IBS AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: UNDERSTANDING THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM – WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DANGER IS OVER?
When you escape from the bull and are sitting in the farmhouse having a cup of tea, all you need to do to switch off the extra adrenalin that is still making your pulse race is to relax your tight muscles. This releases chemicals which turn off the supply of adrenalin. This is the parasympathetic nervous system working efficiently; the blood pressure drops, the heart rate and breathing slow down, you stop sweating, the blood comes back into your abdomen from your arms and legs – you realize you are hungry. You are also conscious that you need the lavatory. You feel relaxed; your muscles are comfortable. So then your adrenalin/anxiety levels are low.It is easy to see from this example why the nerves get exhausted. Repeated stresses, conscious and unconscious (even small ones), keep us in a state of red alert all the time. It’s like someone continually running away from a non-existent bull; they want to slow down but they can’t. Their adrenalin (and therefore anxiety) levels are still too high. Have you ever been so wound up that you carried on working long after you need to even though you were exhausted?*60\326\8*
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