Understanding Period Pain and Endometriosis
Lizzie Alexander
Video
34 min
4.7 rating on App Stores
00:00:04 So let's get started. So first of all, we're going to talk about understanding pain. So pain in the brain, you know, I want to, I'm going to cover all about how pain works, the science behind these pain signals, you know, is period pain normal? You know, why do you get period pain and then the whole chronic pain and endometriosis and how we can describe and measure this pain to help when we're talking to medical professionals and then what can we do about this? You know, why do you get period pain and then the whole chronic pain and endometriosis and how we can describe and measure this pain to help when we're talking to medical professionals and then what can we do about this? so first of all how does pain work well pain is a really good thing first of all it keeps us alive I mean if you think in a scenario of cutting your finger you know if you burn yourself on the oven or something more you know serious like a serious burn pain is is a good thing it stops us walking further into danger and so it I'll go through in a minute kind of like how you actually walking further into danger and so it I'll go through in a minute kind of like how you actually
00:01:02 cut your finger how that works but it's that pain signal helps to put us into high alert so that we can then seek a way to address that pain and then heal afterwards so it comes from signals in our brain and it comes from our our body as a network you know we have our nervous system we have all these nerve fibers and they carry right through to the skin but also in our organs everywhere and we have these pain receptors and these pain receptors can tell whether we feel organs everywhere and we have these pain receptors and these pain receptors can tell whether we feel pain both mechanical pain um chemical pain um mechanical chemical and then there's one more which i've just forgotten off to my head but there's three three ways that you can feel pain
00:01:46 um so when we injure ourselves these pain signals get sent back to our brain um and then to to make us move away from that okay so this is this is kind of like a basic the basic idea so this is us move away from that okay so this is this is kind of like a basic the basic idea so this is shown here if you cut your finger um for example if you were chopping um a cucumber and you cut your finger open it's like ow and it's instantaneous it's amazing how instantaneous that is and those pain receptors literally send those danger signals via spinal cord up your brain stem and then the pain is registered so your body and it depends of course have you experienced this before it might be a new pain or it might be something where you've cut it before and depending on your
00:02:28 experience depending on whether you've had a traumatic event depending on whether you're experience depending on whether you've had a traumatic event depending on whether you're highly stressed at this particular point in time or whether you're actually very calm will depend on how how you register that pain and how painful it is and that's why you can hear of people who walk across hot coals you know that should be something that's painful but it's because they put themselves in a mind state where they are able to not actually feel that pain response okay um so after you remove yourself from that threat you know you've taken the knife away um so after you remove yourself from that threat you know you've taken the knife away
00:03:02 um or you've you know put your hand under the cool water you stop burning your hand the body then starts to heal goes through this process and that the pain eventually reduces so this is just a very quick and easy way of doing it um so like i said how you're feeling is absolutely you know really really key if you're scared um if you have memories or trauma around something like this this is where pain will increase particularly if it's a repeated repeated element and coming back this is where pain will increase particularly if it's a repeated repeated element and coming back to the three stimuli it's mechanical so like a pinch or a pressure heat that's what i forgot heat and chemical so is period pain normal and the answer is no it is not it is really really common
00:03:47 but it is not normal and I think you all you all know this um or if you don't I'd like you to know this it is not normal to have period pain maybe a twinge but not pain where it's extreme so when this it is not normal to have period pain maybe a twinge but not pain where it's extreme so when you have period pain it's known as dysmenorrhea um there's primary dysmenorrhea and then there's secondary dysmenorrhea primary dysmenorrhea is when you get pain around the first three days your period where secondary dysmenorrhea is around at any point during the month um and it can happen in different areas so you might have pain associated with bowel movements urination around ovulation um during sex ongoing back and pelvic pain so that's known as secondary
00:04:24 around ovulation um during sex ongoing back and pelvic pain so that's known as secondary dysmenorrhea and it is quite useful to know these technical terms because if you're talking to your doctor and if you understand these terms um you know in the future in the past if you you know if you've got relatives who are going through you know a similar journey or who have endometriosis or you think might have endometriosis or got painful periods you're able to advise them of this because i think knowledge is a really key thing around period pain um because even the this because i think knowledge is a really key thing around period pain um because even the medical community just don't know enough about this um during your period you get much you should
00:05:08 get mild cramping nothing that you require a painkiller um you know it's just a slight twinge normal not normal is not the word sorry when you have no period pain you should just have slight cramping that doesn't require any period any painkillers of any sort that is kind of what you're aiming for and it does happen you know many of the clients that I've worked with they've gone you're aiming for and it does happen you know many of the clients that I've worked with they've gone from taking tons to nothing um and it is totally achievable depending on your situation everybody's situation is different and it depends on the layers behind that so the question is why do we get painful periods um so period pain is a chemical induced pain so when we come back to those three
00:05:56 the heat chemical and mechanical it's a chemical induced pain because it's caused by these the heat chemical and mechanical it's a chemical induced pain because it's caused by these inflammatory prostaglandins now you'll see in these two boxes we've got two boxes here where we've got green for good anti-inflammatory prostaglandins known as pge1 um and these that they are made from omega-3 fatty acids whereas bad pro-inflammatory prostaglandins pge2 the building blocks for this is from omega-6 fatty acids now omega-3 omega-6 there's no good pge2 the building blocks for this is from omega-6 fatty acids now omega-3 omega-6 there's no good or bad between them the problem in our society today is that we're imbalanced you want a balance
00:06:40 between omega-3 and omega-6 a one-to-one balance unfortunately with our western style diet most ratios that come up is about 20 to 1 so 20 being omega-6 is being really high it's the amount of omega-3s now as you can see there if you've got a very high amount of omega-6s amount of omega-3s now as you can see there if you've got a very high amount of omega-6s this is going to push you towards having lots of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins not these good anti-inflammatory prostaglandins and the thing is the uterus has prostaglandin receptors in the lining and these are thought to be responsible for the uterine lining contractions okay so prostaglandins are involved in starting the disintegration and shedding of the womb uterine
00:07:24 lining and research has shown that women with endo can have up to four times the amount of bad lining and research has shown that women with endo can have up to four times the amount of bad prostaglandins i.e pg2 compared to those that are not in pain so it's about finding this balance And actually one of the ways that you can see what, you know, your lipid levels, a very basic test. I mean, you can do more, more comprehensive tests, but asking your doctors to test for a lipid panel, particularly including the LDL and HDL. So LDL being bad, we say bad fats, not necessarily bad fats, but sort of the omega-6s, HDL, the omega-3s. So LDL being bad, we say bad fats, not necessarily bad fats, but sort of the omega-6s, HDL, the omega-3s. So you want this to be balanced. You want HDL more than three millimoles per liter and you want LDL below three, ideally around 1.5.
00:08:12 So you actually want it kind of like slightly imbalanced because the HDL is much more protective. So chronic pain and endometriosis. Now, chronic pain is different from just cutting your finger and you heal. chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than six months and cannot be alleviated chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than six months and cannot be alleviated by medical treatment um and women with endometriosis fall into this category okay it's not constant but it's intermittent regular and it continues over time you know with every monthly cycle so it is classified as chronic pain now when you have cut your finger your nervous system responds to that and you can calm down and you can heal but with chronic pain your nervous
00:08:56 system responds to that and you can calm down and you can heal but with chronic pain your nervous system starts not be able to fully relax because you're in this heightened sense of stress okay and this is a really key part to understand because when we come on to the sort of how to help work with reducing pain it is important to register the fact that the nervous system is part of this because you're constantly in pain your nervous system is constantly in this state of sort of fight or flight or very easily triggered and when I say triggered it's like your nervous sort of fight or flight or very easily triggered and when I say triggered it's like your nervous system you might be okay and then you have a stressor at work or I don't know you break when
00:09:37 you're driving very suddenly and you're you know you might feel that tingling at the end of your fingers and you suddenly feel very stressed very quickly anything can trigger you and you can end up having um you know you can end up being bloated you end up being in pain again and that's because your nervous system is just so used to being in this heightened state is very very easy to trigger your nervous system is just so used to being in this heightened state is very very easy to trigger you now they've actually found that there are similar nerve fibers to the rest of your body within the endometriosis lesions the endometrium and the myometrium um and they've also found hormonal therapy so when they've given hormonal therapy to help with endometriosis to get rid of
00:10:21 the pain, this can actually reduce the amount of nerve fibers within the lesions, which I find really interesting. So if you've got a lot of nerve fibers in there, and your nervous system really interesting. So if you've got a lot of nerve fibers in there, and your nervous system is very heightened, and very, very sensitive, and sensitive to inflammation, this is where the inflammation comes in, because pain and inflammation, it's all part of the picture, when you, and I'll talk about this in a minute, it's like a vicious cycle, you're always going to end up in that pain okay um so as i've said here the brains you know the brains of women you know of women with endometriosis you're constantly feeling under threat so your nervous system is just
00:10:56 going to be so sensitive to this extra pain you're not going to feel as relaxed as you should do going to be so sensitive to this extra pain you're not going to feel as relaxed as you should do so this then comes on to something i talk about with many of you is the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal access so hba access now i would say every single one of you when i do a health history has got some issue of dysfunction with your hba access whether that's low or excess adrenal hormone output and this is due to chronic stress now stress we always think of stress as like being hormone output and this is due to chronic stress now stress we always think of stress as like being a stress associated with work or you know an emotional stress but it's not just an emotional
00:11:40 stress stress comes from physical so it can be emotional it can be from a whole variety of things but it can also be from the physical stress so inflammation is stressed um you know chronic pain that is stress on your body if your digestive function is not functioning properly you're not digesting your food properly this is stress on your body because you're not getting those nutrients digesting your food properly this is stress on your body because you're not getting those nutrients to help your liver function to help reduce inflammation all these things and so having dysfunction of the hpa access you're going to constantly be either pumping out too much cortisol or you just haven't got enough to to deal with these stress situations and then this can trigger
00:12:21 pain as well um and make the pain worse and i don't know whether any of you've had like um a stressful situation and then you've had a flare-up afterwards whether you've made this um a stressful situation and then you've had a flare-up afterwards whether you've made this connection between stress because it's very easy to focus on the nutritional side of things but actually the stress side is massive yes we need to feed our body nutrients endometriosis is a nutrient hungry disease um and part of the reason we're not getting the nutrients is because our digestive function I'll come on to this in a bit isn't working properly because our nervous system isn't working properly um I mean I had uh I mean so many flare-ups I can think of I mean
00:12:58 isn't working properly um I mean I had uh I mean so many flare-ups I can think of I mean planes often you know you might not be stressed getting on a plane or the rest of it but even just the altitude you know when you're going up in a plane I've had that where actually I felt quite relaxed um but even just going up the altitude has then caused me to have a flare-up you know and I've ended up with this huge endo belly and I'm like well how did that happen but actually going in a plane going at altitude is a physical stress on your body but then equally but actually going in a plane going at altitude is a physical stress on your body but then equally and I'm sure you've had it where something I mean I mean I remember years ago 20 years ago
00:13:37 um I'd been traveling for a year and I had all these photographs and I've been on my own and I was trying to get them developed and the photo developers completely screwed it up and essentially I just it really just pushed me to the edge I was really stressed anyway from a number of things that had happened during that time and I literally had this huge it was just such a trigger I got that had happened during that time and I literally had this huge it was just such a trigger I got endo bloat like I was nine months and I actually physically fell over I couldn't hold myself up because my nervous system was so it had been wired for so long it didn't know how to relax and it was just triggered by something which actually was fairly small but it was just that
00:14:19 stress point so maybe have a think back have there been times where you've been stressed and you've had a endo flare you've ended up in pain you've ended up with endo belly um you've ended up just had a endo flare you've ended up in pain you've ended up with endo belly um you've ended up just being absolutely exhausted and that's where you've got you know the hpa hpa axis dysfunction you'll pump out that cortisol and if you've had chronic stress for a long time you just can't you know you have low adrenal output you won't have enough cortisol to cope with that so that's why I go on about calming your nervous system so much and supporting your HPA access and that's why it's really important also to identify what your stresses are and sometimes that can be the
00:14:58 really important also to identify what your stresses are and sometimes that can be the hardest thing is trying to understand what is it is it things that you can change sometimes it's things that you can't change and it's not necessarily about having to change those things it's about bringing in techniques so that you can um you can cope with the stresses that are going on around you because our bodies are so clever they should be able to deal with stress and not then push you into an inflammatory into a high pain state and then you experience the chronic pain then push you into an inflammatory into a high pain state and then you experience the chronic pain it's about calming your nervous system which i'll come on to in a minute so more with the chronic
00:15:39 pain and endometriosis the reasons for being stressed as i've said already is like chronic and persistent pain inflammation swelling floating um and excessive bleeding so all sort of coming from the lesions the endo lesions themselves from scar tissue from any you know pelvic pain where you've got scar tissue between organs between like tendons you might have you know a variety you've got scar tissue between organs between like tendons you might have you know a variety of pain issues associated with your pelvic area whether it's also like bladder pain whether it's passing urine passing your bowel movements all of that kind of area but then other stresses associated with the endometriosis and I think this is a big one is the lack of the medical support
00:16:18 and understanding and sometimes you might have amazing support and other times just nobody's listening to you and a lot of that comes with first of all trying to get a diagnosis but then even when you get a diagnosis is the treatment options understanding the treatment options even when you get a diagnosis is the treatment options understanding the treatment options maybe having treatment and then the treatment isn't successful um and just having that lack of a a roadmap or an understanding or support from medical staff that don't necessarily understand the disease and that is a massive massive stress in itself it might seem you know after you get your diagnosis it's a relief but then once you get past that relief there's more stressors
00:16:58 you know like I said before work stressors totally unrelated it could be unrelated to the endometriosis you know like I said before work stressors totally unrelated it could be unrelated to the endometriosis but it could also be you're in pain every month you can't go to work for three or four 10 days you may not be able to work at all as a result and these are stressors and they're ongoing stressors emotional stressors you know strain of relationships due to the endometriosis it could be strained because you know you're not able to have sex comfortably because you get have pain when you have sex and that then affects your relationships you know if you're going through pain when you have sex and that then affects your relationships you know if you're going through
00:17:31 infertility and you're struggling to have a baby that again strains your relationships um so so many things here you know your infertility journey which i said and then of course finances i mean the financial strain of of trying to support your health care whether it's um if you're not able to get insurance or go through the NHS in the UK to, to, you know, support with any operations or support with blood tests. But also then if you are, you know, going down the path, which we, support with blood tests. But also then if you are, you know, going down the path, which we, you know, you're, if you're working with me, then trying to find the, you know, alternative ways to support your body as part of the bigger picture, it is costly. And that can be very begrudging
00:18:13 that having to do that, but it's a stress. So these, so you can see there are so many stresses here but it's about learning these techniques to cope with it and I think that's really important but I think once you identify what your stresses are it's easier to then accept them easier to but I think once you identify what your stresses are it's easier to then accept them easier to understand them easier to kind of go okay that one I can't necessarily deal with but these ones I can so the pain feedback loop your nervous system is creating a feedback loop and your brain is constantly at threat which you know if it's this is with chronic pain it's constantly feeling at threat and it stresses the body it then increases inflammation so as you can see there when the
00:18:57 area is inflamed the nerves send a signal back to the brain saying it's inflamed it's it's area is inflamed the nerves send a signal back to the brain saying it's inflamed it's it's experiencing pain it releases these pain signals and then inflammation is part of like the healing process so when you're healing you get inflammation to heal but in this status because it's chronic you're then increasing your inflammation so it's like reinforcing this feeling of threatened and it worsens the pain signal so you end up in this kind of like you know negative feedback loop going round and round and it's about breaking that cycle and over time um our nerves you know other round and round and it's about breaking that cycle and over time um our nerves you know other
00:19:35 nerves get involved and we're unable to calm down on our pain response resolve the issue we end up getting more nerves more organs and areas other areas become involved you know your digestive system starts to not be able to function properly your liver then gets clogged as part of the picture and because your nervous system isn't necessarily working so all of these interlinked elements and inflammation spreads not just in your pelvic area um many of you may have felt elements and inflammation spreads not just in your pelvic area um many of you may have felt you know your joints hurting and this is where inflammation is spread not just from your pelvic area into you know around your body and this isn't that you've got arthritis it's just that you're
00:20:14 inflamed and if you've had chronic pain for a long time um your nerves are so sensitive um you know many women with endometriosis feel you know horrific pain down their legs as well and it's just your your nerves are just so sensitive and it's any kind of stress can trigger that um it's just your your nerves are just so sensitive and it's any kind of stress can trigger that um you know and as pain continues your brain stops releasing the natural pain relieving chemicals like dopamine so you don't even get these calming feeling you don't get that sort of pain relief and so it's really really important to break this cycle so that you can bring back that sort of um stop the nerves being so sensitive essentially so what can we do about it um one understanding
00:20:57 stop the nerves being so sensitive essentially so what can we do about it um one understanding the pain um is really important because then we can remove the fear around the pain because there's also a lot of fear um you have that emotional trauma around the pain as well i mean one example is painful sex for example you know if you've had painful sex and you've tried it in different ways just every time it's painful you start to then fear having sex which then obviously affects your relationship when you feel guilty um but you also then tense up your nervous system is then relationship when you feel guilty um but you also then tense up your nervous system is then heightened and you're not relaxed and it's no longer a pleasurable experience and then obviously
00:21:39 if you're trying to have a baby it's just you know it really isn't helping the situation so the way that we calm down the pain response is by reducing the danger signals and increasing the safety signals so really it's kind of the best way to go about this and you will have heard me talk about nutrition this way is crowding out it's a bit like initially rather than going right i'm about nutrition this way is crowding out it's a bit like initially rather than going right i'm going to give up gluten and dairy and do that straight away it's like crowd it out by bringing in nourishing foods and this is the same here crowd out those danger signals by bringing in lots of safety signals bringing in and when you start bringing the safety signals the danger
00:22:21 signals start to reduce um it's normally about addressing inflammation so a big part of this is addressing inflammation if there are any structural issues um with regards to pelvic pain is addressing inflammation if there are any structural issues um with regards to pelvic pain if there's muscles that are overtight so using myofascial release and we'll go into this and calming the nervous system so these are like three big things addressing inflammation looking at structural issues and calming the nervous system okay so this is none of this actually brings in nutrition i mean nutrition and supplements are part of it but those are key okay um like i said nutrition i mean nutrition and supplements are part of it but those are key okay um like i said
00:23:01 we need to crowd out the danger signals so one of the other things I think is really important is to when we talk about pain and this is in the the pain management guide which I will put alongside this presentation if you haven't already seen it and it is in the academy as no it's not in the academy actually I just give it out when we come to it so I will put it alongside this is to be able to describe and measure your pain so that you can communicate with your doctor this is to be able to describe and measure your pain so that you can communicate with your doctor your IVF you know with your gynecologist your IVF clinic whether it's your endo you know adeno specialist whoever it is your nutritional therapist you're not working with me or your
00:23:41 acupuncturist whoever it is it is actually really really useful to understand some of the terminology around the pain so that you can describe whether it's jumping whether it's flicking is it sharp is it cutting in is it exhausting is it sickening so here you'll see I've just taken um some from the guide um there's a whole list here this is actually taken from crash 1991 um um some from the guide um there's a whole list here this is actually taken from crash 1991 um as seen in mills and vernon um and i'll put it in that guide you'll see the the link to the reference there as well and i think it's just really good to understand um those pain signals but also in there is actually you'll see um three uh you know three areas of your body is to be able
00:24:26 to mark down where you're getting that pain and that's just useful so that you can like really to mark down where you're getting that pain and that's just useful so that you can like really really pinpoint um you understand it and then it's much much easier to then communicate um but also you can then monitor the differences and changes over time so when you're improving you can look back and go oh yeah because it's it's incredibly easy to forget it's amazing the human body forgets things I mean I was working with um one of you recently and you know it was remembering actually how far you'd come and it was like oh yes I used to feel like that and now I don't I forgot I used how far you'd come and it was like oh yes I used to feel like that and now I don't I forgot I used
00:25:03 to feel like that so actually having some sort of record of like where the pain at its worst when it's like that and you might want to write some notes for yourself and there is space in the guide there's lots of space because it's like a workbook so that you can do that so one of the call to actions that I'd you know recommend is keep a diary occasionally there is kind of like a a month diary here you might be able to see it there's um all the sort of like um feelings of a month diary here you might be able to see it there's um all the sort of like um feelings of pain or areas and then days of the month and you could tick off and put numbers there's a little um you might find that a little bit small but there's uh symbols as well that you can put here
00:25:43 depending on whether it's during your period at any other point of time just to kind of like you can then start seeing patterns because obviously if we're working together and we've done a health history then I try and pull out and tease these things but the more that you understand yourself what is going on the easier it is for you to describe what's going on to other people what is going on the easier it is for you to describe what's going on to other people but also to monitor the improvements and I think this is really important. so calming down the pain response um like i said before safety signals we can see here um some of the safety signals to bring in is breath work it's free it's easy it is one of the biggest
00:26:23 things that you can do and i think often we and i'll come on to it more often we don't put enough significance on this one um meditation yoga being in nature i mean that being in nature and being significance on this one um meditation yoga being in nature i mean that being in nature and being grounded and connected to the earth is huge and again they're they're very they're cheap they're easy they don't cost a lot but sometimes it's about getting ourselves there it's about making a plan it's making commitment to it and I think it's also understanding the significance which is why I wanted to do this masterclass to kind of explain the relevance to the nervous system which I'm going to go into a bit more detail in a minute on the vagus nerve cooking mindfulness
00:26:59 which I'm going to go into a bit more detail in a minute on the vagus nerve cooking mindfulness anything that makes you feel safe safe nurtured calm whether it's reading a book in a swinging chair going to a spa whatever it can be expensive it can be really really cheap it's it's just bringing in and don't I think a lot of time as women we find that these are things that that are looking after ourself and we feel that we don't not deserve it's the wrong thing that that are looking after ourself and we feel that we don't not deserve it's the wrong thing that we don't prioritize our own self-care and actually the doc funnily enough I think it was a couple of years ago um I think in Wales they were starting to actually write prescriptions to go and spend
00:27:48 time in nature and I was like that's fantastic not writing a painkiller but actually writing a prescription spend more time in nature and this will actually you know is part of a healing process And I think because we don't see this as a pill for an ill or anything like this, we don't put it as a priority and it needs to be. And I think because we don't see this as a pill for an ill or anything like this, we don't put it as a priority and it needs to be. So this can then help reduce the danger signal. So you see there the danger signals of feeling unsupported, inflammatory triggers, unresolved trauma, pain and bloating, depression, anxiety, brain fog and endless to do lists. I mean, if you're anything like me, having those to-do lists and then feeling really crappy about yourself because you've just not had the energy, you know, you've got brain fog, you feel like you've crossed nothing off, you know, that triggers you. I mean, if you're anything like me, having those to-do lists and then feeling really crappy about yourself because you've just not had the energy, you know, you've got brain fog, you feel like you've crossed nothing off, you know, that triggers you.
00:28:37 It triggers your nervous system so that, you know, in terms of safety signals, make plans, but be realistic. Maybe you only put one thing on your list. So then it makes you feel safe because you tackle one thing. You don't write 15 things down on there. There might be 15 things, ideas that you can do over the next two or three months and you can tick them off slowly, but you don't have to do them all at once. There might be 15 things, ideas that you can do over the next two or three months and you can tick them off slowly, but you don't have to do them all at once. So, you know, try and reduce those endless lists because then it can reduce this danger signal. So the vagus nerve. So the vagus nerve is part of the nervous system.
00:29:15 It is one of 12 cranial nerves in the body. It's actually the 10th cranial nerve and it is the longest. So it runs in the brain down the spine and it taps into every major organ. As you can see in this figure here, everything from lungs, spleen, pancreas into your small intestine, stomach, liver, colon. As you can see in this figure here, everything from lungs, spleen, pancreas into your small intestine, stomach, liver, colon. It is so important. I mean, it's so, so important. I mean, there are lots of books now actually on the polyvagal theory to do with the vagus nerve, because I think we're now understanding the sheer importance. And the funny thing is the vagus nerve is one of the nerves that underpins, you know, these amazing therapies is the wrong word. And the funny thing is the vagus nerve is one of the nerves that underpins, you know, these amazing therapies is the wrong word.
00:30:02 These amazing Eastern ways of looking, you know, Eastern medicine. So when you look at acupressure, you look at acupuncture, you look at Ayurvedic medicine, they've known about the vagus nerve for thousands of years. They haven't necessarily known how it exactly works, but they have known about it. They've known the importance. And that's why working on various points in your body can tap into the vagus nerve and calm it down. so it controls multiple sensory and motor functions including digestion which is key to so it controls multiple sensory and motor functions including digestion which is key to understand this because this is where the expression rest and digest comes from you know if you're calm you will digest also breathe and feed so again if you're calm your fertility will be turned on
00:30:48 you will have that ability to digest your food so when your vagus nerve is turned on as it were and you're in this rest and digest this is when you're parasympathetic so your body is like split and you're in this rest and digest this is when you're parasympathetic so your body is like split into two it's split into the parasympathetic and the sympathetic well there's the autonomic and the nomic i'm not going to go into that but the parasympathetic is this rest and digest the sympathetic is the fight or flight um which is that stress response and we should be in the parasympathetic we should be in that rest and digest for 80 90 percent of the time and then when we have a stressor then we our nervous system flicks over to our sympathetic nervous system
00:31:24 when we have a stressor then we our nervous system flicks over to our sympathetic nervous system it pumps out cortisol from our adrenals and various other hormones that enable us for our heart to pump faster our eyes dilate we start to sweat we can we get you know loads of blood sugar our blood sugar increases so that we can pump blood sugar around our body so our you know our muscles can move and we can run away from that danger that that's how it works and then when that day just passed you flick back into that rest and digest state now the vagus nerve can be damaged that day just passed you flick back into that rest and digest state now the vagus nerve can be damaged by many things not just damage it can be damaged it can also be known as the vagal tone so it can
00:32:09 just not be very strong um and this can be in terms of damage spine and head injuries particularly including whiplash this is this is a classic one trauma and chronic stress can cause damage to it or cause your tone to be very poor inflammation hyperthyroidism diabetes and then diseases and conditions i mean endometriosis is an inflammatory condition so it comes back to that inflammation conditions i mean endometriosis is an inflammatory condition so it comes back to that inflammation so it affects this vagus nerve um now if you've got poor vagal tone um or it's damaged you'll struggle to stay in this parasympathetic state in this rest and digest state and you'll find that you're you really get stressed very easily you get triggered very very easily and
00:32:56 you may feel wired all the time you may feel actually quite pumped quite um excited by stuff you may feel wired all the time you may feel actually quite pumped quite um excited by stuff and that's when you've just got too much cortisol running around your body and that's great until you're so fatigued you have nothing and then you feel knackered the whole time but anything could trigger you to be stressed and it could be that you suddenly you cry very easily you get bloated you suddenly feel exhausted um very very easily so the other things that then you can struggle with is like i've said is poor digestion your blood sugar management um can go down because with is like i've said is poor digestion your blood sugar management um can go down because
00:33:31 your pancreas is not functioning properly and this kind of then again affects your digestion because your digestive enzymes chronic pain um you can end up with more chronic pain it can end up causing autoimmunity conditions. And again, if your vagal tone is not very good, depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, chronic fatigue, I mean, go on. The importance of having good vagal tone is really important, but also to understand if you've actually got some damage
00:33:59 to your vagus nerve or physical obstructions. to your vagus nerve or physical obstructions. And I will come on to how we can tell that in a minute.
