Simona's recovery from severe dysautonomia, insomnia, and C-PTSD
2,802
Published 2024-04-12
TIMESTAMPS:
0:01 Intro
1:13 Life before her perfect storm.
2:26 The final straw, what was compounding, and what was there from childhood.
2:58 Initial symptoms after medication.
4:13 What were her key symptoms as this didn't go away. Her heart rate at night was THIS high. I acknowledge overlap with ME/CFS.
6:03 Did she know this was her nervous system? Her health crisis 20 years prior. Her experience getting tests this time.
6:51 This is what her naturopathic doctor told her. WOW.
8:45 However, she still did this and this.
9:08 The FIRST brain retraining program she started with, DNRS. What helped. What DIDN'T.
12:46 The DARE response method, a game changer at the time.
15:50 The analogy she used for her symptoms / extreme sensitivities when describing it to others
17:17 Discovering Dr. Cathleen King & Primal Trust. The way it made her feel. She didn't want to go back.
19:03 More details on her self exploration & primal trust journey.
20:02 Key epiphanies from Primal Trust
21:42 Disclaimer - not meant to be self blame. These are automatic responses.
23:56 What this work does. Working with natural responses.
24:39 Recap and timeline
25:09 How PTSD and complex PTSD can show up in chronic complex illness journey
25:42 Simona goes into trauma from childhood and ACE scores
27:22 Someone without trauma may have dealt with the reaction like this. But this is how her nervous system related to it.
29:03 How the nervous system plays a huge role. Her opinion and experience on trauma and chronic illness. (Note: Nothing is medical advice. I invite all types of guests with different views.)
30:26 Realizing her brain was doing this. The 3 steps she took to address symptoms (a unique approach different than traditional brain retraining). How the tanglement of trauma and chronic illness started to unravel.
32:08 Liz recaps what Simona says.
32:24 Fear vs true intuition
34:01 Discovering the good intentions of protector 'parts'.
34:58 What are 'parts' and how can we work with them. A different and inclusive approach to brain retraining.
38:27 The difference between brain retraining and ignoring body to push through. The analogy Simona uses.
39:37 Choosing values over symptoms, while not pushing past limits. What that actually looked like for Simona.
41:36 At the end of the day, we don't want this.
42:08 Self compassion for the symptom of chronic fatigue (we both realize ME/CFS is way more than fatigue, but this was just an example). Simona makes a really powerful statement. Why I think this is so powerful.
43:43 Sometimes it's not good. Sometimes were in it. Honoring that. Where we can empower ourselves.
44:43 The benefit of community
45:45 I talk about how my audience primarily is recovering from ME/CFS, POTS, PEM, chronic fatigue syndrome. And ask for advise for people dealing with these conditions, based on her experiences.
46:10 Simona promise a template/algorithm that is applicable to all these conditions for bringing our nervous system to a new state. Such powerful wisdom.
49:38 The second piece Simona encourages people to explore.
50:22 Tools parents can start applying today going through complex chronic illness, PTSD, etc.
54:26 How Simona is helping others
55:58 Simona's POWERFUL final words of wisdom.
57:41 Parting words and goodbyes
OVERVIEW:
Simona Irwin was an executive in the organic food industry and busy mom when a reaction to a medication triggered very severe insomnia, severe dyautonomia (autonomic nervous system dysfunction), severe sensitivities, and a reemergence of complex PTSD (C-PTSD) stemming from childhood. She is now a coach and mentor in Primal Trust, a trauma-informed nervous system regulation program created by Dr. Cathleen King.
Reach Simona:
www.instagram.com/turningtowards/
Primal Trust:
www.cathleenking.com/membership/?ref=41525-Heal-wi…
Follow Liz on Instagram:
instagram.com/healwithlizc
For more inspiring health recovery stories and more:
healwithliz.com/
Disclaimer: Nothing on this channel is medical advice. I am aware not everyone with chronic illness has childhood trauma. I invited Simona on my channel because I hadn't yet done a deep dive on C-PTSD, and I'm so glad I did because her wisdom is truly extraordinary. I really feel this interview has powerful epiphanies for anyone experiencing nervous system dysregulation.
*New: Lifestyle & Nervous System Programs Guide by Heal With Liz & Lindsay Vine*
healwithliz.com/programs-guide (A detailed, independent review of Primal Trust - new Level 1 and Levels 2 & 3, DNRS, Gupta, and 22 other lifestyle & nervous system regulation programs.)
All Comments (16)
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Simona is amazing and is the real deal. Some powerful takeaways. BTW I warmed my side of the video for people watching in the evening and/or those with light sensitivity. In the original my side was very bright. Sending support and hope to those watching!
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Holly cow, what an interesting interview, so far the best I ever saw in my whole recovery journey. I think I am going to watch it again and again. There are so much wisdom in it. Thank you so much to you both for making this happen. Nominated to the Best interview for the year 2024 from the German recovery awards 🙂 Vielen lieben Dank.
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“We get to meet our true intuition,”—-wow! I love this.
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Extreme insomnia here. To let you those know they are not alone,
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This was the best and most informative and compassionate interview regarding chronic health, I’ve ever listened to. I’ve taken pages of notes, and if I ever end up being able to work with someone, this is the lady I would choose. Thank you so much both of you ❤
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Thank you so much for this fantastic, mindful and compassion-filled video. I am coming up to my one year marker with ME/CFS made so much worse by C-PTSD from having a stroke at 15 years old (yes, you heard that correctly...15!) This all became reactivated (I had previously done an EMDR programme) when my symptoms kicked in last year because not everyone knows that PTSD is a relapsing condition so I've needed to keep an eye on it. Again, so inspired by this and very grateful x
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BEAUTIFUL XX Having been through the programme , I was so excited that you had Simona on your platform Liz :0]]. And who doesn’t love Dr Cat! She and her programme are awesome x Even though I am familiar with Simona’s gentle teachings, I hung on to every word, as everything resonated, including a testing rabbit hole I had looked into just today! A great reminder that whatever the tests may reveal, regulation is first and foremost. The trauma piece and how the symptoms show up in the body was interesting and insightful. Thank you for such a beautiful interview both and hope that I am able to dip my toes back into PT soon ;0) xx
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Bravo !!! This is such an amazing interview Liz 🤍 Thank you for sharing this story and wisdom 🙌🏼
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What a fantastic interview! So much wisdom and so much to learn from. Looking forward to making contact.
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great interview!
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I had also insomnia like this. I had days were i was awake for 2 days. And when i slept for 1 hour my mind was still awake. They gave me the highest dose of anxiety and sleeping pills. They had zero effect. After 3 weeks i was begging the doctors for anesthesia...somehow this got better. And after my pregnancy it corrected...
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Great video Liz…thank you
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Such a great interview thank you both! Also, so interesting about people who suppress emotions and why something like dare app might also be useful here as well as dnrs 🙏
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Beautiful what shes about fear! Perfect! Have to remember that!
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I loved this, thank you! I love Simona’s approach and her befriending series. This was very empowering and informative and helpful. Instead of just being a testimonial video which can sometimes be discouraging if your journey is taking longer than the person who is being interviewed it helped remind me of ways to communicate with my parts and not to overreact to my symptoms. Primal Trust is an awesome program!
