Did you know that your mind directs your immune system?
I was surprised in medical school when I learned this. My dad had died when I was younger, and I was paying my own way through by working as a children’s hospital nurse. I asked my psych professor to teach me hypnosis when I was getting ready to work on the burn unit, to make it more comfortable for the children to go through their dressing changes
He taught me that if people go into a quick hypnotic state when they burn themselves and let their deep psyche know “heal quickly no injury” soon after the burn, there will be no blister. There is a good reason I am not a surgeon. I am a major league butter fingers and I tend to burn myself quite a bit. Although after a severe burn the skin turns white and dead from the burn, I no longer blister.
The blister is caused not by the burn but rather by the immune system’s response to a perceived injury. And yet my psyche can let my immune system know to stand down. As a side note, this also works very well before surgical procedures to dramatically decrease post-op inflammation. In a deep meditative, centered, or hypnotic state, let the psyche know that what is coming is friendly and here to help us, and to simply welcome it and let it be. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much easier and quicker the healing process is!
The Modern Alternative: Be Very Afraid and Hate Everyone Else
When I was a child, the Madison Avenue advertising mantra was “Sex Sells.” If you wanted to sell something, you simply put handsome men and women by the product (e.g. – beer, cars, etc.) in the advertisement.
Then about 20 years ago, the news media seem to have adopted a new mantra: “Fear and Divisiveness Sells.” They realized they can sell more ads if they leave people scared to death and hating each other, so that they watch 24/7.
This is very unhealthy for our psyche and immune system. I suspect that this constant feeling of being unsafe for no focused reason, leaving our immune system lashing out wildly at everything, results in both immune system and adrenal exhaustion with our bodies suffering from the collateral damage. So perhaps it’s no surprise that our immune systems are overreactive.
Have you noticed in your practice an increase in autoimmune illnesses, food allergies, limbic system dysfunction, chronic sympathetic nervous system activation with decreased vagal nerve function, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), increased activity to mold and mold toxins, and symptoms of chronic activation of Cell Danger Response (CDR)?
These are often different faces of the same process. Although it is critical to treat the underlying physical components, we often find that this alone leaves healing incomplete. Often, without also addressing the psyche, healing can’t even begin because of sensitivities!
Heal the Body with SHINE
In earlier articles, I discussed how to effectively treat fibromyalgia and CFS with SHINE. This optimizes Sleep, Hormones, Immunity, Nutrition, and Exercise as able. My published randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study showed that this resulted in an average 90% increase in quality-of-life (p<.0001 vs placebo). For earlier free articles on effective treatment of CFS/fibromyalgia, post-covid, and orthostatic intolerance, feel free to email me at fatiguedoc@gmail.com.
Also feel free to request links to or copies of my four new studies on new effective treatments for post-viral CFS and fibromyalgia.
Again, for any of these, if you would like copies of the articles or free treatment tools simply email me at fatiguedoc@gmail.com. If you live outside of the United States, please also mention that.
The processes below are very treatable physically, but experience shows that in many people the mind-body and immune dysfunctions must also be addressed.
Mind-Body Interactions
Mind-body interactions are massive. Here are just a few connections pertinent to sensitivities.
Chronic immune activation results in immune exhaustion. Dr. Mark Sivieri, MD, noted to me that he was seeing frequent IgG1 and IgG3 antibody deficiencies in these populations. This has been confirmed in my practice. The research is suggesting that these antibody deficiencies can also be associated with autonomic dysfunction and small fiber neuropathy. Over time, our understanding of the importance of the immune/autonomic connection will grow. Immune exhaustion contributes to numerous persistent and coexisting opportunistic infections, including Lyme and other antibiotic-sensitive coinfections, candida/fungal overgrowth, and viral reactivation.
Candida/fungal overgrowth. Relative to other microorganisms, these bugs are massive in size. They can also contribute to the mycotoxin load, which can be especially problematic in those with severe sensitivities and anxiety. For an excellent discussion on mold toxins, I highly recommend the book Toxic by my friend Neil Nathan, MD. In speaking with him recently, he also noted one other important tip.
For those whose sensitivities do not allow them to tolerate antifungal treatments, this is often because lysing the mold cells when you kill them releases large amounts of toxins, which the body cannot handle. In those cases, consider slowly bringing the mold binders on board first, and then killing off the molds while beginning with low doses of the antifungals. This way, the binders are in place to tie up the toxins when the fungal cells are destroyed.
Viral reactivation, especially EBV and HHV-6. Unfortunately, there are no tests that I am comfortable with yet to distinguish viral reactivation from old infection and immunity. So my decision to consider a trial of antivirals is still based on clinical symptoms (e.g. onset with a viral infection and chronic flulike feelings)
Adrenal fatigue. Again, although salivary and other tests can be helpful, simply asking the person if they get irritable when hungry (hypoglycemic) is an excellent way to distinguish if adrenal fatigue is present. Increasing salt and water intake and adrenal support with a mix called Adrenaplex (by EuroMedica) can be very helpful in balancing immunity and improving other symptoms.
“Leaky gut.” Absorption of incompletely absorbed proteins puts a major strain on the immune system as well. This is beyond the scope of this article. Be sure to give betaine HCL and a trial of plant-based digestive enzymes (animal-based digestive enzymes are not as effective in my experience) with meals for a few weeks to improve digestion, along with Dr. Jeffrey Bland’s “4 R” program for “leaky gut” (Remove, Replace, Re-inoculate, Repair). Gut issues can trigger massive imbalances of neurotransmitters, leaving the person an emotional wreck.
Treating Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Food Sensitivities, and Mold Toxins
So many people with fibromyalgia are incredibly sensitive to any treatments. This makes figuring out how to treat them quite the challenge. Here’s how to begin.
Mast Cell Activation. Mast cells are our body’s “first responders “when making contact with the outside world. If they meet something in the environment that concerns them, they can pour out over 200 chemicals. But what they react to varies from day-to-day.
Just like our immune system in fibromyalgia can be on overdrive in general, in some people this is also occurring for their mast cells. These guardians then have an itchy trigger finger, seemingly reacting to things at random.
Random is the key word here, and this helps distinguish mast cell activation from regular allergies and sensitivities. One day you may have no reaction to something, but you react excessively to the same trigger on other days. So, no problem eating an ear of corn one day. But the next day, you have may have the sudden onset of flushing, nausea, diarrhea, sweating, or palpitations.
MCAS treatment begins with the following:
- Quercetin (half hour before meals) 500-1000 mg twice a day. They may gradually increase to four times a day
- Claritin in the morning and Benadryl at night
- the medication montelukast (Singulair) 10 mg at bedtime.
- Pepcid (famotidine – do not use PPIs, which are toxic) 20 to 40 mg twice daily
- If needed, a low histamine diet.
There are, of course, numerous other treatments, but these are a good beginning. They tend to be well-tolerated and often work within a week or two. Give six weeks to see the full effect.
Food Sensitivities.Many people find that they have a number of food sensitivities. They find themselves limiting their diet and then sometimes find themselves becoming sensitive to the few foods they could eat. They find that they, over time, have ‘painted themselves into a corner’ where there is nothing left to eat.
As noted above, there are three main things that trigger food sensitivities:
- Incomplete digestion of proteins because of not enough stomach acid or digestive enzymes
- Leaky gut from infections, especially candida, and other causes. Anti-inflammatory arthritis medications such as ibuprofen are major triggers.
- Adrenal fatigue.
An emotional trauma, such as having a parent scream at you, while eating a food may also trigger sensitivities. So what to do?
You know how when your computer goes on the fritz, the first thing tech-support tells you to do is to reboot? Simple techniques can help you hit the reset button on your brain and immune system. My favorite? A simple acupressure technique called NAET (www.NAET.com) can eliminate food and other sensitivities. Other techniques, such as sublingual neutralization, can also be helpful.
Mold Toxins. When you have severe sensitivities in combination with severe anxiety, think mold toxins. But be aware of the Pandora’s box you are opening when you bring this up for those you treat. There is no reliable test for either individuals or their environment, so I suspect a very large percent of people with no mold problem will test positive in both—which may leave them feeling unsafe in their home unless they do tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of (possibly unnecessary) home remediation.
So I address other things first, going after mold toxins if the person fails to respond and has a suggestive history. I have clinically simplified how to address mold toxins in the newest edition of my book From Fatigued to Fantastic. The book Toxic by Dr. Neil Nathan, MD, is—in my humble opinion—the best overall book on mold toxicity.
Addressing The Psychospiritual Aspects
Energetic diagnosis and treatment can of course be very helpful. Like chess, it can take a few hours to learn but a lifetime to master. And like treating biochemistry, addressing biophysics is a massive area.
So it is helpful to have a wonderful new book available by Dr. Neil Nathan, MD, called Energetic Diagnosis. In case you can tell, I think very highly of my friend Dr. Nathan.
But where to begin? When addressing sensitivities in people with complex conditions such as fibromyalgia begin with the following.
Reset the limbic system. This includes the hypothalamus, and the effects of doing so can be dramatically healing in general. There are a number of programs that do this. My favorites include ANS Rewire by Dan Neuffer ( https://ansrewire.com/ ) or Dynamic Neural Retraining System by Annie Hopper ( https://retrainingthebrain.com/ ). These are mental exercises that retrain our thought processes and can be found online. It takes several months at one hour a day to really start to see the effects, although the ANS Rewire may work more quickly.
These techniques can sometimes heal fibromyalgia by themselves with no pills. But they take an investment of time. In people who have sensitivities to treatments, begin with ANS Rewire or DNRS!
Enhance vagal tone. Does it seem like the person’s adrenaline is constantly on overdrive and exhausting? It’s often because it is. The vagal system is necessary to balance the adrenaline system. But in people who felt severely unsafe earlier in their life, they may be stuck in adrenal hypervigilance or even in a severe dorsal vagal mode that triggers the “playing possum” state in animals.
Interestingly, recent research showed that about ¼ of people with “Long Covid” had vagal nerve inflammation, with shortness of breath likely due to diaphragmatic flattening. So there may be a number of vagal dysfunction triggers.
Resetting vagal tone requires helping the person you’re treating to feel safe. A good beginning is by mindfulness exercises that teach people to be in the moment. Because most of their fear is caused by rehashing the past or worrying about future events that usually never happen.
lso, teach those you treat to turn off the news media. Regardless of which side is being watched, it is largely a fiction meant to make people hate each other and be frightened. As Mark Twain was reported to say “if I don’t read the news I’m uninformed. But if I do read the news, I am misinformed!” This has not improved since then. Advise people that when media reporting starts feeling bad, turn it off.
Frequency Specific Microcurrent (www.frequencyspecific.com) is not only helpful for chronic pain but can also help balance vagal tone.
Brain Tap® exercises can be helpful, but specifically use the programs for “Quieting ANS.”
Exercises in Stanley Rosenberg’s book Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism can also be very helpful approaches that the person can do on their own.
Once people you treat do these, they will be much better able to tolerate other treatments. And they will feel dramatically better!
The bottom line? Heal your mind, and your body and immune system will follow!