GREG'S CONDITION

Dysautonomia refers to the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. There are two nervous systems that control various aspects of our body's operations, and most people are aware of the CENTRAL nervous system which is the nervous system which controls muscle groups, and the voluntary actions of our brain. The AUTONOMIC nervous system is the system which controls the aspects of our body's activities which are involuntary, or which we don't have to think about - things such as breathing, blood pressure, heart beat, sweating and digestion. Orthostatic intolerance is one of a group of conditions under the umbrella term of dysautonomia.

Orthostatic Intolerance basically means that the body does not like being in an upright and static position. This makes some everyday tasks or activities very difficult to achieve, such as standing in queues, sitting in meetings, standing in groups talking at parties, and standing on sets waiting to film - perhaps not so everyday for some people!

The cause of it is unknown and can vary in patients, but put simply, what happens is that when a sufferer changes their posture from lying to sitting, or from sitting to standing, the body does NOT send the appropriate messages to the blood vessels, heart and blood pressure receptors, so that the body can make the necessary changes to prepare the body for standing up. What SHOULD happen is that the body will change all of these things (without having to think about it), so that the blood pressure of the person will slightly increase in order to keep the blood moving around the body and supply all the necessary organs with enough blood and oxygen to adequately perform their tasks.

In patients like Greg, the correct function does not occur, and often, after standing or sitting for a only a short period of time, the blood pools in their legs, and this then sets off a whole range of symptoms in the patient which is the body's attempt to rectify this dysfunction. If this is not rectified, then with decreased blood pressure and blood flow to the brain, the patient will pass out or blank out (fainting or syncope) in an attempt to bring the patient to a position where the blood can flow more freely around their body. This is known as "Neurocardiogenic Syncope" or "Vaso-Vagal Syncope". This is the part of the condition of Orthostatic Intolerance which effectively brings the patient back to a position where they are lying prone once more so that the blood can flow to all parts of the body.

Greg had suffered from many of the symptoms of this condition for years. Most of which, he assumed were just normal, physical and physiological feelings. Having lived with the condition for most of his life, he beleived that you were supposed to experience discomfort in the chest when exercising and exerting yourself. He believed that everybody's heart raced from time to time. He believed that the shortness of breath that he experienced was due to over-exerting himself on stage. After numerous years of performing with the Wiggles and sweating a lot of salt out of his body, the condition became a lot more prevalent, and eventually the syncope hit hard at the peak of his physical fitness, but also the peak of a 5 week tour of the US with 3 six day weeks with a lot of traveling.

Sleepless nights due to rapid heart rate and mild to moderate sleep apnea were common for Greg - let alone at times when he was on tour, combining the symptoms of his condition with overnight travel on a bus in an uncomfortable bed, then arriving at a hotel to get what sleep he could prior to getting up and doing the whole routine again. For Greg, this was normal, and in his mind, the feelings of fatigue, heavy chest, light headedness and difficulty breathing were just as likely to be caused by the rigours of touring as by anything else.

One of the difficult things about this condition is that many people want to try and diagnose you for themself. Because it is not a "visible" illness or ailment, and because it can't be categorised and hasn't been widely spoken about in the past, the most common thing that people say to you is "Are you sure it's not just stress?". There are so many possible causes of fainting and the symptoms associated with dysautonomia, that it could be possible that someone experiencing some or all of these symptoms could be experiencing stress or anxiety.

However, you generally know within yourself when something is not right, and when Greg passed out twice on tour in August 2006, he knew that there was something more going on than just the isolated symptoms he had felt for the previous 12 years. Even after many visits to doctors and hospitals over the 12 years, and having undergone many tests for the chest pains, breathing difficulties and "woozy" feelings, Greg was still told that he was "perfectly healthy". This is incredibly frustrating for someone with this condition. Whilst on the one hand it is great to be told that all your organs are functioning perfectly and you are in top condition, it is also incredibly frustrating to not have an answer as to why you don't feel in top condition, and why you can't do 6 days a week of shows when other people in your group who are all older than you have no trouble doing so. The dilemma is that Greg was fit, he just was not healthy.

After returning home to Sydney, the path to a diagnosis was a rather long one - 30 doctors visits and tests in 60 days. It was a difficult diagnosis to make as some of the symptoms were similar to epilepsy or some life threatening conditions and illnesses that had to be ruled out once more. It wasn't until November 4, 2006 that the probable diagnosis of orthostatic intolerance was made. Even then, some further tests had to be done to confirm. Over the next three months, Greg's condition deteriorated - he lost co-ordination with his walking, his concentration waned, his memory wasn't what it used to be, he couldn't speak properly at times (suffering from Brain Fog which made it difficult to find the correct word at times and made him slur his speech) and he suffered from tremulousness which made it difficult to feed himself. These occurences were all symptoms of low blood flow to the brain. He became weaker and weaker over the next three months, until in April 07 he was finally placed on a medication which helped his body to retain the salt which he was ingesting through electrolyte replacement drinks such as Gatorade or Powerade. This saw an improvement in how Greg felt - however many of the symptoms still prevailed, and he was still unable to exercise, and get out and about without the aid of a walking stick at times. In August 2007, he was put on another medication which after 6 months, saw another improvement in his condition.

In January 2008, he returned to a much "more normal" level of living. He was able to confidently leave the house without his walking stick and get around to confidently undertake many routine activites. He still suffers some symptoms of the condition, but not on such a chronic basis - he now only suffers some of the symptoms several times throughout the day, rather than for the whole day. This has been made possible through the support of his medical physicians, family and friends - as well as his own positive outlook on life.

Greg now has a new chapter of life unfolding in front of him which is exciting, and is a chapter without the Wiggles - a group which he helped to found and was a large part of his life for so many years. Greg looks forward to being able to help other people who suffer from this condition by bringing greater public awareness to it, and by assisting to raise funds for research which is being conducted by the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne.

Greg received literally thousands of letters from well-wishers when he left the Wiggles, and wants them to know that each and every one of them was so important to him at the time to help him through that life-changing time, and thanks them all very much for thinking of him in his time of need.

To dontate to the Greg Page Fund for Orthostatic Intolerance, please click here - your support of this research is greatly appreciated!

DISCLAIMER:
This information is not provided by or written by any medical experts. This is information that is Greg's interpretation of medical information passed onto him via consultation with his relevant physicians and his own reading of information about the condition of dysautonomia which he suffers from. For these reasons, NO RELIANCE should be placed on any medical information contained on this page.