The SIBO summit is being replayed today and tomorrow and I've gone over Dr. Kharrazian's talk on the brain connection. We know that Hashimoto's affects smooth muscle and I think Dr. K has explained the reason how and it begins with the vagus nerve in the brain stem. Your bowels are composed of smooth muscle so if the vagus nerve isn't active, neither are your bowels. The neurons in your brain must work together (plasticity). In Parkinson's patients the neural disabilities are seen in their muscles. They stiffen, their handwriting becomes very small and the tremors are really the last sign. With low hemoglobin anemia, the brain does not get enough oxygen and therefore the vagus nerve is not going to be very active. The palate and throat muscles will tire. I'll assume this continues if you're thyroid function is still low.
He said that gargling very aggressively during the day may activate your vagus nerve.
If you have a sensitive gag reflex and feel nauseous for a while if you do gag, you really need to work on building the vagus nerve just like you would, a muscle. In fact he suggests causing the gag reflex purposely to make your eyes water. That is another part of the motor function delivered by vagus nuclei. Coffee enemas are also very effective.
Anemia and low ferritin are part of the process but if inflammation is behind this, taking iron infusions may even increase the inflammation. Another reason supplementing may not be effective. We have to get our vagus nerve activated.
You can still sign up to listen to all of these interviews through tomorrow while they are still free on Facebook SIBO SOS Virtual Summit 2017. If you have time it is very worthwhile.
I did the whole vagus nerve stimulation thing for about 6 months and it helped a bit. But what was better? Firstly actually using an antimicrobial to kill off something rather awful in my gut and getting my T3 levels up with a drug that suited me more than simply T4. No amount of diet alone was going to do that. After the bug went my asthma dissappeared.
And the other half of the puzzle re motility and a more normal bowel was B12 injections. We are all different but we are all here because of our thyroid diagnosis so making sure your numbers are really good is a key part of the puzzle.
Thanks for the input cwill. Oh yes, if you needed B12 injections, the vagus nerve was probably very restricted. I wonder if chiropractic has an impact as I know being hypo can distort the spine. If you've ever had food poisoning even once in your life, you are a candidate for SIBO which I'm certain you know all about it at this point. I wanted to bring out that it is all about the brain but can be a vicious cycle if the cofactors are not there.
I think that hypo, low nutrient levels, altered bowel habits, SIBO, low stomach acid and previous stomach bugs are enough to look for in our histories. But brain fog and cognitive decline needs to be treated aggressively and not brushed aside as ageing or what ever total codswallop we are offered.
My word of the week: codswallop, that which health care professionals offer patients when they haven't a f!!!!!g clue.
Love it! Putting it into my personal dictionary. Dr. Kharrazian is now on a Fellowship at Harvard and he is concentrating on the brain. I'll have to buy his book as I can hardly understand anything he said. His vocabulary includes six syllable wording and he slides rapidly over them. I needed slow motion on the computer. I hope you are in a place you wish to be.
Getting there which is possibly the most positive thing. Have you any of his work? The thyroid and brain books are almost as challenging as his verbal delivery. But at least you can see the words haha.
He was featured in Izabella's Thyroid Secret interviews and had followers here who raved about him. My current guru is John Bergman on You Tube who taught anatomy and can explain how the body functions. I'm more respectful now that I see what my poor adrenals have to do!
I know it's always a matter of balance so trying to enjoy life between all the investigating. carpe diem!
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hashimotos, SIBO, perimenopause, head injury, any advice welcome! 
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