitus attack.  A good website for a description of how to do the Brandt-Daroff exercises is below.
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I would not limit yourself to homeopathic approaches.  I would look for a doctor with a holistic approach to treating patients.  These could be medical doctors, Chiropractors, osteopaths, or naturopaths.  There are many approaches, depending on lab tests and physical examination findings, that can help to support the neurological tissues.  Look for a company on the web called Standard Process.  They have high quality whole-food vitamin products and they are only sell them through doctors.  You should be able to find a doctor in your area who utilizes their products be contacting the company.