Vegetovascular dystonia (VVD) - symptoms, types, mechanism of occurrence and methods of treatment. Burning in the chest: causes. Why does a burning sensation appear in the chest with VVD

vegeto vascular dystonia- a functional phenomenon that occurs due to improper functioning of the vegetative nervous system(VNS). Vessels and the heart become traditional targets - they are the first to respond to untimely signals from the “center”.

Normally, a person does not feel like:

• functioning internal organs;
• secretion of digestive juices occurs;
• peristalsis works.

However, almost everyone feels the acceleration of heart contractions, the occurrence of interruptions in his work. Because of this, the slightest change in the functioning of the main "pump" immediately makes you listen to unusual details.

Such control of one's own well-being provokes anxiety, fear for life and further aggravates the symptoms.

Mechanism of pain

The presence of dysfunction of the ANS determines the features that cause the appearance of pain:

• The predominance of the tone of the sympathetic (tachycardia) or parasympathetic (vagus) nervous system.
• Psychological disorder. A person becomes anxious, afraid of deterioration in health, avoids social activity. The slightest tingling near the heart requires immediate treatment.

All this aggravates the clinical picture and, as a result, leads to a panic attack.

The reasons

The main factors in the occurrence of the symptom of cardialgia and its analogues:

• stress, nervous strain;
• sudden change in weather or temperature regime;
• sleep rhythm disturbances;
• intercostal neuralgia;
• osteochondrosis;
• taking a large amount of alcohol (leads to the appearance of arrhythmias);
• exacerbation of others chronic diseases;
• PMS in women.

These situations change the activity of the ANS, which often triggers the process of pathological impulses and the progression of the characteristic clinical picture.

Types of pain

The pains accompanying vegetovascular dystonia are different character. There are 4 variants of the clinical development of the symptom:

1. The presence of aching, aching sensations in the chest, disturbing the person constantly. Accompanied by a deterioration in mood, depression, chronic weakness. The patient gets used to living with such inner feelings. Light sedatives and distractions (valerian, menthol, validol) are intended for their elimination. Employability is maintained.
2. Burning, intense pain in the region of the heart. Feeling sometimes so bad that a person seeks medical care deprived of the opportunity to work or lead a normal life. Traditional sedatives Validol and Valocordin are useless. Positive effect demonstrate distracting procedures (mustard plasters, massage) and harmless drugs that inspire confidence in the neurotic.
3. Pain of a protracted nature, arising from the type of individual attacks. In parallel, there are sensations of oxygen deficiency, tachycardia, increased sweating, sometimes the fear of own life. This clinical picture resembles acute coronary syndrome. It is necessary to consult a doctor or call an ambulance to record an ECG and exclude paroxysm atrial fibrillation, an attack of coronary artery disease or the development of a heart attack. This is the only way to distinguish a symptom caused by VVD from a more serious pathology.
4. Short attacks of pain (10-15 minutes) caused by often strong emotions. Improvement occurs after taking Validol.

Burning heart - the most dangerous option due to the similarity of the clinical picture with acute coronary syndrome.

With burning, pressing heart pain that spreads to the left parts of the body (arm, shoulder blade, lower jaw), after stress, physical activity, exposure to cold, call an ambulance, despite the presence of VVD in the anamnesis.

Ignoring an attack can lead to myocardial infarction, because the spasm is the cause coronary vessels due to negative emotions. The most likely occurrence of an attack of angina pectoris in patients with a diagnosis of coronary heart disease, " arterial hypertension' and in old age.

Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system is more often manifested by pains of a stabbing, aching nature.

Associated symptoms

Sensations in the heart and other organs, allowing for differential diagnosis:

• interruptions (physically felt contractions of the heart);
• dizziness;
• lack of air;
• chest compression;
• acceleration of the heart (tachycardia) or a pronounced slowdown (bradycardia).

These signs, together with emotional lability, are key to establishing the diagnosis of VVD. The final verdict is made only by a doctor using specialized methods of examining the heart.

Differential Diagnosis carried out with:

• ischemic disease hearts;
• different forms myocarditis;
• intercostal neuralgia;
• osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine.

Important Features

Signs to help rule out organic nature symptoms and an attack of angina pectoris:

• Changeability. If the intensity of the pain is constantly changing, then it is caused by impaired functioning of the ANS.
• Uneven appearance over time.
• No connection with physical activity. Pain caused by an organic pathology of the coronary vessels increases even if a person performs simple exercises.
• Decreased intensity after taking sedative medications. The problem is caused by improper functioning of the ANS, not due to organic pathology. With angina pectoris, only nitroglycerin under the tongue helps.
• The possibility of correction by meditation, auto-training, yoga. Practices are designed to improve the psychological state of a person. Their effectiveness confirms the functional nature of the problem.

It is sometimes difficult to figure out why the heart hurts on your own. It is better not to risk your health, and when an appropriate clinical picture appears, call a doctor.

In the same case, if a person’s fear of death during an attack of pain in the heart is accompanied not by agitation and hysterical behavior, but by:

• sharp decline blood pressure;
• cold, clammy sweat;
• pallor and acrocyanosis - blue lips, nose, ears and fingers;
• if the pain is not relieved by taking nitroglycerin;

Most likely, the person developed a myocardial infarction.

In this case, you need:

• urgent hospitalization in a cardiological hospital;
• ECG recording;
• introduction narcotic analgesics;
• treatment in the cardiac intensive care unit.

An experienced physician will easily suspect a difference in the behavior of patients with severe myocardial ischemia, with a heart attack and with ordinary cardioneurosis.

The occurrence of a burning sensation in the chest area may indicate a disease of the internal organs, in order to accurately determine which of the organs is supplying alarm signal, it is necessary to study in more detail all possible causes. With the manifestation of this symptom, the patient may develop a feeling of fear, since an unpleasant sensation behind the sternum can warn of the presence of a cardiovascular disease.

Burning and others pain can be caused by various diseases. For example, such sensations can occur as a result of an attack of angina pectoris or much worse - with a myocardial infarction. Therefore, a person should be extremely careful if soreness in the chest was felt immediately after suffering stress or increased physical activity.

Carefully! Each of the above ailments poses a threat to life, therefore, if a burning sensation occurs behind the sternum, you should immediately call an ambulance. For example, an attack accompanied by soreness in the chest during a heart attack lasts more than 20 minutes and, in the absence of qualified assistance may lead to death.

Additional symptoms and burning in the chest

When pain occurs in the chest on the left, then we can talk about left sided pneumonia. In this case, a few more symptoms are added to the burning sensation - cough, shortness of breath and heat. Accurate Diagnosis determined by the doctor after special surveys. When a pronounced burning sensation is observed in the center of the chest, then most likely the patient influenza complicated by bronchitis.

A burning sensation that is localized behind the sternum and is accompanied by a sour eructation confirms the presence heartburn. Also, pain on the left or in the center of the chest will be observed when vegetative-vascular dystonia. The symptom occurs, in this case, after overwork. To diagnose VVD attack, you should pay attention to symptoms such as a high level of sweating, redness or blanching of the skin, a person begins to throw in a fever.

Attention! Such a symptom as a burning sensation in the chest should not be ignored and muffled with analgesics, since this sign can indicate a threat to life. After the manifestations of the painful syndrome, it is necessary to without fail undergo a physical examination.

Carefully! Acute conditions and burning in the chest

As already mentioned, soreness can manifest itself in dangerous diseases such as heart attack, myocarditis and angina pectoris. To understand which of the ailments made itself felt, you need to familiarize yourself with additional symptoms seizures.

1. myocardial infarction. It is characterized by retrosternal pain of a pressing, burning, squeezing or bursting nature with irradiation to the left arm, neck, lower jaw, left shoulder blade or interscapular space. Not stopped by taking nitroglycerin. There may be atypical symptoms: heaviness, discomfort behind the sternum, chest pain of another localization, heaviness, discomfort or pain in the epigastric region, shortness of breath. Such atypical complaints occur in 30% of cases and are more often presented by women, elderly patients, patients with diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney failure or dementia. An attack of pain may be accompanied by agitation, fear, restlessness, sweating, dyspepsia, hypotension, shortness of breath, weakness, and even fainting.
2. Myocarditis. This is a heart disease, which implies a focal or diffuse inflammatory process in the myocardium. This disease develops against the background of infectious disease, allergic reactions or toxic injury hearts. In addition to the main symptom - pain in the chest, including burning, the patient develops shortness of breath, interruptions in heart rate, tachycardia, decreased blood pressure, severe weakness.
3. angina pectoris. Pain behind the sternum or along the left edge of the sternum is paroxysmal, discomfort or pressing, squeezing, deep dull pain. The attack can be described as tightness, heaviness, lack of air. associated with physical and emotional load. Irradiates to the neck, lower jaw, teeth, interscapular space, less often - to the elbow or wrist joints, mastoid processes. The pain lasts from 1-15 minutes (2-5 minutes). It is stopped by taking Nitroglycerin and stopping the load.

If burning and soreness is associated with breathing

Most of the chest is occupied by paired organs - these are the lungs. Therefore, the occurrence of burning may be due to inflammation of the lungs or the development of pathological processes in them. The pain is usually aggravated by breathing, coughing, or physical activity.

More about inflammation of the membranes, which leads to a burning sensation in the chest

Note! Burning can occur against the background of respiratory diseases and cardiac pathologies. Timely diagnosis is important.

How is the diagnosis

It must be admitted that the same symptom may warn of various diseases. If ARVI-diseases and influenza can be cured and thereby eliminate the painful symptom, then oncological diseases and heart attack require a quick response and proper treatment tactics. Therefore, when the appearance anxiety symptoms it is important to go for diagnostics.

• basic diagnostics includes the collection of material for detailed studies. Also, the basic complex includes radiography, fluorography, ultrasound, electrocardiogram. The listed examinations are carried out to find out the exact cause of the burning sensation in the chest area. In case of doubt, the patient can be sent for special diagnostics;
• special diagnostics provides for tomography (computer, magnetic) and fibrogastroscopy.

The final diagnosis is made by the doctor, after which, taking into account individual indicators determines the course of therapy. According to the result of diagnostic procedures, the patient is sent to a specific specialist (oncologist, pulmonologist, therapist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist).

Attention! Before the patient goes to a medical institution, he must independently try to assess the situation and, if necessary, provide himself with medical assistance.

Actions for burning in the chest

When unpleasant symptoms occur in the area of ​​​​the heart, lungs or stomach, it is necessary to call an ambulance as soon as possible. You can not quench the pain on your own and endure if:

1. In the chest area there is a sudden sharp pain, there is a paroxysmal cough and the patient loses consciousness.
2. In case of burning, which gives to the shoulder, jaw or shoulder blade.
3. If the pain syndrome does not subside on its own after rest for fifteen minutes.
4. When symptoms such as an accelerated heart rate are observed, increased sweating, vomiting that are complemented by the sensation severe burning sensation in the chest.

How to help yourself?

In any case, if a person feels squeezing, squeezing, burning in the sternum in the middle, then the help of a doctor is needed, so you should call an ambulance. Before the arrival of the brigade, you can try to eliminate it yourself unpleasant symptom and to do so, follow these steps:

• if the pain occurs immediately after eating, then the person is advised to lie down quickly and not to exert himself with physical activity. Depending on the level of acidity in the stomach, you can drink a weak soda solution that will soothe heartburn;
• in case of stress, you should try to calm yourself down with the help of breathing exercises(long breath in and quick breath out), then take comfortable position and relax;
• do not self-medicate in case of heart disease and respiratory diseases, because this will only aggravate the clinical picture.

Note! Herbal decoction (chamomile and sage) will help temporarily relieve the burning sensation. But by no means should it be ignored. main reason chest burning.

A highly qualified doctor will tell you about chest pains and heart pains in a video.

Video - Pain in the heart and pain in the chest

What does a doctor do

1. The first thing a specialist does is to study the anamnesis (cardiovascular diseases) of close relatives.
2. Clarifies additional symptoms.
3. Clarifies if you are taking any medications.
4. Conducts a detailed examination to rule out other root causes.
5. Sends the patient for an ECG examination.
6. Conducts a test on the body's response to physical activity.
7. Recommends an examination of the gastrointestinal tract, angiography.

Preventive actions

For the purpose of prevention, it is recommended to do exercises daily, and in no case should you start exercises with heavy physical exertion. The exercise program must be agreed with the exercise therapy trainer. Also, the patient should be within his optimal weight and monitor cholesterol levels, take preventive measures for atherosclerosis and hypertension. At the same time, if a person suffers from diabetes, in the first place should be the control of sugar levels. Should be done every six months full examination body, and if a burning sensation occurs, immediately consult a doctor or call an ambulance.

Video - How to find out what hurts behind the sternum

Today, psychologists receive more and more requests from clients suffering from VVD, and this is no coincidence. According to statistics, 20% of children and about 80% of the adult population suffer from this disease. It is also known that due to greater emotionality in women, VVD manifests itself 3 times more often than in men. What is it - a disease, a temporary disorder, features of the functioning of the nervous system? Let's try to figure it out.

When physicians just started studying VVD, it was considered to be a disease. However, as observations and studies were carried out, it became clear that VSD - functional disorder autonomic nervous system, which performs two main functions in our body: 1) maintaining the constancy of the internal environment (blood pressure, metabolic rate, respiratory rate, body temperature) and 2) mobilizing the body to adapt to changing environmental conditions (weather, physical activity , intellectual work, stress, etc.).

The most common symptoms of VSD are:

1. Hyperventilation syndrome: rapid breathing, feeling short of breath, difficulty in breathing. As a result, muscle spasms are likely in perioral region often - dizziness or headache.

2. Nausea, vomiting, pain or just discomfort in the stomach.

3. Cardiovascular system: increased or decreased heart rate, volatility in blood pressure, aching, stabbing or throbbing pain in the heart.

4. excessive sweating(back, palms, soles).

5. Violation of thermoregulation: thermoneurosis - persistent slight increase temperature at which a person suffering from VVD may feel chills.

6. Cystalgia: quick painful urination without signs of pathology of the urinary system; Irritable Bowel Syndrome: bloating, " bear disease”, spasms or aching pains in the lower abdomen, frequent urges to defecation.

7. Sexual disorders : in men - erectile dysfunction and ejaculation, in women - vaginismus and anorgasmia. Wherein sex drive can be kept or reduced.

Also, the symptoms of VVD include: a feeling of weakness in the body, sleep disturbances, chilliness in the hands and feet, hand tremors, joint pain, a feeling of a “burning” face.

Depending on the predominance of one or another manifestation, 3 types of vegetovascular dystonia are distinguished:

1. Hypotonic;
2. Hypertensive;
3. Mixed type of VSD.

In making a diagnosis hypertonic type VVD physicians rely on the following symptoms: depressed state with a predominance of anxiety and tension, lack of air, palpitations, dizziness, sleep and appetite disorders, memory impairment, impaired coordination, tremor of the limbs, increased sweating, periodic rise in blood pressure without diagnosing hypertension. Often this type of VVD is diagnosed in adolescents, and since it is potentially dangerous by transformation into hypertension action should be taken as soon as possible. In addition to the course of psychotherapy, those suffering from VVD of the hypertensive type must reduce physical and psychological stress, healthy lifestyle life and a certain regimen of the day, physiotherapy and, if necessary, taking medications.

VVD of the mixed type is currently studied worse than the others. As a rule, it is manifested by a decrease in blood pressure in the morning, pressure surges during the day and high rates BP in the evening. In a person with mixed type VVD there is a deterioration in speaking, vision and hearing, he often experiences chills and tremors in the body, he wobbly gait. The main method of treatment of this type of VVD is psychotherapy and medications, physio- and phytotherapy, acupuncture, exercise therapy are also shown.

It is worth noting that children also suffer from VVD, but separately this disorder under the age of 16 is not considered in medicine, so the child is examined by a neurologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist and other specialists.

The mechanism of occurrence of VVD

When does a vegetative disorder occur, accompanied by the appearance of permanent anxiety? As a rule, the cause of VSD is either internal conflict coming from childhood, or a situation in which a person experienced severe stress and fear (for example, public speaking, feeling of suffocation public transport death of a loved one).

Internal conflict, which was not properly lived in childhood, is the cause of VVD in 2/3 of cases. As children, we all experienced our own psychological traumas that made us feel anxiety and intense stress: someone fell off a bicycle and broke his knee, someone lost the money that his mother gave for food, someone was unlucky enough to become a victim of school bullying, some have experienced emotional or physical abuse, others have witnessed death and funerals. In those moments, the most significant was not so much the event itself, but the reaction of the parents to it: the opportunity to hug, caress, support their child. Through interaction with parents, traumatized children were able to relieve the tension that had arisen, but, unfortunately, this was not the case for everyone. “Where did you rip your pants like that? Stop crying - it's your own fault! That’s because it’s open!”, “How tired I am of your whining! Get out of my sight! ”,“ Don’t you see that mom has no time? You're bothering me, go play yourself! ”, - familiar? In such cases, the children did not have the opportunity to release the accumulated tension, and they tried to move away from it, locking it deep inside themselves. Those for whom anxiety and tension have become the norm are so used to it that they completely forgot how to be in a state of complete relaxation. And it's not their fault: they just lacked the love in which they, as a child, could relax. Uncertainty about one's own value for parents, the feeling that no one understands you, the feeling of uselessness and abandonment become the background of a person's life on for a long time. Later, such children often turn into perfectionists, wanting to prove their own "goodness" and value to others in an attempt to get their attention, approval and love.

From early childhood, a child is transmitted a stereotype of behavior, in which he learns to ignore, suppress emerging in different situations negative emotions. We are taught to be obedient, kind, sympathetic, generous, polite, quiet - in general, comfortable for others. And since parental approval is a matter of survival in early childhood, the child learns to hide and suppress "wrong" negative feelings. In the future, it is very difficult for a person not only to show his negative emotions, but in general to realize them in himself, to allow himself to experience them. An endless smile and the inscription on the face "I'm doing wonderfully", outwardly good mood(even when you are simply unbearable) - what prevents you from starting work on finding the causes of vegetovascular dystonia. Therefore, the most important method of curing VVD is the psychological study of childhood traumas and their consequences in the form of unconscious clamps in the body.

With regard to the appearance of VVD from a situation in which a person experienced intense fear and tension, being an adult, then this is the work of a conditioned reflex. Let's consider this mechanism with an example: in the summer a person became ill in a stuffy bus, he felt dizzy, fever, heart palpitations, he felt that he was suffocating, and experienced a short faint. The brain instantly remembered the uncomfortable situation and built a logical chain: a lot of people - dizzy, heart pounding, sick, not enough air - fainting is possible. From this comes not only severe anxiety in front of a crowd of people, but also such a deep psycho-existential problem as the fear of death. Thus, a conditioned reflex connection is established between the incident and the reaction of the organism. The situation is aggravated by the feeling of one’s own powerlessness in the experienced moment: as a rule, in a moment of severe discomfort, a person, obeying instincts, wants to escape, but social rules require him to wild fear and despair.

Treatment methods for VVD

This is the pathopsychological mechanism for the development of vegetovascular dystonia. If anxiety-phobic manifestations also join the VVD, then we can talk about the presence of panic attacks. But there is a way out: for starters, it is worth visiting a neurologist, a cardiologist and an endocrinologist in order to exclude organic disorders in the functioning of internal organs (most often endocrine system disorders - thyroid gland, adrenal glands, gonads). If this is indeed VVD, then no organic pathology is detected, and specialized doctors recommend that the patient consult a psychotherapist. When conducting adequate therapy the conditioned reflexes of the autonomic nervous system formed as a result of childhood traumas or stressful situations are weakened and destroyed. The symptoms of VVD disappear, and the person returns to his former healthy rhythm of life.

Treatment of VVD implies, first of all, the elimination of stressful influences, as well as the psychological study of childhood traumas and situations of the occurrence of a destructive conditioned reflex. Therefore, the main place in the treatment is given to psychotherapy, which can take place both in individual and in group form. Often in the treatment of vegetovascular dystonia, drugs are used:

• Phytopreparations: valerian, motherwort, "Novo-Passit" and others;
• Antidepressants: Cipralex, Paroxetine, Amitriptyline;
• Tranquilizers: Seduxen, Elenium, Tazepam, Grandaxin:
• Nootopes: "Piracetam", "Omnaron";
• Vascular drugs: "Cinnarizine", "Actovegin", "Cavinton";
• Psychotropics: "Mezapam", "Sonapaks"
• Adaptogens and tonic phytochemicals (with hypotonic type VSD): "Eleutherococcus", "Ginseng", "Pantokrin";
• Beta-blockers: Anaprilin, Atenolol, Egilok;
• Sedatives: Corvalol, Valocordin, Seduxen.

Burning of the head with VVD, accompanied by headaches of varying intensity - an indispensable symptom that accompanies disorders at work vegetative department CNS. Distinctive feature This pathology is the absence of the body's response to taking painkillers, antispasmodics, the inability to find deviations when examined by a doctor, and the frequency of increasing unpleasant symptoms.

Why does pain and burning sensation appear in the head with VVD

Vegetatively vascular dystonia consists of an imbalance in the processes of compression and expansion of cerebral vessels. Vegetative dysfunction manifests itself in the fact that vascular walls stop responding to signals coming from one of the parts of the nervous system.

Pain in the head occurs according to the following mechanism:

• the vessels are covered by a strong tone;
• hormones enter the bloodstream and biologically active substances, stimulating effect on the vegetative department;
• there is a discrepancy between the peripheral resistance of the vessels to the volume of blood from the brain that passes through them;
• the venous bed is overflowing;
• vascular permeability is disturbed, their swelling develops. Such conditions cause headache and burning.

Headaches haunt people with VVD both physically and emotionally, completely exhausting and debilitating.

Cephalgia inherent in dystonics has some features:

• vascular type;
• spread to the temples, forehead, crown and, occasionally, to the back of the head;
• the nature of the pain is dull, pulsating and bursting;
• occurrence regardless of the time of day;
• aggravated by stress, intense emotions or overexertion of the physical plane, bright lights or pungent odors;
• pain is dynamic: at first it pulsates, then bursts;
• during a headache attack, a person turns pale;
• outside the attack, the person feels good, but does not feel that his head is free from any discomfort.

Causes of burning may be in other diseases:

• the presence of cervical osteochondrosis (in addition to burning, there may be headaches, tinnitus and deterioration of visual function);
• elevated blood pressure(accompanied by a strong heartbeat, dizziness, redness of the skin of the face);
• overvoltage, in which part of the head hurts a lot (passes under the condition of observing sleep and work regimes, eliminating stress);
• the presence of multiple sclerosis (accompanied by disorders in the work pelvic organs, loss of vision, pathologies of the organs of the musculoskeletal system).

How to understand that pain in the head is from disorders of the autonomic system

Dizziness, vomiting, nausea, pressure surges are all typical signs of disorders that occur when there are disturbances in the work of the autonomic nervous system.

Distinguishing headaches characteristic of VVD from other pathologies is not easy. At different people manifestations, their features or how the head hurts, may differ, it is difficult to bring them to a common denominator. In general, all types of unpleasant sensations that develop with dystonia can be combined into 3 subgroups of cephalalgia with VVD:

1. Tension Pain: in the second part of the day, a person has a burning sensation in the head, its cause is hard work at the computer. Such sensations are accompanied by a feeling as if something heavy had been put on the head, as if a steel hoop was wrapped around it. In addition, there may be mild nervousness, sleep problems, or intolerance to bright lights.
2. Migraine: fainting, tinnitus, increased pressure, sweating are signs that accompany such a pathology. It is expressed in a pulsation of high intensity, located in temporal lobes heads. Migraine differs from other manifestations in that it completely disables a person, can occur at any time of the day and can bring unbearable torment when exposed to loud sounds and bright light.
3. cluster pain: more often occurs in men at night. Pain appear in pulsation, they occur unexpectedly, repeating 2-3 times a week. Accompanying cluster pains are the flow of tears, rhinitis, increased sweating and a feeling of congestion in the ears.

In a separate subgroup, pains that occur in the morning, immediately after waking up from sleep, are distinguished. They are aggravated by physical activity and disappear in a period of 10 minutes to several hours.

Methods of treatment

To eliminate the burning sensation and headaches, you can use different methods of treatment: drug therapy, non-traditional exposure, physiotherapy and lifestyle changes.

Important! Only after a diagnosis has been made that confirms the absence somatic diseases, contributing to the occurrence of headaches, you can start therapy.

Organization of the right way of life:

• establishing a good night's rest;
• organization of daily long walks in nature;
• adding fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables to the diet, as well as avoiding fatty, fried and starchy foods;
• reduction in the amount of physical activity of high intensity;
• rejection of bad habits.

Therapy and recovery folk methods- all this may not give the desired effect. Then, for the treatment of headaches, on the recommendation of a specialist, you should take the following drugs:

1. Sedatives (Novo-Passit) to calm the nervous system.
2. Angioprotectors (Cavinton) to improve the condition of blood vessels.
3. Adrenoblockers (Atenolol) that help lower blood pressure.
4. Diuretics (Furosemide) to reduce the amount of fluid in the body.
5. Non-steroidal PVA (Ibuprofen, Solpadein), which allows you to get rid of dizziness that occurs due to severe pain in the head.
6. Nootropics (Piracetam) to increase cerebral blood flow.

In addition to the use of drugs, you can eliminate symptoms and get treatment through the use of physiotherapy procedures:

• drinking mineral waters;
• electrophoresis on the neck;
• Darsonval;
• galvanotherapy.

An integrated approach to the problem allows you to break the established mechanism of the formation of headache and burning sensation in the temples. The main thing is to get qualified medical help and not get carried away with self-prescribing medications.

List of complaints for vegetovascular dystonia

Complaints of a person suffering from vegetovascular dystonia are not just a statement of the symptoms of the disease, this is a whole story! Any details are important to a person suffering from uncertainty - what, how, when, where ... It seems to him that if he tells the doctor everything in detail, then his disease will be correctly understood by this specialist. And woe to the doctor who turned out to be an "indifferent formalist"!

But here it is necessary to say the following: every doctor knows what the autonomic nervous system is and how it behaves in a situation of stress, and therefore, if necessary, he himself will tell all his complaints for his patient, and will give any details - what, how, when, where. But since doctors do not consider vegetovascular dystonia a disease, they speak of it exclusively as a "disorder" or "violation", then one should not expect attention from them.

If you want the doctor to be really worried about your condition, then the disease with which you turn to him should involve a risk to life (not his, of course, but yours). Patients with vegetovascular dystonia themselves see this risk in their “sore”, but in fact this risk only seems to them, this is a kind of illusion, a deception of perception.

But doctors are well aware that vascular dystonia is a functional disorder (hereinafter I quote according to the official definition), “characterized by a benign course, a good prognosis and not leading to cardiomegaly or heart failure.” In other words, with all the desire to die from it, it is impossible, and therefore it is not possible to interest the doctor in these complaints. Moreover, as I said, they are known to any doctor without exception. Let's announce the whole list...

As you and I already know, autonomic dysfunction can unfold either in a sympathetic or parasympathetic way. In the first case, palpitations, rises in blood pressure, sweating, constipation, low-grade fever, dry mouth, etc. will most likely be noted. In the second case, autonomic dysfunction is usually manifested by nausea, vomiting, loose and frequent stools, frequent urination, a decrease in blood pressure, bradycardia (a relative decrease in heart rate), a feeling of suffocation, a decrease in body temperature, etc. But most often the malfunction of the autonomic system is of a mixed nature, and in this case both of its departments “chop off their numbers” - in turn and together.

However, the undisputed "leaders" in the list of complaints of patients with vascular dystonia are: palpitations, interruptions in the work of the heart, pain in the heart, fluctuations in blood pressure, shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches and fainting, as well as sweating and (sometimes) feeling "paralysis". All these are reactions of the autonomic nervous system, and they are not dangerous for our health, although those suffering from VVD think so. Well, I'll try to explain what's what here ...

palpitations

What appears to a person as a "heartbeat" may be normal, but not at all. pathological work hearts. Our heart rate increases with any load, and this is natural, and psychological stress is exactly the same load as any other. [It is not for nothing that the central television channels show game programs, where participants are eliminated from the game if their heartbeat numbers exceed a certain indicator - 120 or, for example, 130 beats per minute. Of course, they are excluded from the game, not because their lives are at risk, but because they were unable to cope with the stress they were experiencing.] A person may feel that his heart is “pounding”, “thumping”, “popping”, etc. But, really, it is rare for anyone to have these figures exceed 100-120 beats per minute, and this is absolutely not terrible and not dangerous. After jogging (for the purpose of recovery, as you understand), this figure can exceed both 160 and 180 beats per minute!

I always tell my patients that it would be worse if they didn't have palpitations under stress, because that would mean that their autonomic nervous system is not working. And so it works, very well! Sometimes a patient with VVD says to me: “Well, how healthy am I?! I have a heartbeat!" What should I answer?.. If you don't have a heartbeat, then consider that you are dead. The heart, you know, has to beat. And with what frequency it beats, it really doesn’t matter much: well, 60, well, 120 ... It works! Eureka.

Interruptions in the work of the heart

With this symptom, an extraordinary confusion is going on at all! Many patients with VVD feel that their heart "freezes", "stops", and "then starts again" from time to time. But all this, as a rule, only seems to them. For example, some of them told me that their heart "stops" in periods of 10-20 or even 30 minutes. What simply cannot be! Otherwise, it would be impossible to tell the doctor about it.

Unfortunately, the results of "self-measurements" of the pulse, as a rule, are deeply erroneous. A person can be sure that his pulse exceeds 130, or even 200 beats per minute, but the “control measurement” I make shows that this, so to speak, “tachycardia” ranges from 70-80 beats per minute! With the same "success" is determined by patients and their absent extrasystole in reality. And this is a scientific fact! Special Study showed that at least 44% of patients who indicated that they had interruptions in the work of the heart were cruelly mistaken in this, fortunately ...

However, interruptions in the work of the heart in a patient with VVD can really be, like in any other normal person. Functional failures in the work of the heart are a natural and normal thing, but after all, it is, after all, alive. Now I remembered one study conducted on military pilots - these standards of physical, and even more so heart health. So, at first, an ECG was taken from one thousand pilots, and extrasystoles were found in 2.5% of them, that is, they had few extrasystoles.

Then they all made daily monitoring(this is when the ECG is taken during the day), and here the situation has changed dramatically! A wide variety of cardiac arrhythmias were detected in 29% of pilots. Finally, they underwent an ECG measurement at maximum physical exertion, and here all kinds of arrhythmias were found already in 35% of healthy “sky specialists”. At the same time, all these pilots did not show any cardiac complaints, did not notice any painful symptoms, and did not have any cardiac diagnoses! So that episodic disorders heart rate is normal!

Pain in the region of the heart (cardialgia)

Pain in the region of the heart in patients with vegetovascular dystonia is a common phenomenon, but they differ significantly from pain in angina pectoris (a really serious heart disease). In a patient with angina pectoris, pain behind the sternum occurs in a clear connection with physical activity (depending on the severity of the disease, it begins when climbing stairs or from the sixth, or from the fourth, or from the second flight of stairs). In patients with VVD, such a strict dependence, let's take it as mandatory and permanent, is never noted, but it should have been if heart disease they actually had.

In a patient with angina pectoris, as a rule, there is a specific irradiation of heart pain - they give to the left arm or left shoulder blade, and the pain itself is most often localized behind the sternum, and over a wide area. It is this kind of irradiation that does not occur in patients with VVD, and the actual “heart pain” occurs pointwise, in a certain place. Why? Yes, simply because it is not a heart pain, but a classic intercostal neuralgia, in which it is not the heart muscle that suffers, but the nerve, and not in the chest, but in the back, where it is clamped due to osteochondrosis. [We will continue the most detailed story about osteochondrosis and intercostal neuralgia in the book “Headache and osteochondrosis remedy”, which is published in the Express Consultation series.]

And this nerve has absolutely nothing to do with the heart, it innervates the muscle that connects two adjacent (one above the other) ribs. That is why the strength of these pains often depends on the movements of the chest, on the activity of breathing, and not at all on the actual physical activity, as it should be if it were a real heart disease that could lead to myocardial infarction.

And if our heart “pricks”, “pierces”, “pulsates”, “goes dumb, like in a refrigerator”, “gives to the shoulder blades and arms, lower back and neck”, “heart spasms”, “lump behind the sternum”, and at the same time, “tingling”, “squeezing”, “acute squeezing”, “squeezing”, “tension”, “congestion”, “burning” in the region of the heart, as well as the left hypochondrium, upper abdomen, “bursting” or vice versa , "emptiness" in the chest, then you can relax - these are by no means the pains that lead us straight "to the next world", this is an unpleasant, but not dangerous vegetovascular dystonia.

fluctuations in blood pressure

When a patient tells me that he has "fluctuations in blood pressure," I always ask about what he calls "fluctuations in blood pressure." I had to see patients whose upper blood pressure numbers went far beyond 200, and even over 250. Cases when the lower numbers in patients rose to 120-130 had no less psychological effect on me. But, really, in the first case, as a rule, it was always about the so-called "malignant type of hypertension", and in the second - about a serious kidney disease. And never, never have such figures been close and cannot be in patients with VVD.

It may seem to those suffering from VVD that the pressure, for example, 135/95 mmHg is " great pressure". But it's not only not big, it's in general - normal pressure! The easiest - the first - stage of hypertension with such numbers, and even constantly holding such numbers, will not be put! And if the vessels do not burst under a pressure of 250 mm of mercury, then at 160 there is no need to burst at all, only if due to some capriciousness, but even then it is unlikely.

And one more thing, the rise in blood pressure in itself is not a problem, the problem is the damage to the vessels themselves, the atherosclerotic lesion, which we will discuss below. It is the famous atherosclerotic plaques that are dangerous to human life, because they can break away from the place of attachment - either causing a rupture of the vessel in this very place, or moving further along the vascular bed and clogging the vessel at the site of its narrowing.

But, please, for this you need to have atherosclerotic plaques! And for such a case, an appropriate age is required, certain metabolic disorders in the body and, finally, a verdict of doctors, with which, you can believe me, if these plaques really exist, there will be no problems. All this will be determined at the first examination, doctors will not miss atherosclerosis. And to be afraid of the very fact of an increase in blood pressure despite the fact that there is no atherosclerosis at all is at least strange!

Labored breathing

Here is also a symptom that throws patients with VSD out of balance - difficulty breathing, or a feeling of lack of air. Indeed, any breathing problem naturally causes fear in a person - after all, it is vital important function organism. But that’s what a person and a person do, in order to “turn on” their brain at this moment and take advantage of its capabilities in order to correctly assess the situation. "Difficulty breathing" that occurs with vegetovascular dystonia, pure subjective sensation!

Firstly, if everyone around “has enough air”, then it cannot “not be enough” for someone who thinks that they just cheated him. In other words, if there is not enough air, then everyone should suffocate in such a situation. And how long ago did it happen that, for example, all the passengers of a subway car suffocated? Or, for example, how many cases do you know of someone suffocating, left alone in our, domestic, apartment? More, in my opinion, people died from drafts in them than from suffocation.

Secondly, there is a disease that actually manifests itself as breathlessness, and the name of this disease is asthma. But this disease has strict criteria that make it possible to clearly determine whether a person suffers from asthma or not. And if the conducted studies (first of all, specific blood changes are important here) indicate the absence of relevant criteria, then asthma is out of the question!

Finally, thirdly, attacks of shortness of breath can occur in people suffering from atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels, but in this case there is atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels, which is determined using a simple ECG study. If atherosclerosis is not found in our country, then we do not have the right to real shortness of breath of the core. And those difficulties that we have with breathing cannot be qualified otherwise than as a “subjective sensation”, that is, it only seems to a person.

Yes, against the background of stress, we experience disruptions in breathing, but believe me, the body is an unusually tenacious creature and wants to live without fail, so it will never allow such a failure to lead to some irreparable consequences. The fact that a person who is afraid of suffocating out of the blue really breathes inefficiently is not a question. He breathes inefficiently in the sense that he could breathe better. However, all this is again not fatal - he breathes!

True, some during a panic attack try to breathe with the stomach - that is, they swallow air instead of inhaling it (that is, letting it into the lungs). But, really, this is an exceptional amateur activity, which, if desired, is easy and simple to stop. In addition, some "specialists" suffering from VVD during their "attack" forget that air sometimes needs to be not only inhaled, but also exhaled. When they have a "feeling of lack of air", they inhale, inhale, inhale, but they do not consider it necessary to exhale. But our chest is not dimensionless, so if you want to inhale well, then you need to exhale well before that, thereby making room for a new portion of air. It is, in fact, in these two mistakes that the “feeling of lack of air” consists, which, fortunately, is stored in excess for everyone in this world. And at the end of this topic about the sensations of a “coma in the throat”, the feeling that “the breath was intercepted”, that it “broke”, “stopped”, “squeezed”. All these sensations are associated with banal muscle spasms characteristic of stressful loads. During times of stress, as we remember (and " panic attack” itself is stress), a person has natural muscle tension. And there are muscles both in the pharynx and in the larynx, so there is nothing strange in the fact that something is “squeezed” and “tensed” there. However, there is nothing wrong with that. Well, the body cannot kill itself, it cannot! Something tightened in the throat, a feeling of a coma arose - so what?! Why not breathe, in connection with what?!

Dizziness, headaches, fainting

Dizziness and fainting are what patients with VVD are very often afraid of, and headaches are what they traditionally suffer from. I must immediately make a reservation that headaches are a natural phenomenon in the case of VVD. muscle tension(especially the vessels of the neck), characteristic of stress, and the violation of the autonomic regulation of the work of the vessels that accompanies the VVD, cannot but lead to certain manifestations of physical suffering of the brain.

But, fortunately, all these troubles do not pose any threat to human health. We cannot have such a muscle spasm that will lead to complete compression of the vessels, and therefore pain can occur, and dizziness can occur, but it is impossible to die in this way. A similar situation develops with the vegetative tone. No matter how badly it is violated, there will be no big trouble. Discomfort - yes, but trouble - no.

Vegetative imbalance can really lead to dizziness if we have a painfully increased work of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. When we have a spasm of cerebral vessels, the latter does not get better, its blood supply becomes less efficient. This is unpleasant, but not at all a disaster, since at the same time there is a rise in pressure, so that even despite the narrowing of the lumen of the vessels of this deficiency nutrients and there is no oxygen in the brain. If parasympathetic tone prevails in us, then the vessels, on the contrary, expand with a decrease in blood pressure. Thus, the opposite situation arises here: the pressure is less, but the clearance is wider. Dizziness may occur, but that's all.

There are prejudices about "fainting states". The fact is that there is such a phenomenon in medicine: “loss of consciousness”, or “unconsciousness”. It can develop, for example, in the case of severe traumatic brain injury or pain shock. However, what is fainting - science, by and large, is unknown. severe dizziness, an attack of weakness - that's all right! This is clear. But fainting?.. Fainting, rather, from the field of literature, and deeply artistic. The fact that it seems to a person that he has "lost consciousness" - it only seems to him; the fact that it seems to him that he is "about to lose consciousness" - even more so.

Indeed, the feeling of stuffiness, faintness, etc. “-you” is, of course, a nuisance, but you don’t have to lose your head! Well, it got worse ... What to do? It will pass, it won't go anywhere. But if you get worried, if you immediately start looking for a place on the sidewalk, where to lie down, this is a problem! In this case, the fear only becomes greater, and the vegetative discomfort from this only increases. The consequences are clear - we will suffer, as well as live, moreover, accordingly. In any case, the fear of fainting is much worse than the fainting itself, even if it happens ... for a couple of seconds.

Weakness

The feeling of weakness, by and large, is of two types: either we are physically so weak that we no longer understand anything, or we are psychologically so exhausted that our own body ceases to obey "his commander-in-chief". The weakness of a person suffering from VVD, as you might guess, is from the second group. His body is bubbling and working tirelessly, and therefore it is rather difficult to recognize him as physically weakened. He may be tired, but why?! The reason is in emotions and in all sorts of bad thoughts that, they say, I will die soon and no one will come to my grave.

However, vegetative imbalance is really an unpleasant thing. And if your body is exhausted (the reason doesn’t matter here), then it wants to rest, and if we don’t give it to it, then it takes it on its own - to the extent that it can take it. This, in fact, is the weakness that a person with VVD experiences so often and so unjustifiably acutely. Well, such weakness only tells us that we need to rest, and at the same time, it also unequivocally hints: “Stop torturing the cat!”. Who is the "cat" here, I think, no need to explain.

Sweating, chills and subfibrillation

Sweating, chills and subfibrillation are one field of a berry. All of them are due to the work of the autonomic nervous system and, in general, serve one thing - thermoregulation. Maintaining the right body temperature is a very important thing. The fact is that in our body constantly goes great amount chemical reactions, which, as we remember from the school course, often require the presence of one or another temperature regime. That, in fact, is why our body needs a constantly burning "spirit lamp", and with a strict certain temperature flame.

However, there is nothing terrible in temperature fluctuations, the backlash here is quite large, and most importantly, there is a system of heat sinks and heat drives. Sweating, for example, is a way to lower body temperature, and subfibrillation is a way to raise it. When we sweat, moisture appears on our skin, which, evaporating, cools these very covers. With vegetative failures, a strange situation often arises - the body sweats excessively, but only in areas. These zones are known - palms and armpits, less often the neck, inguinal region, etc.

Subfibrillation is a body temperature elevated to 37.0-37.5 ° C (the rise in temperature serves to accelerate metabolic processes in the body, which is natural for situations of stress). Special centers of the brain are responsible for this, and the occurrence of subfibrillation is due to their decision that, they say, the existing body temperature is insufficient for the level of stress in which this organism is located. Perhaps, of course, they overdid it, well, nothing, they will soar, soar and stop - they will not go anywhere.

Chills are, accordingly, a state when the body is looking for the temperature it needs, trying to get into the necessary temperature corridor corresponding to the required intensity and speed of metabolic processes. The condition is unpleasant, but it regulates the heat supply!

Other people experiencing stress and on the verge of neurosis fall into a state that is manifested either by a complete loss of appetite (this is in the case of an overabundance of sympathetic function), or, on the contrary, an unreasonable "zhor" (this is in the case of parasympathetic stimulation). The result is either weight loss or weight gain.

You can, however, fix on nausea, which sometimes ends with vomiting. Nausea and vomiting- things are unpleasant, and therefore fixation on them often leads to monstrous consequences: a person is constantly worried, worries, and as a result, his condition only worsens. Doctors in such cases talk about gastritis, gastroduodenitis, sometimes esophageal reflux, but in reality - neurosis and nothing more.

though gastric tract has not only a top, but also a bottom. For some, this "bottom" becomes a stumbling block - diarrhea or, on the contrary, constipation are in these cases the main culprits in the triumph of autonomic dysfunction. frequent, relatively liquid stool or constipation and flatulence in such people are often more unpleasant than serious. A person who is concerned about his work gastrointestinal tract, can pay so much attention to it that a failure in the operation of this path is simply inevitable. However, whenever our consciousness interferes with the work of physiological functions, we have problems. AT this case doctors call this problem "irritable bowel syndrome."

There are those, among other things, who fixate on frequency of your urination. This may seem strange to some, but those who made this physiological function its main problem, no laughing matter. Against the background of stress, with an increase in blood pressure, our kidneys really produce more urine per unit of time than in calm state. This circumstance can provoke strong and sudden "urge to urinate", the latter can occur in an inconvenient place and at the wrong time (for example, in transport). As a result, a person begins to worry that he will have this “embarrassment” again under similar circumstances. And this anxiety is already stress, which just contributes to this embarrassment, there is also a fixation that enhances all our sensations ...

In short, a vicious circle closes: stress - increase in blood pressure - increased kidney function - urge to urinate in uncomfortable circumstances - embarrassment (one or another) - fear that this embarrassment will happen again - stress when similar circumstances arise - increase in blood pressure - increased kidney function - urinating to urinate - a classic neurosis (you can’t leave the house, and all thoughts are only about one thing - as if embarrassment with the toilet didn’t happen to us). That's where the trouble is...

Finally, the job is done sexual dysfunctions of the same vegetative character. In men, the sympathetic response can manifest itself in premature ejaculation, reduced potency. In women - a small secretion of the glands of the genital organs, increased excitability in the absence of psychological readiness to sexual contacts. All this, of course, does not contribute to the quality of life in any way, sexual problems arise, then interpersonal conflicts, then fixation on “symptoms”, fears ... and now the neurosis is unfolding before us in all its glory.

By the way, against the background of exhaustion in the presence of prolonged and debilitating vegetative disorders, sexual dysfunctions appear on their own, and in this case they look simple - “I don’t want anything”, “I don’t want anyone”, “I won’t do anything”. In short, it decreases in a person libido, and hello.