I'm really interested in the answer to the C5-C6 spinal imaging question. I have a number of disc issues that preceded my vagus issues, but nerve root compression there was the earliest diagnosed (20 years ago, when I was 30). That and a weirdly reversed cervical lordosis (instead of the usual smooth curve of the neck). Three or four years ago, after a lab tech pounded on my throat during a thyroid biopsy (benign), I suddenly developed voice loss, eye twitch, jaw pain, and pelvic floor spasm, which are now chronic. The voice loss that makes it hard for me to project over ambient noise and tire easily while speaking.

A few months later, after a routine colonoscopy irritated my digestive tract, I developed severe gut issues that became more problematic than everything else. A latent celiac gene was also triggered, and then servere milk intolerance. I'm on a severely limited diet now (No gluten, dairy, peppers, cucumber, or FODMAPs), but I still suffer from chronic stomach pain, gas, bloating, occasional diarrhea, and frequent constipation, apparently in association with accelerated gastric emptying.

After these years of close self-study, it's completely clear to me that the stomach issues are related to the voice issues, pelvic floor spasm, jaw pain, and eye twitch. They all go together, and irritation of any produces symptoms in the others. It took me a while studying anatomical charts to realize that the one thing that connects all of these is the vagus nerve.

Over these years, I've sought multiple forms of medical and alternative health treatments, including regular acupuncture, massage, and yoga. I've learned to relax muscle tension along the vagus nerve through controlled release breathing exercises and, oddly enough, by humming in a very low part of my register while directing awareness to the body part I'm trying to relax. I do this every night. Even so, and more debilitating than all the rest, what appears to be vagus nerve irritation prevents me from sleeping more than four or five hours. This was an abrupt change from sleeping 8 hours a night before the onset of these symptoms a few years ago.

I notice that my symptoms are worse when my spine is compressed, and I get mild relief from moderate traction from lying upside down on a 30-degree elevated slant board. Which makes me think of the nerve root compression at C5-C6, and another set around L4-5 and L7-S1. I'd be very interested in others' experiences, and any further suggestions for help. I'm on the verge of experimenting with CBD, because regular medications have not worked.