Calming the Amygdala with sound -- BAUD device

[Forebearance]

Okay, I bought a BAUD device. Here is my report.

It came with basic instructions, but a week after it arrived I received a detailed manual via email.

The first time I tried it, I listened to it for less than a minute. The noise it made was deeply, profoundly irritating. The lowest volume setting was way too loud. So I went out and bought a different pair of headphones that would reduce the volume to a comfortable level. That did the job.

I decided to use it once a week. For the first month, I tried the program for PTSD. But I couldn't learn to tune the device, because my brain blanked out every time I listened to it. I couldn't get in touch with my emotions with the humming going on.

So I switched to doing the program for ADD #1. That one doesn't require concentrating on anything. It seems to be good.

I learned to stock up on groceries before doing a BAUD session, in case I was incapacitated afterwards. It definitely has an effect on me, no matter what frequency it's on.

I've gone through phases of being really weak and drained, detoxing a lot, and aching all over. Currently there is some kind of war going on in my head. It feels like my body has decided to kick out a low-grade chronic infection that was living in there. All of these effects have been uncomfortable, but not alarming.

The positive side has been that when I lie down in bed at night, I feel relaxation. It is an amazing feeling after going 28 years without feeling it. And my inflammation has been reduced enough that I no longer need to take Motrin in order to sleep.

So I've been doing this program six weeks now, and I will just go with the flow and see what happens. It feels promising. I like the fact that you don't have to believe in this therapy in order for it to work. It doesn't feel like I'm trying to brainwash myself.

To my fellow mold avoiders, I'm not suggesting that this would be a substitute for mold avoidance. I think a person would still have to reduce his/her toxin load before being ready to do this step.

In my case, I had been practicing mold avoidance and working on detoxing a long time. I was a lot less reactive, but I seemed to have hit a plateau where I wasn't getting better as quickly. So I figured the time was right to try out the theory that the limbic system of our brains might be stuck in stress response mode.

So basically, if you remove the "wired" part of our "wired and tired" state, you are left feeling like a deflated balloon. But a relaxed, healing deflated balloon.

@Cort Johnson, I wish that you would get a chance to try this device. I think that it does the same thing that the new drug Cortene is supposed to do.

 

[Forebearance]

I've been feeling like the way you feel right after a fever breaks. I've been very weak, very thirsty, and very hungry for protein.

In fact, I've been feeling so weak that it got scary. I decided to take a couple weeks off from doing the BAUD therapy to give my body a chance to catch up with my changing brain.

So I've been doing a lot of lying around, being as flat as possible. On the positive side, my sleep is starting to become a little bit restorative. It feels freaky when you're not used to it!

 

[Forebearance]

Oops, I meant the new drug CT-38.

 

[Remy]

My therapist just mentioned the BAUD device to me...I’m thinking about trying it! Took me a minute to remember where I’d heard about it first (here on this thread!). Thanks for posting about it.

 

[TJ_Fitz]

Has anyone found any explicit instructions on how to "tune in" or otherwise use the BAUD or Gnaural for your specific ailments?

Edit: Never mind. I found the manual, which discusses this: http://www.baudenergetics.com/Users Guide v4.2.pdf

 

[TJ_Fitz]

The first time I tried it, I listened to it for less than a minute. The noise it made was deeply, profoundly irritating.
...
So basically, if you remove the "wired" part of our "wired and tired" state, you are left feeling like a deflated balloon. But a relaxed, healing deflated balloon.

That makes sense. In that article at https://www.academia.edu/12532059/R...romodulation_to_Modify_Memory_Reconsolidation, it says,

The BAUD produces a full square wave which is typically perceived by the patient as unpleasant or even somewhat irritating. It has been compared to the sound of angry, buzzing bees. We believe that this reaction elicits an amygdala-based emotional arousal. The cortical pathway of the mechanism of action for this treatment is thought to be as follows: research shows that sound has a direct, unfiltered pathway to the amygdala through the auditory thalamus....

If it's doing what it claims to be doing, you'd expect your sympathetic nervous system to ramp down and your parasympathetic nervous system to ramp up, so maybe the absence of "wired" from your usual "tired but wired" state is a sign that it's effective?

 

[Forebearance]

My therapist just mentioned the BAUD device to me...I’m thinking about trying it!

Wow, Remy! I'm very excited for you. Will you let me know how it goes?
It would be really nice to have someone to compare experiences with.

Please just promise me that if you try it, if it feels painful at all, then don't listen for too long. If it's too loud, you can fix that by getting different headphones. And if it's super irritating, then giving your brain a brief exposure followed by some time to adjust will make it much easier the second time you try it. (At least, that's what happened to me.)

It's not supposed to be torture! Healthy people don't realize how easy it is to torture a person with ME/CFS. So I approached it with great caution, like I do with all treatments.

It is so cool that you have a way to try it without having to buy one. I will be thiniking of you!

 

[Forebearance]

If it's doing what it claims to be doing, you'd expect your sympathetic nervous system to ramp down and your parasympathetic nervous system to ramp up, so maybe the absence of "wired" from your usual "tired but wired" state is a sign that it's effective?

Yes, I think it's a sign that it's working.

The manual you posted is the same as the one I received via email. It seems like for us people with ME/CFS, there are several different protocols we could use. We could use the one for pain, since lots of us have pain. We could use the one for PTSD, if we have been through traumatic experiences. We could apparently use the one for ADD #1, since it works for me!

I would be interested to hear what other people with CFS/ME find to be the best protocol for them. It's a thrill to be on the cutting edge of new treatments. But it does mean being a human guinea pig.

 

[Remy]

Will you let me know how it goes?

I definitely will, but I think it will be after the first of the year before I start.

 

[TJ_Fitz]

It is so cool that you have a way to try it without having to buy one. I will be thiniking of you!

No doubt. Can I get in on that??? I've been out of work over a year, and definitely can't afford to buy one!

 

[Forebearance]

I wonder if there is a way to look up which therapists have one and offer the treatment.

 

[Remy]

No doubt. Can I get in on that??? I've been out of work over a year, and definitely can't afford to buy one!

I do actually have to buy it. Sorry, I should have clarified that in the post for sure.

 

[Not dead yet!]

I heard Dr. Frank Lawlis say something on the Dr. Phil show that intrigued me.
Dr. Lawlis said that at his clinic in Texas he has "sound therapy" that can treat people with PTSD by healing the amygdala.

So I did some looking around online and found it is apparently called a BAUD device. Here is an article written about it: http://www.pnpcenter.com/images/Veterans_PTSD_BAUD.pdf

So has anyone with ME/CFS tried this kind of therapy? It sounds like it would do something similar to the amygdala calming programs that we have all heard of. I guess I would rather do some sound therapy than to meditate and chant affirmations for hours every day.

Also, I have heard of a new therapy called NeuroStar that is supposed to heal the brains of people with depression and anxiety. It runs some magnetic pulses through the brain. I know most of us don't have major depression, but any time a therapy is mentioned that heals the brain, it piques my interest. It seems to be non-intrusive and non-drug. I wonder if it would do anything for us.
Here's the website: httto://www.neurostar.com

Yes! I discovered binaural beats science around 1992 when I started helping out with caregiving at home. There were times I'd go to bed feeling like I wouldn't sleep for hours and the Delta ones always got me to sleep. Since then, I've used them before surgery, etc. In the good old days of cassettes, they could record two tracks of music, each side of your headphones would give a different frequency and would induce a certain effect. I used them in studying at college too. Not bad, but the best effect for me was the meditation / sleep one. Fascinating to hear that there's a device called BAUD now, and I'll have to mention it to my pain MD because his office includes a hyptnotist who I'd describe as "aging hippie" and I enjoy working with him. He'd probably be the right one to ask. If not, the Duke Pain Clinic has already offered me biofeedback but I had no idea what that was about at the time. I never really connected binaural beats with biofeedback in my mind. Great idea.

 

[Forebearance]

I seem to be through the phase where I am very weak. Now I am getting stronger. The excess fat on my body is gradually melting off. I notice that I am better able to tolerate another treatment I am doing (nasal Nystatin).

In one of the case studies the author suggested that BAUD therapy should cure complex illnesses in 3-4 months. At the gradual rate I am improving, I doubt it will happen for me by the 4 month mark. But as long as this therapy keeps making my health improve, I will keep doing it.

 

[Remy]

I seem to be through the phase where I am very weak. Now I am getting stronger. The excess fat on my body is gradually melting off. I notice that I am better able to tolerate another treatment I am doing (nasal Nystatin).

In one of the case studies the author suggested that BAUD therapy should cure complex illnesses in 3-4 months. At the gradual rate I am improving, I doubt it will happen for me by the 4 month mark. But as long as this therapy keeps making my health improve, I will keep doing it.

YAYYYY!

 

[TJ_Fitz]

I seem to be through the phase where I am very weak. Now I am getting stronger. The excess fat on my body is gradually melting off. I notice that I am better able to tolerate another treatment I am doing (nasal Nystatin).

In one of the case studies the author suggested that BAUD therapy should cure complex illnesses in 3-4 months. At the gradual rate I am improving, I doubt it will happen for me by the 4 month mark. But as long as this therapy keeps making my health improve, I will keep doing it.

@Forebearance, have you been able to tune the sound frequency to something that resonates with what ails you, or are you still just doing the ADD program? Or something else? How often are you using it now? How long are you able to go in one session now? This is super exciting stuff!

 

[Forebearance]

Hi, TJ,

I am still just doing the ADD program. Maybe that is why I am progressing so gradually. But I don't know if I could have handled going through that weak stage any faster. I was so wiped out.

I'm still doing the treatment once a week. But that is a good question. Maybe I should be doing it more often, now that it is easier to stand. After the first time, I've been consistently using it for 15 minutes each session.

Upon re-reading the manual, I see there is a sort of generic setting for working on emotional issues that is 2 and 2. I could try that and see how it feels. It may be time to try a different protocol, after three months of the ADD one.

The manual offers a person to contact to ask questions, so I think I will ask him for advice on my situation.

One other funny thing: a couple of days ago, my handwriting suddenly improved a lot. It has been large and sloppy for years, and now it's normal-sized and neat. That is cool. It's like I have the neurological power to control my hand better. I agree that this is exciting stuff!

 

[TJ_Fitz]

Glad to hear of your progress. Please keep us informed!

 

[Forebearance]

Okay, I talked to the man who wrote the BAUD manual, whose name is Rich. He gave me advice!

He suggested trying the 2 and 2 setting, which is what I was thinking of trying anyway. Yay!
He said that even better than doing 2 and 2 would be to set the upper right knob at 1.8 and then gradually move the disrupter knob between 1.5 and 2.5 until it reaches a place where the sound feels less irritating.

I had told him that the sound was still very irritating to me, so I assumed that my brain is still pretty impaired. Or "stuck", as he would say.

He said that this setting can be used to work on the symptoms of fatigue and pain. I told him that my pain is a generalized pain where every cell in my body hurts. He suggested segmenting the body and working on one area at a time. For example, you could work on your left leg, or even your left foot.

The challenge for me will be that I am so used to mentally blocking out the constant fatigue and pain that I don't know if I can focus on it. I will try!

In my opinion, it would surely be a lot easier to learn how to tune the device if you had a superficial, obvious sore spot, like a sore elbow, to work on.

He also said that after working on one area of the body, you will notice the other parts of the body hurting more. That makes sense.

He does know which therapists around the country have a device and offer the therapy. So if you want to ask him about your particular area, you can send me a private message and I will tell you his email address. Or I think you can reach him also at info@mybaud.com

 

[Forebearance]

Here is the latest report:

I've used the new settings twice now. I've put the right knob at just below 2 and the left (disrupter) knob at 2. That is where it felt the best to me.

So far this new setting is making me detox even harder and feel even more relaxed.

The first time I tried the new setting, it made me detox so hard that I was barely able to walk that evening! I have had to take some extra B vitamins to support all this detoxing. B5 in particular helps me, but that may just be me. Also, it may be that detoxing is just what I need to do to get well.

I have a lot of excess fat that I suspect is being used by my body to store toxins. So what would happen if a thin person did this therapy? A different person may have a completely different experience.

What I think is going on is that this therapy nudges the brain toward health, and the brain gets to decide what effect that will have on the body.

I tried a new idea today. I have been sitting at my desk while listening to the BAUD. But today I tried standing up and walking slowly around the room in order to activate the feelings of pain and fatigue. Usually standing up and walking around would bring a rush of pain and fatigue, so I figured that would be a good way to get in touch with those sensations.

I am finding that it feels better to me to think about the sensations in my whole body, instead of focusing on just one part of it. It may be less efficient, but I'm going to do what feels right to me.

I really hope that all my experimenting will make it easier for other people who try this.