No amount of brain retraining can fully help before the physical issue causing the body to be in an over-reactive state is addressed first, once the real threat is gone or stabilized (such as an infection) by using interventions that address the biological root such as antibiotics, herbs, immunotherapy, etc, brain retraining may then be able to be used to address residual symptoms and trauma caused by the initial illness.
Calming my nervous system has helped to reduce migraine attacks (unless I’m fighting off some kind of virus or have over-exerted myself physically) and has helped to manage certain trauma-triggered symptoms and adrenaline surges, but it had zero effect before a year of antimicrobial treatment because I had to address the physical issue that caused the nervous system dysregulation in the first place before my nervous system could even begin to regulate again.
It was impossible to calm or regulate my nervous system in the past because I had serious breathing issues, episodes of low blood sugar, slight jaundice, and other issues which were causing me to fight for my life. It isn’t possible to be fully regulated when being stuck in survival mode due to a genuine threat.
It would have been dangerous to tell my body there was no real danger because I could hen develop hypoglycemia unawareness or stop being woken up by adrenaline surges when not breathing properly during sleep. My nervous system became over-reactive because it HAD TO to keep me alive.
This nervous system over-reactivity only becomes problematic when it isn’t needed anymore, but you need biological interventions first so your nervous system doesn’t NEED to be over-reactive anymore.
It’s like if you had PTSD and were to try and regulate your nervous system whilst still experiencing horrific abuse every day, you’re not going to get very far with your healing unless you are out of the abusive situation first. When you have a chronic illness, brain retraining and nervous system regulation can only have a full effect once the dangerous biological threat has been eliminated or stabilized (like an active chronic infection or an ongoing autoimmune attack against the brain.)
Nervous system regulation and brain retraining is usually the last step to healing, not the first. The first is to eliminate the actual biological threat.
Many people in the chronic illness community feel hurt when people act like brain retraining is the only step to healing because for most people there are many other issues that need to be addressed before that can take place. The over-activity of the amygdala is there for a reason due to an ACTUAL threat, rather than a perceived one.
Making out that it’s just a perceived threat and that the nervous system is dysregulated for no reason is a form of medical gaslighting as it implies the issue isn’t really dangerous or serious - but it is unless the biological root has been addressed first.
Yes, having a regulated nervous system can reduce inflammation for some people, but ironically, high inflammation related to an active infection can mean that a person cannot respond to brain retraining which is why biological interventions need to be used first to stop the cycle.
Tags: Lyme, PANDAS, PANS, POTS, Dysautonomia, ME/CFS
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