Wayne
Senior Member
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- Ashland, Oregon
This post is somewhat of a chronicle of how I discovered a new way to stimulate my vagus nerve. It's a massage technique I'd never read about before, but one which I've come to believe is modestly reducing my Dysautonomia / POTS / Orthostatic Intolerance symptoms. Here's my story...
On February 3, 2018, I began experiencing very severe adverse effects from taking a single dose of an anti-nausea medication called Promethazine--which I wrote about on THIS THREAD. One of those effects is a very serious case of tinnitus, which has shown no improvement in the past 6 weeks.
In desperation, I'm trying just about everything I read that might possibly help get rid of or at least reduce the incessant ringing/screeching, and/or calm my system down in general. One technique I read about was tapping the cochleovestibular nerve at the back of the head, one of the 12 cranial nerves that exits the brain via the brain stem. Some people have used a particular tapping technique to actually eliminate their tinnitus.
I tried tapping the specified area, and I didn't notice anything. I then tried massaging it, and noticed that I could affect it somewhat, albeit quite modestly. So I thought that if I massaged it a regularly every day, over time I might get some beneficial effects. So far I haven't for the tinnitus, but I have noticed two improvements in my physiology that I attribute to massaging those cranial nerves, principally the vagus nerve.
1) My Dysautonomia seems to be somewhat improved. If that was the only thing I noticed, I wouldn't be so confident it was a result of my massaging my brainstem and all those cranial nerves. I also noticed...
2) My mostly life-long slow motility improved rather remarkably.
Both of these conditions are directly related to vagus nerve functionality. So far the changes have been modest, but quite consistent over the past five weeks or so. I thought about reporting this earlier, but then decided to see if the improvements persisted (they often don't). But these have. So despite the often overwhelming tinnitus, I can at least be thankful for an improved ability to stand, and much better regularity.
If you want to give this a try, the area I massage is at about the same level as the top of the ears, in the center of the back of the head. There's a relatively soft area going down about 2-3 inches from there to the top of first vertebra. I made a POST once on 32 ways to stimulate the vagus nerve, but this massaging technique that is working for me was not one of those.
The vagus nerve is responsible for so many aspects of our physiology and well being, and is primarily responsible for the parasympathic (calming) response in our bodies. I think it's dysfunction is a least partially responsible for the wired but tired feeling many of us experience. I strongly suspect that anybody who massages their vagus nerve as I do (about 5 min.+ each day), will notice some kind of improvement in their overall sense of well being, though not necessarily the same improvements that I experienced.
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BTW, I've discovered there seems to be a fair amount of overlap between CFS and tinnitus. As I learn more, I hope to start a more comprehensive discussion on the topic. For now, I will say I strongly suspect people with CFS are more susceptible to tinnitus than the average person.
So I would advise avoiding any drugs that are known to be ototoxic (toxic to the ears) and anti-cholinergic drugs. That includes most anti-histamines, decongestants, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and more (about 600 prescription medicines alone). Also avoid any other things (like loud noises) that are normally associated with the beginning of tinnitus.
@Cort @joejack102 @Gingergrrl
In desperation, I'm trying just about everything I read that might possibly help get rid of or at least reduce the incessant ringing/screeching, and/or calm my system down in general. One technique I read about was tapping the cochleovestibular nerve at the back of the head, one of the 12 cranial nerves that exits the brain via the brain stem. Some people have used a particular tapping technique to actually eliminate their tinnitus.
I tried tapping the specified area, and I didn't notice anything. I then tried massaging it, and noticed that I could affect it somewhat, albeit quite modestly. So I thought that if I massaged it a regularly every day, over time I might get some beneficial effects. So far I haven't for the tinnitus, but I have noticed two improvements in my physiology that I attribute to massaging those cranial nerves, principally the vagus nerve.
1) My Dysautonomia seems to be somewhat improved. If that was the only thing I noticed, I wouldn't be so confident it was a result of my massaging my brainstem and all those cranial nerves. I also noticed...
2) My mostly life-long slow motility improved rather remarkably.
Both of these conditions are directly related to vagus nerve functionality. So far the changes have been modest, but quite consistent over the past five weeks or so. I thought about reporting this earlier, but then decided to see if the improvements persisted (they often don't). But these have. So despite the often overwhelming tinnitus, I can at least be thankful for an improved ability to stand, and much better regularity.
If you want to give this a try, the area I massage is at about the same level as the top of the ears, in the center of the back of the head. There's a relatively soft area going down about 2-3 inches from there to the top of first vertebra. I made a POST once on 32 ways to stimulate the vagus nerve, but this massaging technique that is working for me was not one of those.
The vagus nerve is responsible for so many aspects of our physiology and well being, and is primarily responsible for the parasympathic (calming) response in our bodies. I think it's dysfunction is a least partially responsible for the wired but tired feeling many of us experience. I strongly suspect that anybody who massages their vagus nerve as I do (about 5 min.+ each day), will notice some kind of improvement in their overall sense of well being, though not necessarily the same improvements that I experienced.
-
BTW, I've discovered there seems to be a fair amount of overlap between CFS and tinnitus. As I learn more, I hope to start a more comprehensive discussion on the topic. For now, I will say I strongly suspect people with CFS are more susceptible to tinnitus than the average person.
So I would advise avoiding any drugs that are known to be ototoxic (toxic to the ears) and anti-cholinergic drugs. That includes most anti-histamines, decongestants, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and more (about 600 prescription medicines alone). Also avoid any other things (like loud noises) that are normally associated with the beginning of tinnitus.
@Cort @joejack102 @Gingergrrl
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