Ask Dr. Santa Maria: What Causes Brain Fog? And How Can We Treat It?
Many POTS patients suffer with brain fog—a symptom that causes patients to feel confused, lack clarity, and feel inattentive or unable to stay focused on a thought. Though it may not possible to test for brain fog, it’s a symptom that patients will learn to recognize on their own. It is a common complaint of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia, and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
Ask Dr. Santa Maria: Albumin, Bilirubin and AST Blood Results
What does it means when your Albumin, Bilirubin and AST are all low?
Albumin is a major blood protein that will either go up or down in many different situations. Poor nutritional intake or excess protein losses through bowel movements or urination can cause it to drop. It will also drop when there is systemic inflammation (also known as a reverse acute phase reactant.)
Ask Dr. Santa Maria: POTS Patient With Shortness of Breath?
It is critical to know the patient’s breathing history, whether or not they have asthma or a pet-related lung disease, what medications they are on, what their blood count and symptoms are that might have led to this this complaint.
Ask Dr. Santa Maria: Why Do P.O.T.S Patients Pass Out?
These “black-outs” where you constantly feel like you are going to pass out—but may not completely lose consciousness may be related to a lack of volume or lack of blood flow to the brain. Medically, we use the terms “dehydration” and “hypovolemia.” These terms are not interchangeable (although you will see that quite frequently” and each has a specific meaning.
