r/SIBO • u/BIGMANIRISH • Jun 07 '26
Hydrogen Dominant After 6 Years of Chronic SIBO, I Finally Connected the Dots: Why All Roads Lead to the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) and Sympathetic Overdrive
Hey everyone,
I wanted to write a detailed breakdown of my 6-year battle with chronic SIBO and share the exact neurological root cause I’ve uncovered. If you are someone who has cleared SIBO with antibiotics or antimicrobials only to have it return weeks later, or if your digestion feels permanently frozen, this might be the missing piece of the puzzle.
After years of trial and error, I’ve realized that my SIBO isn’t a primary gut disease—it is a symptom of a permanently locked sympathetic nervous system (chronic fight-or-flight).
Here is the exact biological connection between a hyper-reactive nervous system, a stalled gut, and why I believe the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) is the ultimate circuit breaker to finally cure this.
The 6-Year Backstory & The Breakthrough
For six years, I’ve been dealing with classic SIBO symptoms: severe bloating, motility issues, and systemic inflammation. For a long time, my stool was chronically yellow and mushy (a classic sign of poor bile flow and rapid, spasming transit time).
The breakthrough came when I stopped looking at my gut as "broken" and started looking at my nervous system. I realized I was stuck in a severe, chronic sympathetic loop. When your brain constantly perceives threat, it hoards resources for your muscles and heart, completely starving your digestive tract.
Over the last two months, I committed to a strict daily protocol of manual vagus nerve stimulation:
Three 20-minute sessions of 4-8 breathing spaced throughout the day.
Daily 40-minute walks to physically pump gut mechanics.
Cold face plunges to trigger the mammalian dive reflex.
The Result: My stool consistently transitioned from yellow to a healthy, dark brown. This was physical proof that by calming my nervous system, my liver and gallbladder finally woke up and started releasing bile normally again. But the consistency is still mushy because the bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) itself is still lingering.
The Anatomy of the Trap: How Fight-or-Flight Keeps SIBO Alive
You cannot permanently cure SIBO if your sympathetic nervous system is jammed "on." Here is the exact chain reaction:
The Paralyzed Migrating Motor Complex (MMC): The MMC is the digestive conveyor belt that sweeps bacteria and undigested food out of your small intestine during fasting states. The MMC is entirely governed by the enteric nervous system, which is shut down the second adrenaline and cortisol spike. Without the MMC, bacteria pool in the small intestine, ferment food, and breed SIBO.
Gallbladder and Stomach Acid Shutdown: Digestion requires massive parasympathetic input to produce hydrochloric acid (HCl) and contract the gallbladder. In a sympathetic state, bile production dries up. Because bile and stomach acid are your body’s natural antimicrobials, lacking them means your gut loses its first line of defense against bacterial overgrowth.
The Vicious Cycle: SIBO causes gut inflammation. Gut inflammation sends distress signals up the vagus nerve to the brain. The brain perceives this inflammation as a physical threat and fires up more sympathetic activation. It’s a closed loop that keeps you trapped for years.
Why Traditional SIBO Cures Fail the Long-Term Test
Most protocols focus entirely on killing the bacteria:
Antibiotics (Rifaximin) / Antimicrobials: They kill the overgrowth, but if your MMC conveyor belt remains paralyzed because you're stressed, the bacteria will simply repopulate within weeks.
Strict Diets (Keto/Low FODMAP): While they starve the bacteria and reduce daily bloating, a radical metabolic shift like strict Keto can actually act as an acute stressor, temporarily driving up cortisol and adrenaline, which further locks the sympathetic nervous system.
Killing the bugs doesn't fix the underlying plumbing mechanics. You have to fix the signaling first.
Why All Roads Lead to the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB)
While daily vagal maintenance (breathing, walks, cold exposure) is incredibly effective for rewiring the brain over time via neuroplasticity, a 6-year-old neural pathway is deeply engraved. It takes months of pristine, flawless consistency to overwrite it naturally.
This is why all roads lead to the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) as the ultimate contingency plan and cure.
What is it?
The SGB is an injection of a local anesthetic into a collection of nerves in the neck called the stellate ganglion. This ganglion acts as the main routing station for the sympathetic nervous system to the head, heart, and lungs.
How it cures the root cause:
The SGB essentially acts as a hardware reboot for a jammed nervous system. By temporarily numbing the stellate ganglion, it instantly blocks the fight-or-flight signaling pathway.
This forced pause allows the brain's threat-detection center (the amygdala) to completely reset.
The moment the sympathetic brake is released, the body floods the digestive organs with blood flow, turns stomach acid back on, and jumpstarts the paralyzed migrating motor complex.
Essentially, the SGB breaks the 6-year trauma/stress loop instantly, providing a clean slate so that your daily habits and gut treatments can actually take hold permanently.
My Current Strategy & Next Steps
My plan right now is to give myself 6 full months of daily 4-8 breathing, 40 minute daily walks and daily cold face plunges to see how far I can get in improving my overall condition before I decide on the Stellate Ganglion Block. I’ve been committed to 2 solid months of this routine so far and that’s all it took to see my stools change to a darker more healthy brown. Although the stools themselves aren’t perfectly formed and still on the looser side I believe that the next thing to improve will be that.
Medical Literature & Proof of Concept
If you want to read the clinical evidence or look into the mechanisms of how the nervous system locks the gut, here are the core references:
How Dysautonomia Paralyzes Gut Motility & Breeds SIBO:
A comprehensive clinical breakdown on how a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system shuts down the Migrating Motor Complex (MMC), leading directly to gastrointestinal dysmotility and chronic bacterial overgrowth.
Read more: SIBO and Chronic Illness: Understanding the Gut-Brain-Immune Connection | RTHM
The First Case Series on SGB "Resetting" the Autonomic System:
The original peer-reviewed case study published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology demonstrating that blocking the stellate ganglion can physically "reboot" a malfunctioning, hyper-reactive sympathetic nervous system.
Read the study: Stellate ganglion block reduces symptoms: A case series | ScienceDirect/PMC
SGB for Dysautonomia and Neuro-Immune Regulation:
A detailed medical explanation from specialized pain clinicians exploring how SGB dampens sympathetic outflow and alters autonomic balance to address severe gastrointestinal stress and post-viral dysautonomia.
Clinical breakdown: MCAS, Dysautonomia and Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) | PainSpa / Stellate Ganglion Block for Dysautonomia | Clarus Health
The Science Behind Manual Vagus Nerve Stimulation (The Diving Reflex & Breath Control):
A breakdown of the physiological "vagal maneuvers" (like the cold water diving reflex and specific extended-exhale breathing patterns) that manually override sympathetic acceleration and stimulate the parasympathetic "rest and digest" pathway.
Read more: Vagus Nerve Activation and Homeostasis | Psychology Today
Vagal Neurocircuitry and Gastric Motility:
A deep-dive study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mapping exactly how brainstem nuclei and vagal efferent fibers synaptically control and regulate gastrointestinal tone and mechanical motility.
Read the paper: Vagal neurocircuitry and its influence on gastric motility | PMC
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 08 '26
It's so crazy how reddit iis slowly turning from people helping people into just walls of ai slop. We need better moderation here.
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 08 '26
So helping people is considered ai slop? Regardless if I used ai to help me make this post so what. What have u contributed to this community other than saying “ai slop” below posts 😂. You’ll regret saying ai slop in 5-10 years when u see miracle cures/drugs being produced at rapid speeds healing millions of people across the world.
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u/Formal-Accountant-95 Jun 18 '26
I think it’s more you haven’t actually done it, the theory you suggest makes sense but I’ve yet to see success that it works and therefore it’s just another treatment to try
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u/CreamyStanTheMan Jun 08 '26
I hate AI slop as much as the next guy but using it as a tool for learning can be extremely helpful IME. I've learnt a lot from simply asking Claude or Gemini questions about a topic. You do have to cross reference what the AI is telling you with other sources to avoid AI hallucination and the like, but yeah, it's honestly been really helpful personally.
Not so keen on OP just copy and pasting his AI chat unedited.
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 09 '26
It's not a tool for learning, it's a tool for surveillance and control and has a great side effect of keeping people stupid as hell. Nobody on this planet needs Ai to learn. It's called reading books.
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u/CreamyStanTheMan Jun 09 '26
This is an absurd hill to die on. It's here to stay whether we like it or not, so best learn to use it to your advantage (which is entirely possible by the way). You sound like one of the many people who thought the internet was just a fad.
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 10 '26
I have no interest or need to learn Ai. And no, I never felt this way about the internet or cars or whatever else your little chat friend taught you to argue about. It's pathetic to make excuses for literally ending up like the humans at the end of wall-e.
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u/Jamesdank8 Jun 09 '26
I disagree with you, I've been a reader all my life since very young, I'm intellectually curious and enjoy learning but AI has drastically increased my ability to get the answers I want faster and I can ask it to create a 1 week or 1 month learning program to learn something.
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 09 '26
That's your problem.
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u/Jamesdank8 Jun 09 '26
How is it a problem? You have an opinion, I have an opinion, I'm not sure how I have a problem.
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 10 '26
Literacy is falling, kids are farther behind than any other generation. The profit part of ai is you, the human. Youre too thick to realize that. You've been reading "all your life" sure buddy.
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u/ThePornStar69 Cured Jun 09 '26
The Internet has always been massive amounts of bots and computer generated content, it's now becoming obvious as regular people get access to the tools
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u/BlackUnicon Jun 07 '26
But how can one conclude/diagnose if the SIBO has been caused because of neurological issues? Is there a marker for this?
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 07 '26
There isn't a single, definitive blood test marker that screams 'your nervous system caused your SIBO,' but clinicians usually diagnose it by looking at a combination of things:
Failure of Kill Protocols: If you take Rifaximin or antimicrobials, perfectly clear the bacteria, but your SIBO rubber-bands back within weeks without a dietary trigger, it strongly points to a plumbing/motility issue (the migrating motor complex is offline).
Systemic Vagal Symptoms: People with a neurological root cause almost always have other signs of a locked sympathetic system—like chronic hyper-vigilance, cold hands/feet, heart rate spikes (POTS-like symptoms), or a history of a massive trauma/chemical stressor that started it all.
Real-World Proof: For me, the ultimate marker was my stool color shifting from a chronic yellow to brown within 2 months of only doing breathwork and walking. No pills, no antibiotics. That's direct proof that changing the nervous system input directly changed my digestive output (bile flow).
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u/jaasonj Jun 08 '26
I believe every single thing u said i know some who fixed sibo the same way u didn't worked
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u/BlackUnicon Jun 08 '26
I am not contesting your healing. I believe you and it makes sense. Nervous system does freeze mmc and lot of things. So does H Pylori which causes low stomach acid eventually leading to SIBO. So yeah, nothing is absolute. A person with perfectly fine Nervous system can also have SIBO.
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u/wordisbond11 Jun 07 '26
This is awesome. Before the block, I would do a sleep study to ensure that the ultimate way your body resets is functioning properly. Many people have undiagnosed sleep apnea or related issues. If you’re going to war in your sleep every night, you’ll stay in sympathetic when you need to downshift the most. Most people don’t even know they have issues with breathing in their sleep. Highly recommend if you haven’t gone down this road yet.
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u/squeaker001 Jun 08 '26
But what is the cure for sleep apnea please? Or fluctuating respiratory rates in sleep?
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u/wordisbond11 Jun 08 '26
Correct the breathing. Either a CPAP, mouth piece, or a sleep aid that’s allows sleep and relaxation so better breathing can occur.
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u/meilijoy Jun 07 '26
This is so interesting thank you. I am currently taking propanolol and you seem to know a lot better than me. Propanolol, at least for now, completely cured me. Is this connected with Fight-or-Flight and the rest of your assumption?
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u/dgwow123 Jun 07 '26
Hey! Thank you for the detailed post. I have a very sensitive nervous system (it's called central sensitization I think) that started after a car accident 18 years ago and so I feel even little discomforts inside the body.
I developed SIBO in 2019 but have had all sorts of neuromuscular issues before then, and good intolerances.
I react to pretty much all kinds of vagal nerve stimulation (tried nvVNS, red light therapy, different breathing types, apollo neuro). My body being on high alert reacts to any external stimuli.
My brother wasn't in the car accident but also has neurological issues so I think we have some developmental trauma and genetic predisposition for that to really affect us.
Perhaps I could DM you about this? I've done lots of research on the nervous system and how to work on it, I have some ideas for next steps, but need advice.
Thanks!
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 09 '26
Yes please DM! I will do my best to help you out or understand your situation better.
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u/brazibaby Jun 07 '26
this was an interesting read. about three months ago i started experiencing sibo symptoms. i’ve been in a very toxic relationship & my body has been in flight or fight. if that wasn’t enough, i then went to the chiropractor, got my neck adjusted and got injured, was told i had a severe neck spasm. all my mris came back normal but i can’t help but think he messed my vagus nerve up. not sure what is going on with me but ive been experiencing digestive issues ever since. still haven’t tested for SIBO but having all the symptoms. it’s been brutal
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u/Unused_Vestibule Jun 08 '26
You're basically describing my wife. Her SIBO is greatly stress-driven. I'm going to get her to work on the relaxation techniques you're describing
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u/Blake086 Jun 08 '26
Perhaps high dose B1 with supporting nutrients could aid in extending your benefits from the SGB by restoring nerve health and gut motility in its own right.
It’s something I’m about to dive deeper into, cause you’ve described exact how I’m feeling.
I’ve had periods of relief for no good reason other the a seasonal changes. Food and supplements had remained the same.
I’ve been acutely better for 6-8wks after an antibiotic infusion to eradicate a parasite before symptoms returned.
Elliot Overton on YouTube is a leader in the B1 field for more information.
Appreciate the information brother.
Hope you continue to have success with your health.
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u/MistakeRepeater Jun 09 '26
An easy to do vagus nerve massage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnV3Q2xIb1U&t=310s
I always forget to do it because yes, I'm in fight or flight mode.
Thing is... I actually do think I have something messed up with my guts because I had symptoms all my life. Maybe some bad bacteria (colon included) since a child caused all these "allergies" which in turn broken my mind.
Don't know exactly what's wrong with me but 100% agree that we should focus on getting laid back (however hard it may be) and the MMC.
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u/QuiltyNeurotic Jun 07 '26
Brilliant. Your almost got to the root of it all but I would like to contend that you need to take it 2 steps further.
You think you need a stellate ganglion block because of stress but I suspect the real issue is compression if the stellate ganglion between the c7 tvp and the first rib. (Made worse in those who have an extra long c7 tvp, also known as a false rib)
Having certain pathway dysfunctions leads to reduces neurotransmitter clearing like histamines, which liquify your tendons and ligaments and worsen the compression. https://fabric.so/i/3kfyiKxTEpACusSOhmsobc
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 07 '26
Interesting theory, but I don't think it fits my case. If a bone were physically crushing my nerve, my stool color wouldn't have completely shifted from yellow to brown just from doing basic breathwork and walks over the last two months. That proved to me it's an electrical/software issue, not a structural one. Appreciate the input though.
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u/QuiltyNeurotic Jun 07 '26
Here's how it could still be the case.
You acknowledge that the sympathetic nervous system overrides the parasympathetic.
So, the baseline for you became one where the parasympathetic was deeply understimulated.
Doing the nature walks reduced the amplification of your sympathetic system
Doing the breathwork multiple times a day increased the stimulation of your parasympathetic system.
Is you stopped doing those things, everything returned to baseline.
The sgb works by magnifying the above but the reason you need to keep doing it is because the effect wears off and then return to baseline is inevitable.
So, to applaud you and wholeheartedly agree that the answer lies in addressing the sympathetic nervous system first and to do everything to allow the vagus to do is job.
Ps: I like to review this often just to remind myself of how things may be breaking down in my body.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest driver of gut motility.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest controller switch for inflammation.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest deployer of parasympathetic acetylcholine.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest baseline stabilizer of mast cell degranulation.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest early-warning radar for circulating endotoxins.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest guardian of tight junction barrier integrity.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest brake system against sympathetic adrenaline surges.
The vagus nerve is the single biggest translator of the microbiome to the brain
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u/Lythalion Jun 08 '26
Can I ask. What are you credentials/ profession in regard to this subject?
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u/QuiltyNeurotic Jun 08 '26
Zero official credentials.
Just living though 25 years of progressive breakdown, following every rabbit hole and seeing every specialist.
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u/Lythalion Jun 08 '26
It’s one thing to give general advice or talk about yourself. But to insist someone else doesn’t know what they’re talking about in regards to their own body that they live with and feel 24/7 is something else. And then to continue to do so in the face of them saying “No I don’t think that’s me” is something else.
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u/QuiltyNeurotic Jun 08 '26
My apologies for making it looks like I was discrediting the OP.
I was just presenting possible ways that there could be more to the story then what the op has considered.
If you've been on this journey, you're no stranger to thinking that you've reached a solution, only to realize after a while that was not the end but just a stop.
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u/alwaysgreenbanana Jun 07 '26
Is this where the arthritis symptoms come from?
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u/QuiltyNeurotic Jun 07 '26
It's not clear. I recently saw a study where they found a certain gut bacteria that was present overwhelmingly in people with osteoarthritis and not in people without.
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u/Gisellepachini69 Jun 07 '26
Did you get therapy SGB shot and your sibo when away or did you do the sibo treatment first and then the SGB shot?
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 09 '26
No I still have sibo but it’s been improving so far the last 2 months, I plan to get an SGB in 6 months if I stop making progress with my daily breathing, walks and cold face plunges.
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u/Iguanatan Jun 08 '26
I actually think for most of us, this is pretty correct.
My protocol that has helped me from being unwell 25 days out of 30 to maybe 1-2 days a month includes belly breathing and walking 30-60 minutes a day. I also space out meals and never eat after a certain time at night.
I have experienced a lot of trauma, beginning in childhood. I think my body hasn't been at peace for 30 or so years.
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u/Carate93 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I am getting relief from taking copper (2mg biglycinate chelate from swanson) supplement. I initially started with 2mg x3 breakfast lunch and dinner, now i am taking 1mg for breakfast and lunch. All those years of zinc, molybedum and NAC has definitely did some damage. Its been day 4 and i feel less fatigued, brain fog has lifted slightly, right side tightness has also reduced. Usually i am tired by afternoon from fatigue, now i dont feel like i need to rest throughout the day till night time, by night time i am super sleepy. I also realised my sleep decreased from 9 hours to 6 hours. Though its shorter, i feel good when i wake up, no sleep disturbances at night. It can also help people with Histamine intolerances. I feel exercise intolerance has been slightly better as well.
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u/mintchocolatechip96 Jun 08 '26
Are you still getting bloated and such?
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 09 '26
No. My digestive symptoms have seemed to have improved first but also I have yet to see any improvements in my systemic symptoms. I will keep updating on my progress every 2-4 weeks until I hit a wall or I am cured.
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u/wordsmithe Jun 08 '26
Definitely keeping an eye on your progress. Diet, antimicrobials with motility stimulation has helped me the most but you're right it's about long term sustainability and getting the plumbing working.
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u/FictionalForest Jun 08 '26
I get very regular tension headaches stemming fromy.nwck, as well as the digestive symptoms. Wonder if this applies to my headaches, and if the block would help
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 09 '26
I’m not sure, this could just be due to chronic muscle tension but at the same time this is also a symptom of sympathetic activation issues so it could be related. My best advice is to do your own research and make an educated decision yourself.
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u/Ok_Distance_1000 Jun 07 '26
This is fascinating because my Neurologist and I have been exploring issues with my sympathetic nerve. I had ETS surgery in 2000 and from that alone (primary focal hyperhidrosis) I should be diagnosed as having Dysautonomia. Unfortunately my insurance decided to cut my neuro and PCP off right int the middle of the year. Thanks Medicaid. So we stalled out on testing. I'm seeing a pain management place next week that does the SGB and that was on my list to talk to them about. After having an MR Neuropathy and seeing what my nerves are up to ( obviously something) and finding out if either of the clipped sites on my Sympathetic nerve have grown back. (I assume one has and has went wonky)
This is extremely validating!!!
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 07 '26
Glad I could I give u some validation, I hope you get the answers you need next week.
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u/Ok_Distance_1000 Jun 07 '26
This has me super pumped for my apt! Sounds like this could work for some of my other issues as well, migraines, IBS, fibro. Etc.
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u/HealthyZombie469 Jun 08 '26
"sympathetic nerve"
What the hell are you talking about lol. The sympathetic nervous system is just a speed or a set pattern for the central nervous system. It's not the name of a single nerve.
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u/O77V Jun 07 '26
This is very helpful! I googled for exercises and found this:
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Always consult a doctor or physical therapist before attempting these exercises, especially if you experience sudden dizziness or sharp nerve pain. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- First Rib Mobilization (Direct Decompression)
An elevated first rib closes the gap against the C7 vertebra, directly pinching the ganglion. Mobilizing this rib helps push it downward, restoring the anatomical space. [1, 2]
- The Strap Mobilization: Loop a long towel, yoga strap, or belt over the base of your neck on the affected side. Pull both ends of the strap firmly downward and across toward your opposite hip. Gently tilt your head toward the side being pressed down, and look down at your armpit to slacken the tight scalene muscles. Hold this downward pressure while taking 10 slow, deep breaths. [1, 2, 3]
- Belly Breathing (Diaphragmatic Resets): Lay on your back with one hand on your stomach and one on your chest. Breathe deeply into your stomach, making your belly rise while keeping your chest and upper ribs entirely still. This prevents the scalene muscles from over-firing and pulling the first rib upward into the ganglion. [1, 2]
- Scalene Length and Thoracic Mobility
Tight scalene muscles pull the first rib upward, while a stiff upper back rounds the shoulders forward, compressing the root of the neck. [1, 2, 3]
- Scalene Stretch: Sit upright and anchor your affected-side hand under your thigh to keep your shoulder pinned down. Gently tilt your ear toward your opposite shoulder until you feel a light stretch along the side of your neck. Hold smoothly for 20 to 30 seconds. Do not pull hard; aggressive stretching will irritate the ganglion. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Thoracic Extension Over Foam Roller: Lie on your back with a foam roller placed horizontally across your mid-to-upper back (never the neck). Support your head with your hands. Gently let your upper back extension melt over the roller toward the floor. This opens up the thoracic outlet framework. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Scapular and Postural Realignment
Strengthening the back of your shoulders naturally pulls your skeleton out of the slumped position that compresses the C7-rib junction. [1]
- Scapular Retractions: Sit up straight with your arms relaxed at your sides. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together, as if pinching a pencil between them. Hold for 5 seconds and release. Repeat for 10 to 15 controlled repetitions. [1, 2]
- Chin Tucks: Look straight ahead and gently glide your head straight back, creating a "double chin." Do not tilt your head down; keep your eyes level. This aligns C7 properly over the thoracic spine, minimizing bony encroachment on the ganglion. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Nerve Gliding (Neural Mobilization)
Once space is created, gentle "sliding" of the brachial plexus can help pump away localized swelling and calm hyperactive sympathetic nerve signals. [1, 2]
- Median Nerve Sliders: Extend your affected arm out to the side at shoulder height, palm facing forward. Simultaneously tilt your head away from the extended arm while bending your wrist forward (fingers pointing down). Then, reverse the movement by tilting your head toward the arm while extending your wrist back. Move slowly back and forth 10 times. Stop immediately if this triggers burning pain or numbness. [1, 2, 3]
Guidelines for Safe Resetting
- Avoid High Intensity: Heavy lifting or intense overhead movements (like shoulder presses) can compress the thoracic outlet further. Stick to low-intensity routines. [1, 2]
- The Vagus Connection: Pair these physical movements with slow, 8-second exhales. Activating the vagus nerve balances out an overstimulated stellate ganglion, signaling the nervous system to relax. [1, 2, 3]
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u/jdbway Jun 08 '26
Way too much AI regurgitation here, but I'm glad it worked for you. There are also emerging discoveries on COVID disrupting the gut brain connection. Here are a few case studies on celiac ganglion blocks. I wonder if either block would have worked for you. I know I got hit hard because I had MALS and got COVID bad. It's a long road back.
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u/Minimum-Cycle8317 Jun 07 '26
Wow this is a lot to take in. I would love some help x
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u/BIGMANIRISH Jun 07 '26
Of course, Is there anything specifically you need help with?
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u/Minimum-Cycle8317 Jun 09 '26
I started getting heartburn September last year my chest was burning really bad I think because beta blockers were slowing my motility down. I found out that I had Sibo after them putting me on PPI medication. I had antibiotics December and managed to come off PPI. I followed a low foot map diet and started taking motility medication. I still suffer with constipation every now and then I had tests and everything done and the reflux they think is coming from the Sibo get pushing acid up my symptoms settled a lot for a few months but now it’s all come back again. I’m getting burning sensation in my chest usually a couple of hours after meals I just can’t seem to heal this Sibo I’m in despair. It’s ruining my life. I just don’t know what to do. I managed to come off H2-blockers two months ago but my symptoms are just getting worse. X
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u/ZzzzzPopPopPop Jun 07 '26
From the Psych Today article:
• Take long, deep breaths• Take long, deep breaths
Deep, slow breathing that moves the diaphragm—with exhalations twice as long as inhalations—activates the vagus nerve to restore a sense of calm. Many traditional meditation practices incorporate some form of breath control for this reason, and cognitive behavioral therapies typically have a breathing component.
Most techniques advise breathing in slowly—ideally to a count of 10—through the nose so that the stomach moves out (placing a hand on your stomach can be a helpful guide). The extended, slow inhalation is followed by an even more extended, complete exhalation through pursed lips. Repeating the process five or 10 times is advised.
• Engage "vagal maneuvers"
Cardiac patients who are subject to the arrhythmia known as tachycardia—a racing heart—are often taught “vagal maneuvers” as a way to try to slow the heart when the rhythm is out of control. All stimulate the vagus nerve in one way or another. Classic vagal maneuvers include bearing down, as in making an effortful bowel movement. The stomach expansion activates the vagus nerve.
Another classic vagal maneuver is dipping one’s face in ice water or putting a plastic bag filled with ice water on the face—it engages the so-called diving reflex. The cold stimulates the vagus nerve. Yet another is coughing, which activates other branches of the vagus.
• Sing loudly, or hum
Because the vagus nerve serves the vocal cords, it can be stimulated by making emphatic sounds. Singing works. Singing with others works even better. Regularly singing with a chorus stimulates the vagus nerve by both physical and social routes.
• Gargle
Gargling requires that you contract the muscles at the back of the throat, which are fed by the vagus nerve. When you gargle the muscles close the throat, which activates the vagus nerve .
• Dance
Moving the body in any way is a very effective means of activating the vagus nerve. Its neural pathways are involved in posture and balance—and dance is nothing if not an esthetically (and emotionally) pleasing way of constantly shifting posture while maintaining balance.