*The FDA has not approved intravenous ketamine or NAD+ for the treatment of any psychiatric or pain condition. These articles reference off-label use. Like all medical treatments, the discussed therapies carry risks and benefits. Speak with a doctor at Clarus Health to learn if these therapies may be right for you.
Stress Nausea and Constipation: Relief by the Stellate Ganglion Block
Stress nausea and constipation can be from your fight-flight response being overactive. Learn how the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) can reset your nervous system to relieve nausea and constipation.
When your body goes into fight-flight mode, stress hormones are released by your adrenal glands. These stress hormones tend to slow down your gastrointestinal system as resources are diverted to your fight-flight response. This can lead to nausea and constipation. Learn how the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) can reverse this effect.
Stress Nausea Explained
Fight-flight responses and inflammation in the body causes our intestines to slow down. Your immune system, including macrophages and mast cells, are activated in the inflammation that eventually slows down your gut. This slowing down of the gastrointestinal system can literally cause food to back up, leading to nausea.
This makes sense because we want to divert precious blood supply to our main muscle groups in times of danger. Digestion can wait.
Stress Constipation Results from Gastrointestinal Slowing
Stress activates your hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and leads to a release of stress hormones, like adrenaline. These stress hormones decrease blood flow to your gut, worsening the food backup. This can lead to constipation.
Pain can Worsen Stress Nausea and Constipation
When we are in pain, our stress response is activated. Furthermore, we are more likely to take pain medications. Pain medications can further compound the slowing down of our gastrointestinal system.
Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) Reverses this Stress Response
The Stellate Ganglion is the bundle of nerves in your body that controls your body's fight-flight response, also called your sympathetic nervous system. When these nerves are numbed, your body's sympathetic nervous system is calmed down. This has many uses, especially in reducing PTSD symptoms, long COVID, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and chronic pain.
The Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) quiets the fight-flight response and its associated inflammatory response. This is especially useful in patients with neuroinflammation, such as after traumatic brain injury.
Because your digestive system is so heavily controlled by your nervous system, major stressors will impact your digestion. The fight-flight response slows down your gut, and your parasympathetic system ("rest and digest") speed up your gut. SGB blocks suppresses the hyperstimulation of your fight-flight response to rebalance your nervous system and allow your gastrointestinal system to reset.
In fact, SGB is even helpful for stress nausea and constipation after surgery. Because surgery is such a major stressor, SGB is a useful tool to rebalance the nervous system for improved safety and comfort.
Is a Stellate Ganglion Block Right for Your Stress?
You deserve to find healing from stress nausea and stress constipation. The Stellate Ganglion Block may provide valuable symptom relief if your fight-flight response is unbalanced and is causing nausea. It is important to speak with your doctor about the benefits and risks of SGB. Schedule a free consultation with Clarus Health to learn if SGB may be effective in resetting your autonomic nervous system.
Anthony Kaveh MD
Dr. Kaveh is a Stanford and Harvard-trained anesthesiologist and integrative medicine specialist. He has over 800,000 followers on social media and has guided hundreds of patients throughout transformative healing experiences. He is an authority on Ketamine, NAD, and SGB therapies. He is a registered continuing education lecturer in the Bay Area.
