The Vagus Nerve and Hormones

April is Stress Awareness Month

Did you know that the vagus nerve plays a key role in the regulation of hormones like cortisol (stress hormone), insulin, sex and thyroid hormones?

You may hear more and more women talking about symptoms they are experiencing, which are often linked to changes in their hormones.  We are seeing and hearing it often, on social media, in conversations with clients as well as in small talk with friends and family. 

Women experience hormone fluctuations every month during their menstrual cycle. Women also experience changes that affect their normal monthly pattern, with the aging process, as we enter perimenopause and menopause and due to disruptions in the endocrine system. These hormonal changes can come with undesired symptoms and side effects. Our level of stress and the function of our hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, can significantly affect the degree of symptoms we experience daily and during the transition to perimenopause and menopause.  

Below are a few of the common symptoms that may be reported as a result of stress and cortisol imbalance:

• Nervousness/Irritability
• Apathy
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Skin changes 
• Low libido
• Weight gain
• Sugar/Salt cravings 
• Menstrual irregularities
• Hot flashes/night sweats (increased body temperature)
• Digestive changes 
• Achy joints 
• Insomnia (too much cortisol blocks melatonin)
• Hypersomnia
• High/Low Blood Pressure
• Lightheaded on rising
• Low Blood Sugar
• Difficulty concentrating/brain fog
• Dry mouth and eyes (reduces the production of secretions)

How many of these symptoms have you or someone you know been experiencing?  Yes, hormone changes are common, but the unwanted symptoms don’t have to be.

The endocrine system is made up of glands that make hormones. Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers.  They carry information and instructions from one set of cells to another. The endocrine system influences almost every cell, organ, and function in our bodies. When this messaging system becomes disrupted, our hormones are no longer in balance, we experience symptoms and potentially disease processes. 

The autonomic nervous system has 3 divisions. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system regulates the digestive system, motility, and produces large amounts of our feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.  It is known as the “gut’s brain” as it can act independently from the brain, SNS and PNS.  The SNS activates “fight or flight” response, which increases blood pressure and heart rate, decreases peristalsis, digestion and reproduction and causes vasoconstriction preparing the body for action.  It is a FEAR-based reaction in response to the rising levels of our stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. The SNS innervates nearly every living tissue. The PNS activates “rest, digest and repair response”, which decreases blood pressure and heart rate, increases peristalsis and digestion and conserves energy.  The PNS innervates the head, viscera and external genitalia.  The vagus nerve is responsible for 75% of the PNS.  It is the longest cranial nerve that branches from the brainstem to the pelvic floor without being connected to the spinal cord. 

STRESS is one big factor that can significantly affect our hormone harmony. By definition, stress is the feeling experienced when one’s perceived demands exceed their resources  in order to manage it.  We all deal with stress, from acute (short term) to chronic (long term), due to our perception and response to a stressor. It affects our body systems via our nervous system,  which plays a significant role in how our body regulates our hormones. The stress response increases your chances of survival if you have to fight or escape from a dangerous situation, but when we are constantly exposed to stressors we experience an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system, spending too much time in “fight or flight”.  This increases our stress hormones, systemically affecting the harmony of our hormones, leading to many underlying symptoms and conditions. 

Stressors can be physical/mechanical, such as poor posture or lack of sleep, mental/emotional, such as fear and relationships, environmental, such as toxins and medications, nutritional, such as sugar and high-processed foods, or physiological, such as infections and hormone imbalances. 

We can’t always control or omit the stressor, but we can control our response to it. Take a moment to look at your lifestyle, diet, routine, work, relationships and who you surround yourself with. Can you identify some stressors?  Can you identify some small changes that you could make to improve your resilience to stress and its impact on your health?  It doesn't have to be a big change, even just taking a few minutes to do some deep breathing can have long term effects on your health. We often have an all or nothing mentality.

An overactive HPA axis produces increased cortisol, but all too often we remain in that state way too long where it eventually becomes underactive, and cortisol becomes too low.  Common health conditions due to these imbalances include:

Overactive (High Cortisol): 

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• Type 2 diabetes (blood sugar imbalances causing cravings and weight gain)
• Anxiety
• Osteoporosis/osteopenia (accelerates the structural breakdown of the collagen matrix and skeletal bones)
• Reduced ovarian function (anovulation and irregular cycles)
• Immune suppression (prone to infections)
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Reduction of the liver’s ability to detoxify

Underactive (Low Cortisol): 

• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• PTSD
• Depression

Let's take a deeper look into the 4 key hormones we mentioned above and how our vagus nerve can affect them.

• Cortisol 

When our body perceives stress, the hypothalamus releases a hormone called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which then signals the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH then stimulates the adrenals to release cortisol. 

When cortisol is too high due to stress, the vagus nerve signals the brain to release serotonin to restore balance.  

Our vagus nerve is combined with the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). The vagus nerve plays a key role in regulation, by sending signals to the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain to help regulate the stress response. Increasing vagal tone can help balance the autonomic nervous system, applying the brakes to "fight or flight” and allowing you to “rest, digest and recover” and lowering your cortisol levels.  The PNS is a response to feeling SAFE.  One of the interventions we use at Integrative Therapies and Wellness to help with HPA axis dysfunction and to restore balance in the autonomic nervous system is vagal nerve stimulation (VNS). It is a device to promote increased vagal tone.  Supporting the PNS can dim anxiety (calming the mind and lifting mood), improve digestion, stimulate detoxification, help balance blood sugar levels, stimulate sexual arousal and lubrication, increases production of secretions such as saliva and teardrops, reduces heart rate and achieve better quality sleep. 

• Insulin 

Our vagus nerve has direct connections with the pancreas, which produces insulin. If the vagus nerve is stimulated it can increase insulin release and promote healthy blood sugar regulation. 

When we are stressed, the body prepares for “fight or flight”, even if it’s not warranted.  The body doesn’t know the difference. The body releases glucose to prepare muscles to flee or fight.  The increased glucose increases insulin to push the glucose into cells for energy.  If it’s not needed, insulin becomes a fat storage hormone especially around the midsection.  There are 4x the receptors for cortisol in the belly.  This can increase the risk of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. 

Have you heard your doctor or friends talk about how important blood sugar stabilization is for your health? Yes, it's good for overall health, gut health and hormone health! 

The vagus nerve also plays a role in regulating appetite and digestion, which can impact blood sugar and insulin levels.  

If you're thinking right now how full circle everything is and how one affects the others, you are on the right track. At Integrative Therapies and Wellness, we take a comprehensive approach to looking at your health history and lifestyle.  Lifestyle changes really can and do have a huge impact on your body and your health. 

• Sex Hormones 

The vagus nerve plays a role in regulating the menstrual cycle and the release of sex hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.  The hypothalamus releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) which signals the pituitary gland to release follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). These hormones stimulate the ovaries to release estrogen and progesterone, which play critical roles in regulating the menstrual cycle, ovulation and reproductive function.   When we are stressed, the body steals from pregnenolone (mother hormone) and progesterone to make cortisol, which affects the production of aldosterone and DHEA.  This may cause low testosterone and androgen levels and increase estrogen dominance, which may affect libido.  

Are you struggling with irregular menstrual cycles, low libido or reproductive health concerns? This is one of the areas we address to restore balance and decrease negative symptoms. At Integrative Therapies & Wellness we take a comprehensive look at your hormones and unwanted symptoms and create a plan together which may include hormone optimization, pelvic floor rehabilitation, lifestyle modification, nutrition guidance to name a few.  

• Thyroid 

The hypothalamus releases thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) which signals the pituitary gland to release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). TSH then stimulates the thyroid gland to produce and release thyroid hormones, primarily thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). 

The vagus nerve plays a role in regulating this process by sending signals to the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain that help with the release of the TRH and TSH. 

Stress may cause thyroid dysfunction, by suppressing the production of TSH and also suppressing the conversion to T4 into T3.  Instead converting T4 into another inactive thyroid hormone called rT3.  

Thyroid hormones are often the ones your provider will look at if you are complaining of weight changes or hair loss. Although not all tests are created equal.  By just looking at one test like the TSH doesn't always give us the whole picture. Sure, you may not be in a “crisis” where your TSH is off dramatically, but you could be working overtime on one end of the spectrum making that TSH look “normal”. How often have you or someone you know had very real symptoms and your labs come back “normal”. This can be frustrating, and we hear you! Thyroid dysfunction is often secondary to something else going.  Our providers work with you to get to the root cause of your symptoms.  You know your body best and we take the time to get to the root cause of what is making you feel lousy.  

If you want to decrease unwanted symptoms and prevent potential disease processes, you may want to turn off the stress response and turn on the rest and relax response by stimulating the vagus nerve.  

You know what you are feeling and we’re here to listen.  We encourage you to always look for the root cause of what could be causing your body to feel these unwanted symptoms versus masking your communication system.  Remember hormones are messengers and symptoms are your communication that something is out of balance. 

Remember your body didn’t get to where it is currently, overnight.  Consistency is key! When working with a provider and implementing lifestyle/behavior changes, nutrition changes and/or supplements it takes time for your body to respond and adjust to those changes.  We’re here to support you along the way. Be a voice for your health, work with a provider that will listen to you and work with you to help you live your best life long term! 

Enjoy a free discovery call with a provider to see if our services @ Integrative Therapies and Wellness would help you live without limitations.  

Our 4 pillars of health: 

• Holistic pain relief 
• Posture restoration
• Pelvic rehabilitation
• Hormone optimization 

Check us out at www.integrativetherapiesandwellness.com to learn more 

Call 218-850-8308