We know that navigating a new diagnosis, or even a less recent diagnosis, can involve looking at a lot of confusing medical terminology that you may not already be familiar with. We dedicated this page specifically to breaking down some terms or acronyms you may see on our site, or other sites, which could be confusing if you aren’t familiar with them or haven’t seen them before. Please let us know if there are other terms we missed that would be helpful for us to have on this page!

A

• Acrocyanosis: discoloration of the extremities that appears blue or purple.

• Autonomic: an important part of the peripheral nervous system. Learn more in the Dysautonomia section.

B

• Bpm: heartbeats per minute (also known as your pulse).

• Bradycardia: slow heartbeat that can vary based on age and other factors such as physical fitness. For adults, it is defined as less than 60 bpm.

• Brain fog: feeling more forgetful, struggling with word finding, feeling foggy, or perhaps it becomes more difficult to focus.

C

• Cardiac output: amount of blood pumped by the heart in one minute, calculated by multiplying the stroke volume and heart rate.

• Central venous pressure: helps us gauge how much blood (within your veins), is returning back to the heart to be oxygenated (receive oxygen).

• Consciousness: being awake or able to recognize, respond to, and be aware of your surroundings.

D

• Dysautonomia: refers to the malfunctioning of the autonomic nervous system. Learn more in the Dysautonomia section.

• Dysmenorrhea: painful menstruation/periods.

• Dysfunction: not working properly.

E

• EDS: acronym for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

• Exercise intolerance: difficulty or inability to tolerate exercising.

F

• Fatigue: extreme exhaustion (not the same thing as feeling tired).

G

• Gastroparesis: refers to impaired gastric motility/movement.

• Generalized: experiencing something, not in a specific place, but widespread or throughout your body.

H

• Hyperadrenergic: elevated or high levels of adrenaline (hormone we often associate with the “fight or flight” sympathetic response), which can also include nor-adrenaline. Both are often known and/or referred to as epinephrine and norepinephrine.

• Hypertension: high blood pressure.

• Hypotension: low blood pressure.

• Hypovolemia: low blood volume.

I

• Idiopathic: refers to an illness with an unknown cause or trigger.

• Intravenous: refers to a solution or substance being placed inside your body through a vein.

M

• MALS: median arcuate ligament syndrome.

• MCAS: acronym for mast cell activation syndrome.

• ME/CFS: acronym sfor myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

O

• Orthostatic hypotension: drop in blood pressure with changes in position. An example includes experiencing a drop in blood pressure when moving from a seated to standing position.

• Orthostatic intolerance: inability to tolerate changing positions, which includes experiencing uncomfortable symptoms.

P

• Palpitations: a sensation of feeling your own heart beat.

• Paradoxical diuresis: the increased urine output (with the excretion of both sodium and water), when individuals in our community require the opposite for symptom reduction. This can be confusing to understand and goes against how we would expect our bodies to respond.

• Parasympathetic: a branch of the autonomic nervous system that controls “resting and digesting.” Learn more in the Dysautonomia section.

• POTS: acronym for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

• POTSie: another name for an individual with POTS.

• Postprandial Hyperemia: significant increase in the amount of blood specifically flowing within the gastrointestinal tract after eating meals.

• Presyncope: the sensation that you are about to faint without losing consciousness (you remain “awake” the whole time).

• Presyncopal episode: a period of time where you experience the sensation that you are about to faint without losing consciousness.

S

• Secondary: coming after or following something else.

• Spoonie: this doesn’t count as medical terminology (technically), but it is a term our community uses quite often that might be new or confusing. A spoonie is another term we give members in the chronic illness community who use the spoon theory to navigate through each day. See our Occupational Therapy section to learn more about the spoon theory and why it can be helpful!

• Stroke volume: amount of oxygenated blood pumped out of your heart with each heartbeat (from your left ventricle).

• Supine: lying down flat on your back.

• Sympathetic: a branch of the autonomic nervous system which controls fighting or fleeing. Learn more in the Dysautonomia section.

• Syncope: fainting and experiencing a loss of consciousness (also known as “blacking out”).

T

• Tachycardia: a fast heart rate which by definition can vary based on age. For adults, it is considered to be greater than 100 bpm.

• Tremulousness: shaking, trembling, or experiencing tremors.

V

• Vasovagal syncope: also known as neurocardiogenic syncope and can involve sudden drops in blood pressure and heart rate, that can lead to fainting (also known as syncope).