If you’re feeling stuck with your thyroid or autoimmune thyroid condition, then you might be interested in joining our Free 5-Day Accelerated Thyroid Healing Challenge!

During this 5-day challenge you will…

• Learn how to overcome both common and overlooked “roadblocks” that are preventing your thyroid/immune system from healing
• ​Discover how to reduce your “toxic thyroid”
• ​Find out why removing the trigger doesn’t always break the chronic inflammatory cycle associated with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s, and what you can do to stop this cycle
• ​Create your thyroid/immune healing action plan

The Free 5-day challenge will include the following…

Component #1: Daily Accelerated Thyroid Healing Video Lesson

During this daily 10-20 minute recorded lesson I will focus on a different topic that is essential to speed up the healing of your thyroid gland/immune system. There will be one pre-recorded lesson every day for 5 consecutive days, which means that you can access it at your convenience.

Component #2: Daily Accelerated Thyroid Healing Assignment

I want people to take action, which is the whole point of any challenge.  And so each day there will be a daily assignment designed to help speed up your thyroid/immune system healing.

Component #3: Access to a private members-only group

We want you to build relationships with one another and enjoy this challenge together. Although you can still watch the daily video lessons and attend the two Q & A sessions without joining the Facebook group, if you want to connect with others and be eligible for the prizes (discussed below) then you’ll want to join the Facebook group. I plan on having my nutritional health coaches moderate the groups, although I’ll also pop in every now and then.

Component #4: Two 90 minute live Q & A sessions

There will be two separate live Q & A sessions.  These will be 90 minutes each, and I’m having two in order to accommodate those in different time zones.

Component #5: Prizes for Participation!!!

For my April thyroid/immune challenge I didn’t offer any prizes, but then I noticed that other people who hosted challenges were giving away prizes, and so I decided to test it out for my June challenge…and it was a big hit!  There will be a daily prize for those who answer the daily question, and then at the end of the 5 days there will be a grand prize!!!

You Get All of This For FREE!!!

For more information on the Free 5-day Accelerated Thyroid Healing challenge check out the link below:

www.RapidThyroidHealing.com

Before I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and eventually Graves’ disease, I realized something was wrong one day when I measured my blood pressure and discovered that I had an elevated resting heart rate (my blood pressure was fine).  An elevation in the resting heart rate is known as tachycardia, and this is one of the classic symptoms of hyperthyroidism.  However, there can be other reasons why people can have an elevated heart rate, and so I decided to put together a blog post where I will discuss some of the common causes of tachycardia, as well as some of the different treatment options available.

You might wonder how high the resting heart rate needs to be before it’s labeled as tachycardia.  Most sources consider a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute (BPM) as being tachycardia.  While this may be true, I definitely prefer to see the resting heart rate less than 80 BPM, and I would be concerned with a resting heart rate of 90 BPM or greater, and ideally you want a resting heart rate in the 50s or 60s, although the low 70s is still acceptable.

So while the literature considers a “normal” resting heart rate anywhere between 60-100 BPM, I consider a consistent resting heart rate of over 80 BPM to be elevated.  And by “consistent” I mean that when you measure your heart rate multiple times across a period of days or weeks it is over 80 BPM the majority of the time.  This doesn’t mean that everyone who has a consistent resting heart rate over 80 BPM has one of the conditions I’ll be mentioning in this post, as they might simply by physically unfit.  The reason for this is because a lower resting heart rate usually indicates a higher level of cardiovascular fitness.

How Do You Measure Your Resting Heart Rate?

When I had hyperthyroidism I took the herbs bugleweed and motherwort, and the way I knew these herbs were working was by monitoring my resting pulse rate (and of course eventually I did follow-up blood tests).  While I’m sure many people reading this know how to do this, others don’t, and so I figured I’d include a few videos demonstrating how to measure your resting pulse rate.  Of course you can also invest in an automated device that measures your resting heart rate.  There are some phone apps that do this too, although I don’t trust the accuracy of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjnlDZH9H8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHHr8qNU9QY

Different Types of Tachycardia

I’d like to briefly mention three different types of tachycardia:

1. Atrial or Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT).  This involves an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that starts in the upper chambers of the heart.

2. Sinus Tachycardia.  Sinus tachycardia is a regular cardiac rhythm in which the heart beats faster than normal and results in an increase in cardiac output (1).  This is the type of tachycardia most commonly associated with hyperthyroidism.

3. Ventricular Tachycardia.  This involves an arrhythmia that starts in the lower chambers of the heart.

Causes of Tachycardia

Let’s go ahead and discuss some of the different causes of tachycardia:

Hyperthyroidism.  Although this isn’t the most common cause of tachycardia, I’m listing it first simply because this website focuses on helping people with thyroid and autoimmune thyroid conditions.  And most of my patients with hyperthyroidism have an elevated resting heart rate, although not everyone experiences a heart rate greater than 100 BPM.

Elevated cortisol levels.  This is another potential cause of an elevated resting heart rate, although once again, it’s uncommon for this to cause a heart rate greater than 100 BPM.  As a result, in the literature it’s not considered to be a common cause of tachycardia, but I put this towards the top because it’s another common reason why someone might have a resting heart rate between 80 to 100 BPM, although sometimes it can cause the resting heart rate to exceed 100 BPM.

Hypoglycemia.  I’ve written articles on hypoglycemia and thyroid health, and this can be a cause of tachycardia.

Dehydration.  I’m not sure if mild dehydration will result in tachycardia, but if someone has moderate to severe dehydration then in order to maintain cardiac output in the setting of intravascular depletion, heart rate will increase (2).

Hyperkalemia.  This is elevated potassium levels, and can be caused by renal failure, excessive exercise, metabolic acidosis, insulin deficiency, medication-induced, and increased intake of potassium (3).

Hypomagnesemia.  Low magnesium levels can also cause tachycardia in some cases.  And many people are deficient in magnesium.

Hypocalcemia.  Low calcium levels are another potential cause of tachycardia.

Infections.  This is another common cause of an elevated heart rate.  In the literature, sepsis is listed as a potential cause of tachycardia, but the infection doesn’t need to be life-threatening to cause an elevated resting heart rate.  In fact, if your heart rate seems to be normal during the day but becomes elevated at night while you’re sleeping, it very well might be caused by a chronic infection (although there can be other causes).

Anemia.  There are different types of anemia, including microcytic, normocytic, and macrocytic.  I’m not going to get into detail about the different types here, but just keep in mind that this condition can be easily diagnosed through a complete blood count, as a low hemoglobin or hematocrit is a sign of anemia.

Caffeine.  Of course many people drink coffee, but there are other sources of caffeine (i.e. green tea, chocolate), and it’s important to keep in mind that some people are slow metabolizers of caffeine, and this might make someone more likely to have an elevated resting heart rate.

Certain medications.  Some of the medications that can potentially cause tachycardia include Albuterol, amphetamines, antihistamines, Clozapine, Dobutamine, Ephedrine, levothyroxine, Theophylline, and tricyclic antidepressants.  Since my focus is on thyroid health I should highlight levothyroxine, which is synthetic thyroid hormone taken by people with hypothyroidism.  Any type of thyroid hormone replacement can result in tachycardia if the dosage is too high.

Pregnancy.  Being pregnant will result in many physiologic changes, including an increased resting heart rate, cardiac output, and vascular volume (4).

Hypoxia.  This occurs when the tissues do not receive the necessary amount of oxygen to support their metabolic demand.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).  This is a potentially chronic debilitating condition involving the autonomic nervous system, and it is characterized by symptoms of lightheadedness, fatigue, palpitations, pre-syncope, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment and brain fog in conjunction with an exaggerated increase in heart rate when upright, despite maintenance of a normal blood pressure (5).

Potential Consequences of Unmanaged Tachycardia

Unmanaged tachycardia can have numerous health consequences.  In some cases it can lead to myocardial ischemia, low blood pressure, low cardiac output, peripheral hypoperfusion (reduced amount of blood flow), tachycardia-mediated cardiomyopathy (TMC), cardiac arrest and even death (6).  The good news is that most of these conditions are partially or completely reversible, including TMC (6), although the goal should be to prevent these conditions from developing in the first place.

Management of Tachycardia:

Obviously the goal should be to address the underlying cause of the tachycardia.  But while doing this it can be important to take medication or herbs to manage the symptoms.  So for example, if someone has tachycardia caused by hyperthyroidism it’s important to do things to lower the resting heart rate while addressing the cause of the problem.  That being said, let’s look at some of the things that can be done to manage the tachycardia while the underlying cause is being addressed

1. Beta blockers.  Beta blockers work by binding to beta-adrenergic receptors, and this is how they get the name “beta” blockers.  These receptors play an important role in the regulation of heart function.  I’ve written a separate article on beta blockers that discusses how they work, the different types, and some common side effects.

2. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.  Although some of the research I did on the management of tachycardia mentioned ACE inhibitors, these are mainly used to help with high blood pressure.  Angiotensin II is a substance that causes the blood vessels to narrow and constrict, which can lead to high blood pressure.  ACE inhibitors work by preventing antiotensin I from converting into angiotensin II.

3. Antithyroid medication.  This of course is specific for those with hyperthyroidism, as it lowers the thyroid hormone levels, which in turn can result in a decrease in the resting heart rate.

4. Motherwort.  This herb is commonly used to decrease the cardiac symptoms associated with hyperthyroidism, although it can be used when someone has tachycardia due to other causes.  Although motherwort isn’t as potent as a prescription beta blocker, some sources show that this herb has a blocking effect on beta adrenergic receptors.

5. Hawthorn.  Like motherwort, this is another herb that can help to decrease the cardiac symptoms associated with hyperthyroidism.  According to the research, hawthorn doesn’t block the beta-adrenergic receptors (7) (8).

6. Bugleweed.  Just as is the case with antithyroid medication, bugleweed can lower the resting heart rate by lowering thyroid hormone levels.

Have You Experienced Tachycardia?

If you currently have tachycardia, or had it in the past due to hyperthyroidism or another health condition, please feel free to share your experience in the comments section below.  I’ll be happy to start, as when I was dealing with hyperthyroidism I had a resting heart rate that ranged between 90 and 110 BPM, and I used both bugleweed and motherwort to manage my symptoms while addressing the cause of my condition.

There is no shortage of books related to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.  In fact, if you visit Amazon and do a search for “Hashimoto’s, you’ll see that there are dozens of books related to this topic.  I’ve decided to create a post listing my top 4 book recommendations for those with Hashimoto’s, and I welcome you to share your top book recommendations in the comments below.

1. All books from Dr. Izabella Wentz.  Since Dr. Wentz has written three books related to Hashimoto’s it might have made more sense to title this blog post “6 Must Read Books for Those with Hashimoto’s” and to list them individually.  But I decided to group all three together, although if I was only able to recommend one of her books it would be her first one (Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause), followed by her “Hashimoto’s Protocol” book.  Both of these are packed with valuable information, and everyone with Hashimoto’s should read these books (and based on the number of reviews she has received, it seems that most people with Hashimoto’s have read both of these books!).

2. Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms?  When My Lab Tests Are Normal by Dr. Datis Kharrazian.  This book was released in 2010, but most of the information is still relevant.  I’m sure some reading this are familiar with the relationship between Th1 and Th2-dominance and autoimmunity, and Dr. Kharrazian was the one who first taught me this.  I can’t say enough about Dr. Kharrazian’s brilliance.  I’m pretty sure he was one of the first practitioners who discussed the relationship between the brain and thyroid health, and if you want to learn even more about the brain you’ll definitely want to check out his book “Why Isn’t My Brain Working?: A Revolutionary Understanding of Brain Decline and Effective Strategies to Recover Your Brain’s Health”.   I have learned so much from Dr. Kharrazian over the last decade, and I would love to see an updated version of his thyroid-related book!

3. Hashimoto’s Triggers (by yours truly).  Obviously I’m going to be biased about my book, which I released in February of 2018.  But I want everyone to know that I didn’t want to release a book on Hashimoto’s just so I can say I had a book on the topic.  In fact, whereas in 2011 I felt like I rushed the release of the first edition of my book “Natural Treatment Solutions for Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease” (I spent more time on the 2^nd edition, which was released in 2013), with my Hashimoto’s Triggers book I probably took too much time to put it together, as initially the plan was to release it in 2015, but I just kept adding to it and finally released this massive 600+ page book in 2018.  So my goal wasn’t just to release another book on Hashimoto’s, as I wanted to put together the most comprehensive book on finding and removing the triggers associated with this condition.

4. The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne.  This book doesn’t focus on Hashimoto’s, but instead discusses the science behind the autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet.  It’s an excellent book, and since AIP is a common diet people with Hashimoto’s follow I figure I’d include it in the list.  It’s worth mentioning that Sarah Ballantyne was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, although I’m pretty sure her diagnosis came after “The Paleo Approach” was released.  If you’re not interested in learning about the science behind the autoimmune Paleo diet, but are interested in autoimmune Paleo recipes, then I would check out Sarah Ballantyne’s “The Paleo Approach Cookbook”, and another great resource is “The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook: An Allergen-Free Approach to Managing Chronic Illness” by Mickey Trescott.

What Book Would You Recommend?

I’d love to hear what book you would recommend to those with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis?  Perhaps you agree with some of my choices in this blog post, but I’m sure there will be some people who have their own favorites.  Either way please post your recommendations in the comments below, and feel free to come up with your own top 4 or 5 list.  And for anyone who has read my book (Hashimoto’s Triggers) I’d love to hear what you thought of it.

I get a lot of questions about low dose naltrexone (LDN), and while I’ve written about this in the past, I figured I’d put together a quick “5 things to know” post, which includes a few resources for those who are interested in taking LDN.  LDN of course isn’t specific for those with thyroid autoimmunity, as it has been shown to help with other autoimmune conditions (i.e. multiple sclerosis), as well as fibromyalgia, complex-regional pain syndrome, and cancer.  The good news is that it’s readily available and relatively inexpensive, but as you’ll read, there are some potential downsides as well.

So let’s take a look at the five things people with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s should know about LDN:

1. Low dose naltrexone acts on the immune system.  LDN, when taken in a daily dose of 0.5 to 4.5 mg, has the ability to modulate the immune system.  This could be of benefit to people with different types of autoimmune conditions, including Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.  Most people with Graves’ disease are told to take antithyroid medication (or receive radioactive iodine), and many people with Hashimoto’s are told to take thyroid hormone replacement.  This doesn’t mean that these aren’t necessary, as the reason why antithyroid medication is commonly prescribed is because it is very effective in lowering thyroid hormone levels.  And of course many people with Hashimoto’s do need to take thyroid hormone replacement.

When LDN works well it can do wonders, as for those with Hashimoto’s it might allow them to stay off of thyroid hormone replacement (or to take a lower dosage), and for those with Graves’ disease it might allow them to avoid antithyroid medication (or to take a lower dosage).  The problem is that LDN isn’t effective in everyone who takes it, which is one reason why it’s not recommended initially.  This is especially true with Graves’ disease, as if someone has overt hyperthyroidism most endocrinologists would prefer for their patients to take a medication that has a greater likelihood of lowering thyroid hormone levels, even though antithyroid medication is much more likely to cause side effects than LDN.

2. LDN doesn’t address the cause of Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s.  Most people reading this probably know that LDN doesn’t address the underlying cause of the condition.  According to the triad of autoimmunity, in order for an autoimmune condition to develop you need the following three factors 1) a genetic predisposition, 2) an environmental trigger, and 3) a leaky gut.  Obviously there is nothing you can do to eliminate the genetic predisposition, but you can remove the trigger and heal the gut.  When someone takes LDN and it works well it might feel like the person is in remission, and the thyroid panel and thyroid antibodies might even normalize.  But in this situation, if someone were to stop taking the LDN then over time their lab markers would probably get out of range again.

Of course this doesn’t mean that you can’t take LDN while at the same time trying to address the cause of the problem.  Some wonder how they would be able to tell if the cause has been addressed if they’re taking LDN.  For example, if someone with Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s took LDN and their thyroid antibodies normalized due to the medication, and at the same time they took action to find and remove their triggers, how would they know if the underlying cause was addressed, or if the antibodies were normal solely due to taking LDN?  This admittedly could be tricky, and the only real way of knowing is for the person to eventually wean off of the LDN and see if the thyroid antibodies remain normal over time.

3. LDN can negatively affect sleep.  Sleep disturbances are one of the more common side effects of LDN.  Some people will also experience nightmares.  This can be a big problem, as a lot of people already have difficulty falling and/or staying asleep even without taking LDN.  Many times this will be resolved by taking LDN during the day (it’s commonly given at night), although this isn’t always the case.

4. Getting a prescription for LDN in the United States isn’t too difficult.  For those who choose to take LDN, while it would be great if you have a medical doctor who is willing to prescribe LDN, if not there are other cost-effective options.  One option is to visit the website www.ldnscience.org/ and search for a doctor in your area that prescribes LDN.  If you live in a different country you might also be able to find a local practitioner who is willing to prescribe LDN.  For those who live in the United States who can’t find a local practitioner who will prescribe LDN, you might want to check out the websites ldndirect.com and ldndoctor.com, as you can schedule a one-time phone consultation to speak with a practitioner who will prescribe LDN.

5. LDN probably isn’t a good first option for those with Graves’ disease.  Since some people don’t do well with antithyroid medication, you might wonder why those people with Graves’ disease shouldn’t consider taking LDN initially.  Although this is an option, the problem is that LDN doesn’t work on everyone, and if someone has elevated thyroid hormone levels and cardiac symptoms it is important to get the levels under control as soon as possible.  If LDN worked as well as antithyroid medication, or even antithyroid herbs such as bugleweed, then without question it would be a good first option to consider.

How about if someone absolutely doesn’t want to be on antithyroid medication, or if they took antithyroid medication and experienced negative side effects?  I usually recommend bugleweed for those who can’t or won’t take antithyroid medication, and this is the approach I took when I dealt with Graves’ disease.  This is just my approach, and the reason is because I find bugleweed to be more effective in managing the symptoms of hyperthyroidism when compared to LDN.  However, if someone is unable to tolerate antithyroid medication and if the bugleweed isn’t effective in managing their symptoms, then LDN should be considered, although there is also cholestyramine, which I discussed in a separate article.

Should You Take LDN?

Most of my patients with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s don’t take LDN.  I can’t say that it’s something I commonly recommend, as many of my Graves’ disease patients take antithyroid agents (i.e. methimazole, bugleweed) while many of my patients with Hashimoto’s take thyroid hormone replacement.  But even if they’re not taking anything to manage their symptoms I can’t say that I usually advise my patients to take LDN, and the reason for this is because it’s not addressing the underlying cause, and at times it can make it challenging to know if someone is responding to the natural treatment protocol.

That being said, there are times when I’ll recommend LDN, and if someone is already taking LDN when they begin working with me I won’t tell them to stop taking it.  I should also add that I don’t only recommend LDN for the purpose of modulating the immune system in my Graves’ and Hashimoto’s patients, as LDN has other functions as well.  For example, sometimes I’ll recommend LDN to those who have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).  The reason for this is because LDN can act as a prokinetic, which can be important if someone has SIBO due to damage to the migrating motor complex of the small intestine.

But getting back to thyroid autoimmunity, and whether you should specifically take LDN, this of course is ultimately your decision.  If you have Graves’ disease and experience side effects when taking antithyroid medication, and if bugleweed isn’t effective in managing your symptoms, then perhaps you should consider taking LDN.  It might make more sense for those with Hashimoto’s to take LDN since it can prevent further damage to the thyroid gland from occurring while taking a natural treatment approach.  Then again, many people have the antibodies for both Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s, and so an argument can be made that anyone with elevated thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and/or anti-thyroglobulin antibodies should consider taking LDN.  But as I have already mentioned, besides LDN not addressing the cause of the problem, it also isn’t always effective in “calming down” the autoimmune response.

What’s Your Experience With Low Dose Naltrexone?

If you have Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s and have taken LDN, please feel free to share your experience in the comments section below.  If you took LDN and it helped please let me know!  If you took it and didn’t notice any difference please let me know!  If you haven’t yet taken LDN but are thinking about doing so so please let me know!

I think it’s safe to say that most people, and even most healthcare practitioners, don’t understand how important the vagus nerve is to our overall health, let alone our thyroid health.  As you’re about to learn by reading this post, if you have vagus nerve dysfunction, this not only can directly affect your thyroid health, but it can also affect your gut and immune health, and thus be a factor in autoimmune thyroid conditions such as Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s.

Although I will discuss some of the basics of vagus nerve function in this blog post, I want to let you know that on Monday June 15th there is an upcoming Vagus Nerve online summit you might be interested in attending.  When you register you’ll also receive Dr. Eva Detko’s 25-page eguide entitled “4-Week Program to Strengthen Your Vagus Nerve and Boost Your Immune System”.

Click Here to register for the free Vagus Nerve Summit

In order to understand the importance of the vagus nerve I think it makes sense to briefly discuss it’s role.  There are twelve cranial nerves, and the vagus nerve is the longest, and most complex of these.  The vagus nerve is part of the autonomic nervous system.  The two components of the autonomic nervous system are the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The SNS is involved in the “fight or flight” response, while the PNS is known as the “rest and digest” system.  The vagus nerve is part of the PNS.

How Does The Vagus Nerve Affect Thyroid Function?

As for the relationship between the vagus nerve and thyroid health, the thyroid gland is located anteriorly in the lower part of the neck, and the autonomic nervous system primarily innervates the thyroid.  Both the SNS and PNS supply the thyroid gland, and the vagus nerve is the main nerve from the PNS that supplies the thyroid gland.  However, these nerves don’t control the production or secretion of thyroid hormone, but mostly influence the vasculature of the thyroid gland (1).

How Does The Vagus Nerve Affect The Immune System?

As for how the vagus nerve affects the immune system, there are a few different ways.  First of all, it innervates the immune organs, including the spleen, thymus, and the gut.  There is actually a good amount of research on the gut-brain axis, and the vagus nerve plays an important role in this communication.  Low vagal tone has been associated with numerous conditions involving the gut, including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and SIBO (2).

Keep in mind that the vagus nerve plays a role in stomach acid secretion, and so if you have low stomach acid, vagus nerve dysfunction can be one potential cause.  And low stomach acid alone can cause a lot of problems, including intestinal dysbiosis/small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.  When I suspect low stomach acid in my patients there are times when I recommend for them to take betaine HCL, but of course the goal is to address the cause of the problem.

How Chronic Stress Affects The Vagus Nerve

So now that you know some of the consequences of dysfunction of the vagus nerve, it probably would be a good idea to discuss how chronic stress can have a negative effect on vagus nerve function.  Without question chronic stress is the main factor that can have a negative effect on vagus nerve function.  This is one of the reasons why chronic stress is pro-inflammatory, as the vagus nerve is also involved in something called the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (3).

It’s also important to mention that stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system while inhibiting the parasympathetic nervous system.  Stress causes a release of corticotrophin-releasing factor, and this can cause an increase in intestinal permeability (a leaky gut) and intestinal dysbiosis (4).  So hopefully you understand how chronic stress can lead to inflammation and affect the health of the gut.

I’ve mentioned the Triad of Autoimmunity in the past, as this involves three factors that are necessary for an autoimmune condition to develop.  These three factors are 1) a genetic predisposition, 2) an environmental trigger, and 3) a leaky gut.  So vagus nerve dysfunction can set the stage for autoimmunity not just by causing an inflammatory environment, but by causing a leaky gut and gut dysbiosis.

How To Improve The Health of Your Vagus Nerve

One of the best ways to improve the health of the vagus nerve is by incorporating mind body medicine.  This includes techniques such as meditation, yoga, qigong, biofeedback, etc.  Dr. Datis Kharrazian is the author of the amazing book “Why Isn’t My Brain Working”, and he wrote a blog post that discusses four vagus exercises you can incorporate:

1. Gargle (2 minutes of vigorous gargling).  Gargling with water a few times per day can activate the vagus nerve.  Dr. Kharrazian recommends to drink several large glasses of water per day and to gargle each sip until you finish the glass of water.

2. Stimulate your gag reflex.  Dr. Kharrazian mentions that he has his patients purchase a box of tongue blades so they can stimulate their gag reflex throughout the day.  You would just lay the tongue blade on the back of your tongue and push down to activate a gag reflex.

3. Sing loud in the shower.  Dr. Kharrazian recommends to sing as loudly as you can when you are in the car or at home.  I usually do this while taking a cold shower, which also can activate the vagus nerve!

4. Coffee enemas.  Although many people use coffee enemas as a form of detoxification, I was surprised to learn that coffee enemas can help to activate the vagus nerve.

One thing that isn’t on this list is to see a doctor of chiropractic.  Of course I’m going to be biased since I’m a chiropractor, but while many people perceive chiropractors as being neck and back pain doctors, the truth is that they can greatly help to improve the health of people’s nervous systems.  In fact, one study I came across showed that spinal adjustments of the cervical spine can affect the parasympathetic nervous system (5).  On the other hand, the study also mentioned that spinal adjustments of the thoracic spine resulted in a sympathetic response. Acupuncture is also something to consider.

While I do recommend nutritional supplements and herbs to my patients, you might have noticed that nothing I just mentioned involves taking supplements!  So even someone who is on a budget can do things to improve the function of their vagus nerve.

Vagus Nerve Activation Schedule

Dr. Eva Detko has put together a guide, which includes a weekly schedule consisting of things you can do to activate your vagus nerve.  And so if you’re looking to start a daily routine that only takes a few minutes today Click Here.  Upon clicking on this link you will be taken to another page where you will be asked to enter your email address, and besides receiving the free guide where she lists her weekly schedule, you will also be registered for the upcoming vagus nerve summit I mentioned earlier.

How Heart Rate Variability Affects The Vagus Nerve

Dr. Eva mentions heart rate variability in her guide too, but I also wanted to bring this up here, as I’ve written about heart rate variability in the past.  In the article I wrote I mentioned how I use a device by the company HeartMath to help improve heart rate variability, which is a way of measuring vagal nerve tone.  An elevated heart rate isn’t a good thing, but we do want a high heart rate variability.

So hopefully you have a better appreciation of the importance of the vagus nerve, and how chronic stress can have a negative effect on the gut and immune system.  Chronic stress is a big factor in many people, especially in 2020 with everything going on.  And while in past articles and blog posts I’ve mentioned the importance of blocking out time for stress management, and it’s something I also encourage my patients to do, for many people it would also be a good idea to incorporate one or more of the vagus nerve exercises I listed earlier.