There’s moment’s where my body stops feeling like my own, spinning, lightheaded and dizzy, a regular occurrence I was beside myself with this new symptom for the past year of my life first cycle symptomatic now nearly everyday.
It’s not just chronic pain. It’s not just hormones. It’s something deeper something that runs through my head and body… like a switch has been flipped and my entire body is dizzy and Im incredibly lightheaded nearly like vertigo in a way.
For a long time, I didn’t have the language for it.
Now I do.
It’s called the “Vagus Nerve Response”
What Is the Vagus Nerve? and Why It Matters So Much.
The vagus nerve is one of the most important communication highways in the body. It runs from the brain down through the face, throat, heart, lungs, and digestive system, connecting your mind to your body in a very real, physical way. It controls what’s known as the parasympathetic nervous system your “rest and digest” state.
This is the system that:
Slows your heart rate.
Helps your body digest food.
Regulates bladder and bowel function.
Calms inflammation.
Grounds you after stress.
When the vagus nerve is working well, your body feels safe. When it’s irritated, inflamed, or unregulated… everything feels off.
My Experience: When My Body Goes Into Overdrive
Living with endometriosis especially affecting my bowel and bladder has changed how my body responds to everything.
What I’ve learned over the years is that my symptoms aren’t just structural (organs, lesions, adhesions). They are neurological too like nervous system response etc.
Some of the things I have experienced:
Sudden waves of nausea, pressure, or dizziness that last for hours (I take the medication “pro calm” for this specifically)
That deep, internal discomfort that doesn’t feel muscular, it feels systemic
Anxiety bursts of lightheadedness and dizziness that come’s and stays for hours. These aren’t random, they are triggered vagus nerve responses.
When the nerve is irritated especially around the pelvic organs it can disrupt normal signals. Your body essentially hesitates. It doesn’t fully “release” when it should. It’s like the communication line is glitching.
Why It Gets Worse Around My Cycle.
This is the part that used to confuse me the most. Why does everything flare before or during my cycle, why do I feel so lightheaded and dizzy with my first steps in the morning, why does it happen at all.
Here’s what’s happening beneath the surface:
1. Hormones affect the nervous system. Fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone directly impact how sensitive your nervous system is. Around your cycle, your body becomes more reactive, pain signals amplify, and nerve pathways become more sensitive.
2. Inflammation increases
Endometriosis is an inflammatory condition. During your cycle, inflammation rises, especially in areas where Endometriosis is present. If lesions are near nerves (like the vagus nerve pathways or pelvic nerves), they can irritate those signals even more (like nerve damage and or pudendal neuralgia like I have been diagnosed with)
3. Organs under pressure equals nerve irritation. In my case, with organs like the bowel and bladder tethered together and nerve damage, there’s added physical tension. That tension doesn’t just cause pain, it affects how nerves fire and communicate.
4. The vagus nerve gets overwhelmed. Instead of calming the body, the vagus nerve can struggle to regulate everything when there’s too much going on pain, inflammation, hormonal shifts.
So instead of “rest and digest,” my body goes into something closer to freeze, hesitation and overload.
What This Feels Like (And Why You’re Not Crazy)
If you’ve ever felt like your body won’t let go properly. You need to physically move or reposition to function. You get strange waves of symptoms that don’t fully make sense. Your anxiety feels physical, not mental.
You’re not imagining it.
This is the nervous system trying to cope. The vagus nerve isn’t broken, but it is overwhelmed.
What Helps Me (Even a Little)
I’m still figuring this out, but a few things have helped support my body instead of fighting it:
Deep, slow breathing (especially longer exhales)
Gentle movement instead of forcing stillness
Heat to calm the pelvic area
Giving myself time instead of rushing bodily functions
Reducing stress where I can (not perfectly, just realistically)
Medication like pro-calm 5mg it helps with the Vagus Nerve dizziness and lightheadedness.
Elevating your legs lying down can also help.
And honestly Understanding what’s happening has been one of the biggest shifts. Because fear makes the nervous system worse.
Knowledge softens it.
Lastly Listening to My Body, Not Fighting It.
For so long, I thought my body was failing me with all other symptoms confusing me terribly, Now I see something different Im learning as I go.
My body is responding to pain, to inflammation, hormones, endometriosis symptoms and flare ups, a condition that deeply affects my nervous system.
The vagus nerve isn’t the enemy. It’s part of the story.
And maybe healing doesn’t start with forcing my body to behave normally…
Maybe it starts with understanding why it doesn’t.
We should be proud of ourselves how you hold ourselves together. How we get through everyday, from morning through to the night.
I know how you feel, I live with this too.
Endometriosis is a terrible disease, but understanding and educating yourself and your symptoms is one of the best things you can do. Some things may help some things may not but you’ll find a way even if you’re dragging your feet doing it.
I believe in you – we have to believe in ourselves in our ability to overcome even the hardest of challenges living with endometriosis.
Cassie x
Welcome Beautiful 