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Alyssa Luck

Alyssa Luck

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Dynamic Neural Retraining System: Can DNRS Work for IBD?

Alyssa Luck · May 5, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Summary: The Dynamic Neural Retraining System was created by Annie Hopper to heal herself from severe multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), and since 2008 has been widely used by others with MCS and other “mysterious” chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and even long-COVID, with seemingly miraculous results. The program is built upon the premise that at the root of all these illnesses is a maladaptive brain response to environmental stimuli, causing the body to react as if harmless stimuli are life-threatening. Although DNRS is not widely used or marketed for IBD, evidence indicates that maladaptive nervous system responses are likely a component of the disease, and at least one IBD patient has reported success using DNRS. Although DNRS is not designed with IBD patients in mind, the principles it teaches may very well be the missing piece for many people who have tried just about everything else.

This article is part of the IBD Index. Last updated on May 5, 2022.

The Dynamic Neural Retraining System, or DNRS, is one of those programs that appears to toe the line between “this is totally miraculous” and “this is total bullshit.” How could someone possibly go from, say, being wheelchair- and house-bound, and only able to eat a few foods, to being totally and completely healthy, just by doing some mental exercises?

It sounds like magic, but this is the promise of neuroplasticity. It’s not easy, but it’s powerful. And for many with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, it could be the missing piece – the reason that all of the drugs and diets and supplements haven’t worked, despite great effort and dedication.

Table of Contents:
What is DNRS?
How does DNRS work?
Do people with IBD have limbic system impairment?
Can DNRS work for ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease?
How much does DNRS cost? Is it worth it?
Helpful resources

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Hypnotherapy for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

Alyssa Luck · Mar 14, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Summary: Hypnotherapy is a mind-body therapy that may have therapeutic potential for IBD, although it’s a bit less practical to implement at home compared to other mind-body therapies such as meditation. Thus far, clinical trials in IBS have shown more impressive results than those in IBD, but there is some preliminary evidence that hypnotherapy could help maintain remission in UC patients who are already in remission, and reduce heart rate and inflammatory markers in those with active disease. The precise mechanism of action behind hypnotherapy remains to be elucidated, but the research of Robert Becker into the electrical systems of the body provides some fascinating glimpses into what may be happening to the mind and body in states of hypnosis.

This article is part of the IBD Index. Last updated on March 14, 2022.

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Vagus Nerve Stimulation for IBD

Alyssa Luck · Jan 27, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Summary: Vagus nerve stimulation is an up-and-coming intervention for chronic inflammatory disorders including IBD. Clinically, it involves electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve through implanted or external devices, but natural methods such as yoga, meditation, and specific breathing practices have also been shown to increase vagal tone. Research in both animals and humans indicates that stimulation of the vagus nerve is able to reduce inflammation via various neural and hormonal pathways, with similar targets to popular pharmacological IBD treatments. Clinically, this is an exciting new treatment that is actively being researched; practically, vagus nerve stimulation via natural methods provides a safe way to reduce inflammation and improve health.

This article is part of the IBD Index. Last updated on January 27, 2022.

Vagus nerve stimulation is an ongoing area of research and experimentation for me. If you want to follow along on my personal journey, follow me on Instagram! Eventually, I will update and expand this post as well.

Table of Contents
What is vagus nerve stimulation?
What is the vagus nerve?
What’s the science behind vagus nerve stimulation for IBD?
        Activation of the HPA axis
        Cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway
        Activation of sympathetic anti-inflammatory pathways
Is there clinical evidence for vagus nerve stimulation in IBD?
Are there any risks to vagus nerve stimulation?
How can I increase vagal tone at home?
        Mind-body disciplines: yoga, tai chi, qigong, meditation
        Left-nostril breathing
        Other possible interventions
Review of the literature
Technical details of clinical vagus nerve stimulation

What is Vagus Nerve Stimulation?

In the clinical research setting, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) refers to stimulation of the vagus nerve via electrical impulses. This can be done either invasively, via a surgical implant, or noninvasively, via electrodes stuck to the skin in the ear. (For technical details, check out this section at the bottom of this article.)

VNS has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of drug‐resistant epilepsy and depression, and interest is building for its application in the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis (and of course, IBD). VNS is not yet available as a clinical treatment for IBD, but two small trials have been conducted in patients with Crohn’s Disease (CD), and two more trials are underway.

Outside of clinical research, talk of stimulating the vagus nerve typically refers to at-home practices that naturally stimulate the vagus nerve, including things like deep breathing and meditation. More on these techniques below!

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Hi! I’m Alyssa. I like thunderstorms and cats, hate wearing shoes, and enjoy devising extensive research projects for myself in my free time. 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. If you want to know more about me, click here!

alyssa.luck

alyssa.luck
If you've seen "vagus nerve exercises" that have y If you've seen "vagus nerve exercises" that have you moving your eyes or tilting your head, you've probably encountered the work of Stanley Rosenberg. The exercises he created and introduced in his 2017 book now appear in instructional videos all over the internet. 
 
The book itself has much to recommend it: it's accessible, it's practical, it's inspiring. But it has one major flaw: the solid practical and informational content regarding the cranial nerves is framed in terms of the scientifically dubious polyvagal theory. 
 
I particularly enjoyed the book as an introduction to the therapeutic arena of bodywork, of which Rosenberg is a skilled practitioner. His book is full of case reports that demonstrate how immensely powerful extremely subtle movements and physical manipulations can be. These do need to be kept in perspective: it's a small sample size of the most remarkable cases, and the results were achieved within the supportive clinical environment of a skilled practitioner. You can tell from his descriptions how refined his technique is. But nevertheless, it was a paradigm-shifting read for me, and the exercises give you something concrete to play around with. 
 
The book also brought the cranial nerves and the concept of “social engagement” to the fore as arbiters of health. Rosenberg has a solid background in cranial nerve anatomy and shares many interesting tidbits and considerations that you don’t typically hear; for instance, the potential impact of dental and orthodontic work on cranial nerve function.
 
So, is it worth reading? If any of the above piques your interest, go for it! Just read my post on polyvagal theory first – you can use the book to practice separating the wheat (solid informational content) from the chaff (pseudoscientific framing). If nothing else, the book is a nice reminder that genuine healers who get lasting results for their patients do exist.

But if you just want to try the exercises, you can easily find them all on YouTube. 

“You learn techniques to understand principles. When you understand the principles, you will create your own techniques.” -Stanley Rosenberg
I first stumbled upon polyvagal theory during the I first stumbled upon polyvagal theory during the course of my heart rate variability research. I was surprised to encounter it again "in the wild" shortly after, in the book "Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve." Before long, I saw it popping up everywhere, (Baader-Meinhof, anyone?) 
 
Digging deeper, I discovered scientific controversy bubbling just beneath the smooth surface of polyvagal theory's popular presentation. Three months later, I posted a 13k word analysis of the topic. 
 
The technical details are far below the level of practicality for the average person, but the way polyvagal theory has propagated outside of academia has some important ramifications for clinical and scientific progress. 
 
In the wake of a wave of health complaints that our current medical model is poorly equipped to treat, it's clearer than ever that a new paradigm is needed. The grassroots push to emphasize diet and lifestyle factors has been a huge step in the right direction, but it's becoming more and more common to see people who have done everything "right" and are still struggling with persistent health complaints that could range anywhere from mildly annoying to debilitating. 
 
What we need is a genuine integration of mind and body in medicine – not the weak lip service that our current paradigm pays to "stress reduction," like the vague suggestion to relax more and maybe try meditation. And if we're going to develop a sophisticated mind-body medicine, we need a sophisticated mind-body science. And if we want a sophisticated mind-body science, we must subject such topics to the same standards of inquiry as we expect from molecular biomedicine. And that means rejecting pseudoscience like polyvagal theory. 
 
Full analysis and references at alyssaluck.com/polyvagal-theory-a-critical-appraisal
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!
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Recent Posts

  • Polyvagal Theory: A Critical Appraisal
  • Lymphatic Support for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease
  • Heart Rate Variability 101: What It Is, How It’s Measured, and Controversies in the Literature
  • Autonomic Nervous System 101: Anatomy and Physiology
  • Vitamin A Detox Diet for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

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