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Has anyone else been diagnosed with Vagus Nerve Dysfunction?
Brain & Nervous System | Last Active: May 23 1:08pm | Replies (55)Comment receiving replies
I know how you feel and what you are going through. I just found out my vagus nerve is my problem. I was suffering since 2011 with GI symptoms, sweating, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, frequent urination and forceful bowel movements which caused me to pass out a few times. I also had sever pain on the sides of neck radiating to shoulders and upper arm muscle. Not one doctor could figure out what was going on. So just kept sending me to pain management. Then they thought it was my heart or POTS and off to cardiologist who thought it was Neuroendocrine tumor. After multiple test and GI studies. No answers. Then I went to Endocrinologist and all test were normal. She suggest to get a second opinion from a GI doctor, which I did. He said he will do every test possible, which he did. The final outcome was when I went for a HIDA Scan for the gallbladder and they gave the the hormone CCK changed everything!. My pain went away and so did all my GI symptoms. I was down to 100 lbs! Crazy! So they came to conclusion I have a damaged vagus nerve and now waiting to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon. I don't know what they will do, but I've been doing everything possible to calm down that nerve. One is deep breathing and relaxing, smell lavender, chew gum, massage my ears, got a tens unit for the ear and get foot reflexology. Believe me this has helped a lot. My pain is coming back but not as bad, but all my GI symptoms have disappeared. I did a lot of research on this nerve and it can cause numerous problems. I think mine was damaged from a few rear ended car accidents. I use to suffer from bad migraines and headaches every day. Then I was rear ended by a drunk driver and I hit the left lower side of my head. Ever since then, which was 2002, I have never had another migraine or headache since! I think that was the first sign that the vagus nerve was damaged, but when I told the doctors this story they just laughed at me and one even told me he would keep a fry pan in his office and hit his patients with it who have migraines! Can you believe how they treat you, when you are dealing with a serious issue. So I have suffered with this issue since. I hope this information an help you and you find some relieve. I also know surgeries can damage the nerve too. I would suggest you see a neurosurgeon and hopefully they can help. My best to all of you dealing with this issue.
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been there, done that. very much the same problems. I turned to God and alternative medicine. First rule, try to stay calm. Don't let problems cause additional pain. I treat it as PTSD since I have no control over the pain that stress/anxiety cause. I contacted a herb specialist friend and told her about my vegus nerve damage and she gave me her PTSD pills for veterans she treats with PTSD. The pills contain Dashamoola, passion flower, shankhpushpi, and boswellia. I research them and couldn't find any adverse side effects. Big difference on my attitude adjustment. I try not to be around people with negative attitudes and try to keep a positive attitude. I take 2 or 3 hot, hot showers a day since it seems to help the stress. Even if my torso is not registering pain in my brain, during the day I can feel the stress it is causing and feel the discomfort. Try to find little acts (showers) that relax you or make you more comfortable. I feel grateful for the nerve problem. The quality of my life is much better without the chronic, severe pain I had before it. The nerve problem requires "management" of the problems directly related to them, when the nerve damage went into the head, Limphatic fluid draining from various openings ( pierced ears, empty hair folicles) It is a real problem. But somehow God gives suggestions on how to solve each days problems. Analyze the source of the pain in each new area, research what you can do for yourself to either eliminate the source of the pain or make you more comfortable coping with it. for example, I get a light (like a flashlight) on the inside of my eye before I get a migraine from nerve damage. I found that if I take a dropper of ashwagandha concentrate and put a wet rag over my eyes and lay down and relax, I don't get the migraine. You won't be able to solve/resolve everything, but just you trying is better than you get from the doctors who either don't know what to do or don't care. I wish I could be more helpful. I am grateful to God for the quality of my life daily. As long as I have my eyesight to ingest information, find joy in little things, and my mind fully functioning I feel grateful for each day . My primary Doctor says I can live 3 to 5 more years since I am managing the problems before my organs shut down. I am 81 some life does not seem so bad. Lots of limitations, but plenty of joy.