Dr. Lynch - Are there any consequences to essentially turning off the fight or flight response? It seems concerning/unsafe to turn off such an important protective part. I'm wondering how hard this dials that system back and for how long? In your example of someone slamming brakes in front of you causing you to enter into fight or flight - would SGB make you feel like there is no threat if someone slams their brakes in front of you?
Turning off the sympathetic response permanently would be a terrible idea! Thanks for the question. No. SGB uses an anesthesia that wears off in 6-8 hours. It allows the fight-or-flight system to RESET. The cervical sympathetic trunk simply goes to sleep for 8 hours. When it wakes up, it functions normally-typically at a state which is appropriate not in a state of inappropriate hyperarousal. Hope that helps. drjameslynch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SGBNeurocogPerformanceMilMed15.pdf
No. SGB does not turn off or even dampen a normal fight or flight response. (That would be a bad idea!) The anesthetic used to “block” the cervical sympathetic trunk wears off in 6-8 hours. This allows the nerve to RESET from an inappropriately elevated circuit to normal function. Hope that helps. See article in link above.
