When I first started brain retraining and DNRS to heal my chronic illness, I didn’t truly believe that it was the cause of my symptoms. I had spent years and years being treated for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Lyme Disease, chronic viral infections, hormonal imbalances, Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI), Hashimoto’s Disease etc, before the idea of brain retraining was presented to me as a method of healing. This was a very invalidating and triggering concept to me, I thought, “Are they trying to tell me that this is all in my head?!” I resisted the concept for a long time, before a recovery story very similar to mine motivated me to give it a go.

Upon commencing DNRS, I believed the science presented to me but I still wasn’t fully convinced that it was the root cause of MY issues. My coach prompted me to create an ‘Evidence List’, and jot down any time where I was able to make a link between my experiences and the limbic system. Seeing that I did have limbic issues allowed me to contemplate the possibility it may be causing my symptoms just as it did for others I met in the brain retraining community.

Whenever I doubted if brain rewiring was going to work for me, I referred to this list. I am going to share these, in the hopes it may help you see how your symptoms may be limbic system related. It’s also important to remember that having a limbic system impairment does NOT mean your condition is ‘all in your head’, the symptoms you are experiencing are REAL, PHYSICAL and oftentimes extremely debilitating. But often, the answer lies in addressing the mind/body connection.

• During my illness I had become extremely sensitive to smells and sounds, with no allopathic doctors able to explain why. Understanding that my brain was on high alert and trying to keep me safe by heightening my senses to detect possible dangers made total sense to me. Smell sensitivity was one of the first symptoms to improve.
• When symptoms change or aren’t present 24/7, this can be a sign it is limbic system related. Previously I had tried to understand this as, ‘why are my infections flaring now, what did I do?’, but I came to see that this was the limbic system in overdrive. The randomness and unpredictability of symptoms meaning it was coming from the brain. This was especially clear to me after my concussion, this is was an intense experience for my limbic system and overnight I had countless symptoms return. These were symptoms I had previously associated with infection, but there’s no way these infections could have flourished overnight. I have written more about the unpredictability of symptoms in limbic system impairment here.
• I had certain symptoms that would only flare during my period, I never understood why until it was explained to me that our nervous system is more sensitive at this time. As I healed I noticed that symptoms that had gone away would always reappear during my period, showing they were a manifestation of a sensitive nervous system.
• My osteopath shared his theory one day that endometriosis can be caused by the body being in fight/flight to prevent pregnancy, and this can cause hormonal issues and blockages. I don’t have links to supportive research on this topic but the fact that he independently linked to the nervous system felt like a reminder I was on the right path.
• I had developed an inability to deal with confrontations with others, I would get shaking hands and tremble from small encounters with friends, I was previously a confident and sociable person.
• I learnt that an excess of adrenaline was a sign of limbic system impairment. I would watch sports matches and go into overdrive with a racing heart rate and then it would take me a very long time to calm down afterwards.
• Further into my recovery I noticed that every time I had an acute illness such as a cold or tonsillitis I would have old symptoms come back such as brain fog and dissociation. These were symptoms others with the same acute infections wouldn’t experience. I could see that the acute illness was a ‘threat’ to my nervous system, so the old neural networks to keep me ‘safe’ were turned back on.
• I didn’t have a lot of chemical sensitivities like many in DNRS, which at times made me questions if brain retraining would help me. One day I used some chemical cleaners and it caused my lips to swell. I welcomed the reaction thinking, “yes, this is my limbic system trying to keep me safe”
• When I was working with integrative doctors and having my Chronic Lyme Disease treatment it was starting to feel like a game of ‘whack a mole’ – I would clear one infection and soon I would need new antibiotics, herbs or anti-virals for a different one. I felt there had to be a deeper reason as to why my body was so susceptible to all of these chronic infections. I also thought it was interesting that many people test positive to these infections with zero symptoms. A dysregulated nervous system impairs immune function which allows these infections to flourish. Whilst many symptoms I believed to be infection related were better explained by limbic system impairment.
• I felt a disconnection between my brain and body at times. Sometimes an event would occur, e.g a very small social confrontation and in my mind I would think, ‘no big deal’ but my body would overreact with a racing heart, anxiety and feelings of stress. A therapist I saw explained that this is a ‘maladapted stress response’, the same wording that DNRS use!
• I recall going for bushwalks near my parents and being extremely jumpy & easily startled at rustles in the bush due to a fear of snakes. I also remember being very jumpy and overreacting to bugs on me. This reaction was a subconscious reaction but it was so outsized that people with me at the time would comment on how dramatic my reaction was. Hello impaired LIMBIC system!!

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