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I\u2019ve got an issue going on with my vagus nerve at the moment and the throat spasms have been affecting my voice and ability to speak for any length of time. It\u2019s also causing this persistent dry cough, despite not feeling sick or having any respiratory symptoms. It\u2019s much worse later in the day and gets particularly bad after about 30 minutes of talking.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been working with the very talented PT\/nutritionist Joe Tatta for the last week and I am seeing much improvement already. I\u2019m also learning so much on vagus nerve rehab.<\/p>\n
Joe is a Musculoskeletal Pain Expert and you may recall our wonderful interview on the last Anxiety Summit on pain and anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let me give you some of the back story. Just over a week ago I posted this message in a private facebook group of integrative practitioners\/colleagues:<\/p>\n I\u2019d love some help for me please. I have this ongoing spasmodic dry cough\u00a0that starts as soon as I talk and gets worse later in the day. As you can imagine it\u2019s affecting my day to day meetings, seeing clients and doing interviews, not to mention being highly irritating!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t feel sick at all and have no congestion. It started after my NYC trip and a really frightening flight over the Colorado mountains!<\/p>\n We had the most awful turbulence and it felt like wings on the plane were going to break. People were screaming and the parents behind us were reassuring their kids saying it\u2019s ok, it\u2019s just like a roller coaster ride. I was sitting next to a 6\u20194\u2019\u2019 young man who had just completed training in the Coast Guard. He was also terrified and said they had taught him how to survive a boat going down but not how to survive a plane going down.<\/p>\n I believe my immune system got suppressed big time! The day after I got home I got the flu for the first time in 30+ years and I felt pretty grim for a day and then recovered nicely over the next 4-5 days. The flu was over 10 days ago but this stupid\u00a0cough\u00a0continues!<\/p>\n One night I could not sleep due to the coughing and decided to try and relax my airways with GABA. I know how effective GABA is for stiff and tense muscles so why not try it for the throat spasms I was having? I am now able to have a reasonable conversation for say 15-30 mins if I take 500mg GABA opened on to my tongue. Viola! a new use for GABA \u2013 pretty cool!<\/p>\n I must be low in GABA because I\u2019m able to take upwards of 5 (and sometime more) doses of 500mg a day and not feel too wiped out. That\u2019s a lot of GABA for me \u2013 125mg to 250mg used to be enough for the anxiety I once experienced! I did have a bit of my old early morning waking with anxiety (that I used to have in my late 30s) that week of the flu but that\u2019s now gone.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also using a homeopathic called Boiron Drosera. I\u2019ve never had asthma and don\u2019t have much experience with it but from what I\u2019m reading it sounds like the\u201ccough-variant\u201d of asthma!?<\/p>\n I\u2019m asking here because I\u2019m intrigued by this whole scary flight\/depressed immunity\/GABA for the spasms thing and wonder if anyone here has any insights?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Joe Tatta responded in about 30 minutes with this message:<\/p>\n Sounds like you have a vagus nerve problem. Potentially loss of parasympathetics. You can read some in this article but there is much more…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here is the article he shared: Arnold\u2019s nerve cough reflex: evidence for chronic cough as a sensory vagal neuropathy<\/a><\/p>\n Arnold\u2019s nerve ear-cough reflex is recognised to occur uncommonly in patients with chronic cough. In these patients, mechanical stimulation of the external auditory meatus can activate the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (Arnold\u2019s nerve) and evoke reflex cough. This is an example of hypersensitivity of vagal afferent nerves, and there is now an increasing recognition that many cases of refractory or idiopathic cough may be due to a sensory neuropathy of the vagus nerve.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The paper presents two cases where the cough was successfully treated with gabapentin. Gabapentin (also known as Neurontin) affects GABA levels and this why I get such great results with GABA.<\/p>\n Gabapentin is drug that is primarily used to treat seizures and neuropathic pain. It is also used for restless leg syndrome and hot flashes, and off-label for anxiety, insomnia, fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder. I\u2019d love to see GABA being studied and used for these conditions especially because gabapentin can cause withdrawal syndrome: Withdrawal symptoms after gabapentin discontinuation<\/a>\u00a0and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joe offered to meet with me via skype and I learned that the neuro-rehab is key. I\u2019ve been doing breathing exercises and humming every hour on the hour for the last week i.e. about 10 times a day. When I hum it\u2019s the \u201chappy birthday\u201d song and I have to think of a specific birthday. I hum and smile and think about my baby sister\u2019s 7th<\/sup> birthday party 37 years ago. I had just come back from Australia and I have such great memories of it! We chatted about it at the weekend and had a good laugh.<\/p>\n I continue to use the GABA as needed, and am also taking GPC (GlyceroPhosphoCholine)<\/a>\u00a0and Acetyl-L-carnitine<\/a>, both of which are acetylcholine precursors for nerve rehabilitation.<\/p>\n Because I\u2019ve had so many questions about what is going on with me and what I\u2019m doing, I have decided to start this blog post and I\u2019ll continue to add to it. I\u2019ve been documenting what has been happening as I go through this rehab because I\u2019m finding it so fascinating.<\/p>\n Stay tuned for all the details:<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t suggest trying any of this yourself until I share more because from what I\u2019ve learned so far, you need to slowly built up to certain of the exercises.<\/p>\n Updates April 1, 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n Here is the first video (taken March 16, 2016) where I share the story of the scary plane ride and my flu and the start of the throat spasms.\u00a0 You can hear how my voice sounds and how quickly 500mg GABA relaxes the spasms in my throat\/neck.\u00a0 I share what I learned from Joe Tatta about it being connected the vagus nerve.<\/p>\n\n