Ashok--Dysautonomia--would this treatment help?

[sushi]

Thanks Ashok,

For your helpful and detailed responses to the many questions. I have recently watched the You Tube introductory videos with interest.

I am certainly aware of a negative feedback loop after many years of illness, but knowing little about the brain structure, have been very interested to learn of the role of the amygdala.

Here is my question: my diagnosis over the years has been more primarily dysautonomia rather than CFS, though I am sure they overlap and the dysautonomia may be a subset of CFS. In my case, I am sure that I have some predisposing genetic glitches, though there was a definite "turn-on" point when symptoms became acute after the death of several members of my family within a short time span.

I did, however, have less severe symptoms that directly relate to the genetic errors, though in my earlier life genetics had not yet been well explored. Though I had symptoms, I was able to live a slightly modified version of normal life. Since the "turn on" point, however, there have been many lengthly periods when I wasn't very functional at all.

From what I have read, I'd guess the the amygdala retraining program could bring one back to the functioning level of before "turn on," but that genetic errors are just going to be there and until it is discovered how to work around them or deal with them in other ways, they will continue to cause health issues. Is this a correct assessment?

Like so many others, "getting well" has been a long struggle, with many hopes that didn't pan out, a few experiences of being conned, and lots of misunderstanding from the professional medical community. This itself predisposes one to a negative feedback loop and I wonder if your program addresses this aspect as well? Just the history of lost hope makes it hard to commit to a new protocol, and this seems to be an inherent obstacle.

Thanks!
Sushi

[Ashok Gupta]

Dear Sushi

Thanks for your email. Certainly there are crossovers between dysautonomia and ME/CFS, although I am not an expert in that area. The first step (which I am sure you have already taken) is to exhaust all potential treatments for that particular diagnosis.

Then, it could be that the imbalance in the autonomic system is being caused by the amygdala - and what points to that even more is that you say that the symptoms got worse after an emotionally traumatic event, which is common in ME/CFS.

The purpose of amygdala retraining ultimately is to bring the nervous system to its natural homeostasis - balance. So it sounds like that would be useful for the situation you are in. However it is difficult for me to formally recommend the programme for an illness which is not ME/CFS or fibromyalgia - I suggest discussing this with your doctor and getting their advice on this,

kind regards
Ashok

[sushi]

Thanks Ashok,

While the formal diagnosis has been dysautonomia, I do fit the diagnostic criteria used in Canada for ME/CFS, and have been following a program to unblock methylation (Dr. Rich Van Konynenburg) for a year, after having out-of-range results on a lab test to test methylation function. (12 out of 13 values out of range)

It seems likely from the research my doctor and I have done that autonomic dysfunction represents a subset of the ME/CFS spectrum, perhaps with more of the symptoms showing up in the autonomic nervous system, though many symptoms are shared with ME/CFS.

I am looking at amygdala retraining both for my own situation and as an advocate for others with the diagnosis of autonomic dysfunction. From what I have seen in the introductory videos and your scientific paper (from your website), it seems likely that there would be benefits..

So I guess my "refined" question would be whether amygdala retraining might be able to take one back to the functionality that was experienced before the "turn-on" of major symptoms? For most of us, there were minor symptoms (probably indicative of genetic SNPs), even before the turn-on point where symptoms really got our attention.

Again, thanks, and any comments would be most appreciated as I represent a very under-researched patient community that is desperate for help.

Sushi

[sushi]

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