• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Alyssa Luck

Alyssa Luck

  • About Me
  • The IBD Index
  • Functional Orthodontics
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Contact Me
  • Show Search
Hide Search

9-month AGGA update

Alyssa Luck · Mar 2, 2020 · 6 Comments

Thanks to my increasingly chaotic life, I have not been able to bring myself to sit in front of a computer and type a coherent update, but this evening I did manage to sit on the floor and speak an incoherent update, so hopefully that counts for something.

So behold – my first ever video appearance on the internet. (Outside of social media, y’know. Who wants to follow me on insta?! I know you all do, after seeing this masterpiece.)

I forgot to mention in the video that I did have a one-month ‘holding period’ of sorts, since my first AGGA broke and I had to be in a retainer for most of December while the new one was made.

Also, I highly recommend peeping the “Recent Comments” section of the sidebar for more of the latest. Because although I suck at posting regular updates, I do reply to everyone who leaves a comment. Eventually. And usually my commenters have far more valuable contributions to the broader conversation than my blog does.

Enough preamble. Here’s seven minutes of me talking.

 

Related

Functional Orthodontics & Orthotropics

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ryan says

    March 3, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    Hi Alyssa,

    Thanks so much for the update! I’m going to have to decide on AGGA soon and your posts have been the most helpful thing.

    I have a few questions about where you are now –
    1. How are you feeling about the experience overall so far? Has it been super uncomfortable?
    2. Have you seen anything concerning about the changes so far, or are they totally positive? Have you gotten the front tooth pain and/or tilting?
    3. Have you experienced any symptom relief? (not sure if it’s expected at this phase)

    Again, thank you so much for your time!

    Ryan

    Reply
    • Alyssa Luck says

      March 3, 2020 at 7:17 pm

      Hey Ryan! Aw, thanks for that! Always love to hear that my posts are helpful, however sporadic they may be.

      1. I’m feeling positive about it overall! It has been pretty uncomfortable in several ways (I’ve had my share of mouth ulcers/irritations from it, I LOATHE the bite pads, it’s hard to get used to talking/chewing properly, not to mention my job has high visibility to a lot of high-level company execs, so looking 16 and having a lisp doesn’t make me feel the most professional…), BUT, I’ve been through much worse, and I’m very goal-oriented, so it’s easy to suck it up knowing it’s for the greater long-term good.

      2. No front tooth pain, although definitely soreness anytime the AGGA is “activated.” Only very minor tilting, and I actually needed some tilting, so that’s a good thing. The “washboarding” of the gums/buccal bone loss like I talked about in my “concerning CBCT results” post is always a minor background concern, but I’ve decided to not worry about the possibility of pushing my front teeth so far forward that they lose integrity, and rather just trust in the process. So far denial is working out well for me this time around 🙂 Only other concern is if/when I’ll be able to re-train my jaw and neck muscles adequately enough to have my lower jaw exist naturally in a forward position, but that’s less a “I’ll regret doing AGGA if I can’t fix this,” and more a “AGGA needed to happen regardless, and getting the lower jaw to catch up will just be the next hurdle that needs to happen.”

      3. This is a hard one to answer, because I never actually had bad symptoms! I’d have occasional jaw pain, and I can’t say that’s resolved simply because my bite is still so all over the place, I haven’t found a comfortable chewing pattern yet. Doing AGGA more as a preventative, rather than having to intervene later on for symptom relief/damage control.

      Reply
      • Ryan says

        March 3, 2020 at 7:34 pm

        Thanks Alyssa, that all makes sense to me. Good luck!!

        Reply
        • Alyssa Luck says

          March 3, 2020 at 8:49 pm

          Thank you!! Good luck to you too, whatever you decide – and please come back and update us! It’s so great to have people share their experiences here, whether positive or negative, and the more people who do, the more it helps others who are trying to learn.

  2. Michael says

    March 30, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Just stumbled upon this, really cool you’re posting about this! I did AGGA through December ’20 and am onto ACB now. The transition stinks a bit, but once that’s done, the bite pads get easier and easier each visit. After 3 ACB check ins I could bite/chew ~80% like normal again, though there is still a slight gap. Also, I felt like I had more lower jaw movement with ACB, because the top wasn’t expanding. It didn’t feel natural until recently. I was surprised how much continued to change after AGGA overall, especially Maxilla movement to “unscrunch” my face.

    Looks like you’ve got a positive attitude and great progress. Just wanted to share that it gets better and it’s cool to see someone else going through this.

    One question, is part of your exercise routine taping your mouth at night? I was advised that and found it basically worked out my tongue while I slept. Looking forward to when you post the exercises you’re doing.

    Reply
    • Alyssa Luck says

      March 31, 2020 at 12:16 pm

      Hey Michael – thanks so much for this! Very cool that you’re doing AGGA/ACB as well, and hearing about the changes that continue during the ACB phase is extremely helpful (and reassuring). I mean, I knew in my head that bite, jaw position, function, etc would probably continue to improve as long as I put in the effort (even after the entire process is done), but it’s great to hear from someone who’s actually experiencing that first-hand.

      And as far as the extra unscrunching…I can only hope that happens for me too! I imagine a lot of that is the tongue being able to do its job better, and thus the positive effects accumulating over time?

      To answer your question – it is not, and it should be!! There was a reason I didn’t start it sooner, but I can’t remember what it was, so I don’t think I have any excuse to not be doing this. Very much appreciate the reminder! And I’ll go ahead and post the tongue exercises now! Not me doing them, but at least the sheet I got from my dentist.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Ryan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

 

Hi! I’m Alyssa. I like thunderstorms and cats, hate wearing shoes, and I get really nerdy about gut bacteria. This is me in Bali with a monkey on my shoulder. And this is my blog, where I muse about health-related topics and document my relentless self-guinea pigging (in the realms of gut health and orthodontics, mostly). I created the IBD Index to help people with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease discover their next health breakthrough. If you want to know more about me, click here!

alyssa.luck

alyssa.luck
To continue my recounting of the health things I'm To continue my recounting of the health things I'm experimenting with, let me tell you about DNRS: the slightly cheesy, arguably outdated “brain rewiring” program that has changed my life. 

I found it because I was looking for ways to “retrain” my nervous system. I watched some success stories. None of the “target” health conditions matched mine, but I went for it anyway. Probably the best decision I’ve ever made for my health. 

The core of DNRS is built on the principles of neuroplasticity. They call it "brain rewiring" because you intentionally take triggers that would normally stimulate a negative response in your body or mind, and associate them repeatedly with neural signals of safety. If that sounds pseudosciencey, I hear ya – one of my goals with future posts is to bring some concreteness and specificity to the topic. I imagine there are lots of people who could benefit from this type of thing who are turned off by the overly abstract or touchy-feely language. 

There are tons of "brain rewiring" programs like DNRS, but they're all built on similar ideas. Most bring in elements of other popular approaches, ranging from the scientifically validated (cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy) to the type of new-agey stuff I always scoffed at (shadow work, inner child work, parts work). 

For me, DNRS has provided the perfect framework to finally achieve what meditation experts and therapists and mystics alike are always advocating – the ability to step into the role of “curious observer.” It's given me everything therapy and meditation promised but could never deliver, helping me recognize my own patterns of thought and behavior and consciously redirect unhelpful ones. If this sounds vague, that's because there isn't a single area of my life that hasn't been improved by using this framework. 

I spend far more time in states of joy and peace and gratitude, and less time in states of anxiety or depression or frenzy. Many chronic worries that used to occupy my mind or keep me up at night – whether related to health, relationships, or my future – have disappeared, and the others are on their way out. (Cont. in comments)
Isn’t it crazy how something can be so easy and Isn’t it crazy how something can be so easy and natural for one person, but so hard for another? 

Me doing food: I can totally cook everything I eat from scratch, no prob

Me doing mental health: just doing my hour of daily mindful cognitive gratitudinal journalization

Me doing physical therapy: I can’t do it I don’t have that muscle

I’ve done many hard things in the name of health, but I think they’ve all been the types of hard things that come naturally to me. And frankly, that hasn’t gotten me where I want to be. 

So I’ve decided to finally tackle something that feels very unnatural: developing a real relationship with my muscles and bones, and learning - through experience, not from a book - how they coordinate with each other and how to use them. 

I never really considered my musculoskeletal system a key player in autoimmune or digestive woes, but now I realize it’s naïve to think dysfunction in one part of the body doesn’t affect another. And since this is so obviously my weakest link, it’s high time to make it a priority!

Even though I’ve done strength training in the past, I never dedicated the time and focus to figure out what my body actually needed to function better, and workouts often felt awkward or led to injury. 

I’ve always dreaded PT-type exercises because they felt simultaneously like “not enough” and also SO HARD, especially when there’s no way to confirm whether I’m doing them “right” (my nightmare). 

But I’m pretty sure the fact that targeted “mind-muscle” work is so hard for me means it’s what I need the most. (That’s how that works, right?)

Anyway, I’m happy to report that I’m finally through both the initial phase of being a giant baby because I have to do something I’m bad at, AND the second phase of neurotically worrying about doing it “wrong.” And hopefully I’m on my way to better posture, improved breathing, and greater strength! 

Super thankful to have people in my life who remind me to have fun and stay curious, when my natural disposition is to write a 27-step plan to “fixing” everything “wrong” with me. And to remind me that it is, in fact, a JOY to be a novice at something (as @_john_the_savage_ would say).
"If your nervous system is balanced, your heart is "If your nervous system is balanced, your heart is constantly being told to beat slower by your parasympathetic system, and beat faster by your sympathetic system. This causes a fluctuation in your heart rate: HRV." (whoop.com) 
 
This statement is a formidable example of one of the biggest misconceptions about heart rate variability (HRV). 
 
HRV is highest during rest or sleep, when sympathetic input is lowest. If HRV was the result of an autonomic “tug-of-war,” why would it be greatest when one of the contenders has entirely dropped the rope? 
 
Part of the misunderstanding may stem from failure to recognize that the heart has an intrinsic rate, well above the resting heart rate maintained by the vagus nerve. Varying vagal impulses create HRV without any sympathetic input at all. 
 
There are many other common misconceptions, such as the notion that HRV metrics measure autonomic tone, or that HRV itself is a metric with one interpretation. 
 
Such misconceptions aren’t only found in layscience – they also pervade academic and clinical literature. For instance, you’ll see LF used as a measurement of “sympathetic tone” and LF/HF as a measurement of “sympathovagal balance,” even though it’s been clear for decades that those interpretations are not physiologically accurate.
 
This post (and the associated article at alyssaluck.com/hrv101) can be thought of as “foundations for understanding HRV research.” And it provides a good example not only of the insufficiency of “sound-byte” science, but also of real science in action. 
 
The unfortunate reality is that we can’t always take researchers’ conclusions at face value. Few have the time to adequately assess a field before adopting one of their metrics, and once a misinterpretation has taken root it can easily become an accepted fact that propagates through repetition, becoming more entrenched with each published paper.
 
Thankfully the ramifications in this case are not very serious - misdirection of experimental design and analysis, and many false statements, but no dire consequences. Nevertheless, it’s a good reminder that science is a human institution, and it never hurts to question oft-repeated “facts.”
My latest diet experiment: the bean protocol! This My latest diet experiment: the bean protocol! This was one of the changes I made immediately prior to my drastic increase in HRV. 

Brief background: the bean protocol entails eating lots of soluble fiber (particularly beans) as a way to support detox. It rests on the assumption that most chronic health issues are the result of fat-soluble environmental toxins, excess hormones, and other fat-soluble things being recirculated in the body rather than eliminated. 

There is some scientific merit to this: the liver does eliminate many toxins and other compounds through the bile, these things can be subject to reabsorption via enterohepatic recirculation, and certain types of fibers do interrupt this process by binding bile, preventing reabsorption and allowing excretion in the feces.

That said, there are many unanswered questions that would need to be answered for me to be on board with that as the sole or even primary explanation for the anecdotal success of those on the protocol. I think there are almost certainly other mechanisms at play, and I doubt things work exactly as proponents of the protocol describe. 

But at the end of the day, what matters is not mechanisms, but practical outcome. And whatever the reason, it works for many! It seems especially popular and effective for hormonal issues and acne, but the preeminent bean spokesperson @uniquehammond cured her severe Crohn’s with it. 

For me, I experienced better digestion and clearer skin, among other benefits (like not having to wear deodorant). On the less-good side, I lost weight I didn't need to lose, had cold hands and feet, and developed some dry patches on my skin. 

(The dry patches [and perhaps weight loss] were probably because I kept fat too low – mostly because their favored fat source, nuts, is a no-go for me.)

I'm continuing to experiment, hoping to find a balance that lets me reclaim the benefits (which I lost after returning to my normal eating pattern) while avoiding the pitfalls. I’ll share any exciting developments, and will eventually dig into the science behind it too. 

For info about what the protocol entails, you can visit alyssaluck.com/the-bean-protocol-for-ibd!
Fighting the Sunday scaries by reading this PDF ab Fighting the Sunday scaries by reading this PDF about the autonomic nervous system. This quote from the introduction to the book highlights a big reason why I'm so fascinated by the ANS these days. Silos abound in medicine (and everywhere else, for that matter), and while silo-ing is probably an unavoidable result of the specialization that has allowed us to make such phenomenal advances in technology and knowledge, it's quite limiting when it comes to actually treating patients. 

Anyone who’s ever had an upset stomach from nerves or grief knows that the mind can affect the body, but the precise nature of the border between the two remains fairly elusive. 
 
Some people (including many doctors, unfortunately), when faced with things they can't explain, tend to default to the position that it therefore must not exist, or isn't possible. Personally, I find it exhausting to try to contort reality to fit my existing beliefs – reality always seems to obstinately stay the same. And I think it's way more fun to try to find explanations for such things anyway!

In the case of health, this means taking the real observations and experiences of myself and others at face value, and searching for an explanatory framework into which they fit. From patients with persistent and debilitating symptoms that no doctor can find a physical cause for, to the placebo effect, to the effectiveness of some “alternative” treatments such as acupuncture, to the innumerable "medical miracles" that nobody can explain – it's easy for science to deny or brush these things aside because they don't fit nicely into existing scientific frameworks, but wouldn't it be better to build a new framework into which all these observations can fit?

I guess some people will say that's simply not possible, but only time will tell. Meanwhile, if you need me, I'll be over here hanging out at the ineffable border between mind and body.
Most people equate the sympathetic nervous system Most people equate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) with “fight or flight,” and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) with “rest and digest.” This conflation can be misleading in two ways: 

1) Leads you to believe that each branch of the autonomic nervous system always activates globally, and that you’re always in either one “mode” or the other.

2) Paints a picture of the SNS and PNS as antagonistic, fighting each other.

I think it also fosters a third, more insidious belief: that sympathetic = bad, and parasympathetic = good. 

It's absolutely true that humans (and other animals) have a "fight or flight" stress response that involves global activation of the SNS, and that the PNS is largely responsible for "rest and digest" activities. It's also true that sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves often have opposite effects...but they are rarely directly antagonistic, and in fact most tissues only receive innervation from one system or the other. 

The best example of a truly antagonistic relationship is at the sinoatrial node of the heart, where sympathetic nerves increase heart rate and parasympathetic nerves decrease it. The fact that the heart has historically been the focus of research into the autonomic nervous system is probably a big reason the notion of antagonism is so powerful. 

Humans love dichotomies, especially when one side can be categorized as "good" and one as "bad," but our physiology doesn't care about moral frameworks. So, I’m sharing a few tidbits here to help break down this dichotomy and paint a slightly more nuanced picture of the autonomic nervous system. 

For my full article covering the basic anatomy and physiology of the autonomic nervous system, plus the references for this post, visit alyssaluck.com/ans101!
Load More Follow on Instagram

Recent Posts

  • Heart Rate Variability 101: What It Is and How It’s Measured
  • Autonomic Nervous System 101: Anatomy and Physiology
  • Vitamin A Detox Diet for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease
  • Brain Retraining: How to Choose a Program?
  • Dynamic Neural Retraining System: Can DNRS Work for IBD?

Recent Comments

  • Alyssa Luck on Quitting Controlled-Arch Braces [AGGA 2.5-year update]
  • Gummybearsmile on Quitting Controlled-Arch Braces [AGGA 2.5-year update]
  • Alyssa Luck on Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}
  • Katy on Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}
  • Alyssa Luck on CBCT Results: An Update on Implants [AGGA/CAB Update]

Archives

Copyright © 2022 · Monochrome Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in