The vagus nerve forms a bi-directional “super-highway” between your brain and the majority of your internal organs. Unless your vagus nerve is in good shape and activates readily when it is supposed to, the communication between your brain and the body will be disrupted.
This modern world can lead to overstimulation of the nervous system and you can become desensitized to chronic stress. Over time, this can lead to low vagal tone, which has been linked to a variety of mental and physical health issues, including chronic inflammation, poor gut function, neurodegeneration, autoimmunity and cancer.
And we know this to be true: you cannot FULLY heal leaky gut, microbiome function or brain issues WITHOUT optimizing your vagus function.
Host of the Mind, Body & The Vagus Nerve Connection Summit, Eva Detko, PhD, MSc, BA (Hons), mIAHT, shares the above wisdom about the vagus nerve. I’ll add this: overstimulation of the nervous system is especially high right now during the coronavirus pandemic.
In my interview, Balancing Neurotransmitters to Optimize Vagus Function, we start with a review paper that reports how the vagus nerve is intricately connected with anxiety and mood (and immunity).
I share from Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders:
- The vagus nerve represents the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, and heart rate.
- It establishes one of the connections between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract and sends information about the state of the inner organs to the brain via afferent fibers.
The review article goes on to state how the vagus nerve is an attractive tool for treating psychiatric and gastrointestinal disorders: “There is preliminary evidence that vagus nerve stimulation is a promising add-on treatment for treatment-refractory depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease.”
And as we all know when we hear the term treatment-refractory depression, it means we haven’t got to the root cause of it. It just means that medications haven’t worked for it.
So this allows us to extrapolate and say, well, there’s other lifestyle and dietary, and nutritional approaches that we could use. But they’re saying that stimulating the vagus nerve, activating it, can actually help in this area. And with my work in anxiety, whenever I see depression, I feel like I can replace that with anxiety (because of similar underlying causes). The other thing that they say is that there’s this impact on inflammation: “Treatments that target the vagus nerve increase the vagal tone and inhibit cytokine production.”
And we know that when we’ve got inflammation going on in the body, that’s going to contribute to mood disorders: “Stimulation of vagal efferent fibers in the gut influences neurotransmitters (like serotonin and dopamine, and GABA) that play a crucial role in major psychiatric disorders.”
So the conclusion is that vagal tone is correlated with the capacity to regulate stress responses and can be influenced by breathing. Its increase through meditation and yoga is likely to contribute to resilience, and the mitigation of mood and anxiety symptoms. And we know from other research, and we know from just doing it, that using meditation and yoga is going to affect anxiety levels. We’ve seen research showing that yoga and meditation raises GABA levels, which is one of the neurotransmitters that helps us feel calm. But now we’re also seeing from the research that good vagal tone has an impact as well.
So it’s really exciting to see that there’s many different ways that we can use to approach someone who does have anxiety issues.
I also talk about a very interesting study that brings the connections between GABA and the vagus nerve together very nicely. As I’m talking I see Eva nodding in agreement as I cover this. I wanted to share this study to add another mechanism as to how GABA may work, given so many people don’t believe it can because of the blood brain barrier.
This was an animal study done in 2011 and it’s titled: Ingestion of Lactobacillus Strain Regulates Emotional Behavior and Central GABA Receptor Expression in a Mouse via the Vagus Nerve. You may have had other people in the summit talking about this. I can see you nodding there. Let me just bring it back to this discussion because I’ve got something to add about this. But what they found is this – Lactobacillus rhamnosus increased GABA in the hippocampus. It reduced cortisol levels, which was caused by the increased stress, and it reduced anxiety and the depression in the animals.
When they severed the vagus nerve in some of the mice in the study they found that these neurochemical and behavioral effects were not found. So as soon as the vagus nerve was severed, the effects of the Lactobacillus rhamnosus, which was increasing GABA levels, was not reducing the anxiety and it was not reducing those cortisone levels.
The biggest question that I get about GABA is: “How could GABA possibly work if it can’t cross the blood brain barrier?” Maybe this is one way that is having an impact on anxiety. We know that we’ve got a lot of GABA receptors in our peripheral tissue. We’ve got GABA receptors in our muscles, which probably is the reason why we feel it when we’ve got this physical tension, or we’ve got the spasms. We’ve got GABA receptors in our pancreas. We’ve got GABA receptors in our endocrine system.But maybe this vagus nerve connection and the fact that when it’s severed we’re not getting those effects, maybe this is another way that GABA is having an impact on anxiety.
Making the vagus nerve connection to serotonin, I share some interesting new research on SSRIs/antidepressants and the vagus nerve: Oral Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Activate Vagus Nerve Dependent Gut-brain Signalling.
SSRIs like Zoloft or Paxil or Prozac are often prescribed for anxiety, depression, autism and dementia. And there’s a whole host of issues that we have with SSRIs where you’ll have serious withdrawal symptoms in some people.
In the study, the researchers proposed that SSRIs were having an effect on serotonin and it was the vagus nerve that was now communicating to the brain leading to increased serotonin levels. Similar to the GABA study, when they severed the vagus nerve of the mice, they did not see the same benefits from the SSRI.
My thinking is this: could we possibly extrapolate and say the amino acid tryptophan may have similar effects?
We won’t hold our breath for a similar tryptophan study but we can learn from this paper and possible mechanisms.
I also share how I use GABA and tryptophan with clients so if you’re new to using targeted individual amino acids you’ll learn more about this too.
As you know, my work is primarily using the neurotransmitters precursors (such as the amino acids) and using dietary changes, but we don’t want to forget about other approaches like vagus nerve support.
If we can improve vagus function, then we’re going to get even better benefits.
I share some of my favorite vagus nerve exercises. One of them – social interaction – has been challenging lately but cold showers are very do-able.
Let me share some aspects on the importance of social interaction for improving vagal tone.
Research shows that the more social interactions you have, the more it improves vagal tone. And then that improved vagal tone, improves your mood and makes you more social (and has ramifications for so many other areas as you’ll learn on the summit).
However if you have a condition called pyroluria (social anxiety, preferring one-to-one connections rather than being in large groups, not liking small talk, early morning nausea, not really big on animal protein – I go into it in depth during the interview if it’s new to you), getting out and being social can be very challenging when you are forcing yourself and putting on a brave face:
It’s a very stressful situation in doing that, and then it makes your pyroluria worse so your social anxiety gets worse. So when you have pyroluria and you have a stressful situation, you end up dumping high levels of zinc and B6. So it makes things worse.
If you do go out, it’s either very stressful or you just don’t even do it. So my contribution to the discussion is: let’s address pyroluria and that’s going to in turn allow people to get out and socialize without feeling uncomfortable, without feeling awkward, without having to stress, without feeling absolutely exhausted afterwards, and it’s going to help improve vagal tone.
Eva sums up with this important aspect:
What people need to know is that social connection is good for your vagus nerve only if it’s perceived positively by you internally. So if you’re in a situation where you’re forcing yourself to interact with other people, you’re actually not going to have a positive knock-on effect on your vagus nerve because it’s going to be the opposite. You’re going to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system response because you’re there, as you described, completely uncomfortable and basically stress out. So those social connections need to be positive.
Here are some interviews I look forward to tuning into:
- Niki Gratrix, BA, Dip ION: Connecting the Vagus Nerve, Emotions and Gut Function
- Ben Lynch, ND: Epigenetics of Chronic Stress
- Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP: How Mold Toxicity Damages Your Nervous System
- Jay Davidson, DC, PScD: Impact of Infections on Mitochondrial and Vagus Function
- Kimm Sun, CNM: Impact of Birth Trauma Across Lifetime
- Eva Detko, PhD, MSc, BA (Hons): Impact of Perfectionism on Heart Rate Variability
- Misa Hopkins: Vagus Nerve Session of the Day – Vagus Nerve Sound Healing
I don’t go into the immune connection in my interview because it was recorded before the coronavirus pandemic started but keep this in mind as you tune in: you cannot have a well-functioning immune system without a healthy nervous system, and vice-versa!
Lynn Tapper says
Have you heard of Vibrant Blue Oils? Heard about it from Dr. Klinghardt/Sophia Institute. This company combines oils for specific ailments like the Vagus Nerve, Sleep, etc. It’s all very interesting. Dr. Klinghardt has tested them for potency and uses them in his clinic. They also have charts for where to apply them, etc. Something you may want to check out?
Trudy Scott says
Lynn
Thanks for sharing – I love these oils and know the founder Jodi Cohen well. I have also heard that Dr. Klinghardt and Dr. Christine Schaffner recommend them.
I’ve also personally had success with the Parasympathetic product which is specific for vagus nerve support. It helped me after my terrifying plane ride and vagus nerve issues. I share more here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/vagus-nerve-rehab-gaba/
Have you personally used them with success? If yes which ones?
Emily says
Hi Trudy,
I heard your pre-summit video interview and was quite interested in your techniques because I am on gabapentin for both seizures and fibromyalgia. I also have a VNS device implant that is supposed to help with seizures, but hasn’t. I’ve dealt with generalized tonic-clonic seizures for over 20 years (since I was 13), been on nearly 20 AEDs, have had seizures on every single one of them, developed fibromyalgia over 10 years ago but wasn’t diagnosed with it until just over a year ago. I had the VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) implanted 18mos ago. I’ve been on a whole foods, plant-based diet for almost 2mos, doing the Well of Life detox for 2mos so far, and have seen some great gut improvement.
My primary question is, since the device is attached to my left vagus nerve, could it be affecting my function and what should I do about it? Second, how do I get off gabapentin? Does straight gaba replace it completely? Where would I get it and how should I go about it, etc? I am on Disability, so have both Medicare and Medicaid. I live in Olympia, WA. If you aren’t able to help me, do you know of anyone who might be able to?
Blessings
Trudy Scott says
Emily
You would need to check with your doctor about the VNS device and consider overall support of the vagus nerve via manual methods.
Gabapentin tapering can be challenging for many so it’s best to work with the prescribing doctor.
I have everyone do the amino acid questionnaire and trial GABA, tryptophan and DPA for low GABA, low serotonin (common with fibromyalgia) and low endoprhins (a factor with pain) based on their unique needs. This blog is a wealth of information and so is my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution.” I am in favor of plenty of plants but find quality animal protein is key for most of my clients.
Christi says
Hi, I’d like to know where I can buy the supplements that you talk of?
Is there a website or a phone number? I need some help.
Trudy Scott says
Christi
There is a box at the bottom this blog and all the blogs saying Fullscript/place order. This has a link to the supplements I use https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-pyroluria-supplements/
Ann Pino says
What if you are hypothyroid and have too much seritonin, then you really shouldn’t take anything that would increase seritonin, right? So what would you take? And what should you do for your vagus nerve?
Thank you
Trudy Scott says
Ann
I’ve had feedback that using collagen/gelatin cab help lower serotonin for some folks – more here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/collagen-gelatin-lower-serotonin-increase-anxiety-depression/ I would also question why serotonin is high and what test was used (urine tests are not considered accurate).
I share some vagus nerve approaches here and you’ll learn many more during the summit (airing now)
Cristina says
Hi Trudy,
As others posted in this blog, I too just saw your pre-summit interview, thankyou for sharing such valuable info. I have a history of anxiety that has increased over time, I am now 43, mainly due to ACE. I am a mom to a 7 yr old girl with selective mutism (and do not want to pass on this to her). I have been on anti-anxiety meds, on and off, for over 20 years. Currently, after 3 years off of meds, due to psychological effects of covid-19, among other triggers, I’m now on Brintellix. My symptoms are:
lack of air and chest pains
obssesive, over-worrying, over-thinking
very often on edge
seeing threat where others don’t
Feeling worried or fearful
Panic attacks
Unable to relax or loosen up
Stiff or tense muscles
Feeling stressed and burned-out
Overactive brain
Poor focus or concentration
short term memory loss
Hiatial hernia (strong gastritis-I’m on 40 mg nexium for many years)
Perfectionism or being overly controlling
Irritability
Anxiety
Negativity
Excessive self-criticism
Low self-esteem and poor self-confidence
PMS or menopausal mood swings
Sensitivity to hot weather
Hyperactivity
Procrastination and indecisiveness
Heightened sensitivity to emotional pain
Crying or tearing up easily
Irritable, shaky, headachey – especially if too long between meals
Agitated, easily upset, nervous
I have low iron, and have low saturation % levels given my body doesn’t retain it, I’ve had to inject it, and Given that I have a sensitive stomach, I take iron for seasons. However, I’m afraid zinc and vitamin D will give me stomach aches. On the positive side, I tend to sleep well, thank God!
I know your book, which I will buy, gives details, but given these symptoms, can you please guide me as to what amino acids would be useful for me so I can start feeling some relief? I would so greatly appreciate it!
Thankyou, best regards,
Cristina
Patti V. says
Dear Trudy,
I have just regained some control over my vagus nerve after a lifetime of dysfunction. The loss of function was due to a neurological problem which caused my fascia and muscles to contract (and not relax) slowly over my lifetime throughout my body. (This has just recently (in the last 6 weeks) been remedied by a chiropractor with expertise in fascia dysfunction, but it probably takes awhile for the nervous system to unwind. )
My question is this: do you think there may be a correlation between the vagus nerve and a case of heat intolerance that I have developed in the last 20 years? I am now 64 years old and cannot tolerate sunbathing (although I used to love it) or even standing in direct sunlight. I live in Florida and would like to go outside more than I do. I also have mild Hashimoto’s thyroiditis which I manage through diet and supplements. Thank you for your insight.
Julia says
Hi, My 87 year old mother has been experiencing issues with balance and vertigo. She has used stomach acid medication (prescribed) non stop for YEARS. About 15 years ago she started experiencing crazy heart palpitations and has been to the ER about 4 times due to this happening. No doctor has been able to diagnose her. They said she is experiencing vestibular migraines. In reading this article, it sounds like there may possibly be a connection between her being on the stomach acid medication. I cannot seem to get her to listen to change her diet and see what happens (she eats a very Midwestern diet, high carbs, high processed, high added salt and sugar. Any recommendations on someone she should see? She has been to every doctor in Indiana and Ohio at this point. They seem to know nothing.
Trudy Scott says
Julia
Long term use of proton pump inhibitors/stomach acid medication is harmful (a recent study here links them to dementia, nutritional deficiencies etc https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6463334/) and so is her diet. I would suggest looking for a functional medicine doctor or naturopath who can help figure things out and guide her. But she has to want to make changes.