More people than ever are being diagnosed with SIBO and H. pylori in our post-COVID world.
We moved through an overwhelming global event, and the uncertainty that followed continues to weigh on us. Add health issues, and it can feel like far too much.
The good news is that our bodies were designed to respond to stress. The nervous system adapts when it senses danger.
There are many stress responses, but the one I see most often in my clinical work (and through mineral testing) is functional freeze.
I’ve experienced it myself not too long ago. I know how it feels internally, how it changes your thinking, and how deeply it affects your health.
Functional freeze happens when the nervous system faces stress it can no longer manage. When fight or flight can’t help us feel safe or in control, the system shifts into a low-energy survival mode: freeze.
In this state, the body conserves energy by withdrawing, numbing, and shutting down. It protects us from pain, but it also blunts joy, motivation, creativity, and vitality. Connection with ourselves and the world becomes limited.
Freeze is common after:
- Emotional trauma
- Grief and loss
- Never feeling seen or validated
- Living in unpredictable or unsafe situations
- Not having steady support from the people you depended on (or lack of emotional support in childhood or adulthood)
- Shocking events that overwhelm the system (accident, betrayal, health scare)
- Carrying more responsibility than one person should
The body suppresses emotion to stay “functional,” until it no longer can.
I went into a freeze began after watching a loved one die. The grief overwhelmed my system, and shutting down was the only way I could survive it. But my energy was not the same. I could not do everything I did before.
Functional freeze is common
I’ve also worked with many people whose digestive issues appeared after difficult life events. This isn’t a coincidence, this is how these experiences show up in the body.
When we enter freeze, motility slows down and stomach acid drops. These are the perfect conditions for SIBO.
H. pylori thrives in this same environment: low stomach acid, reduced gut immunity, and a slowed digestive fire. A previously harmless level of H. pylori suddenly has an opportunity to overgrow.
Most attempts to treat these conditions focus on killing bacteria. But if the underlying state of low motility, low acid, suppressed mucosal immunity continue because the system is stuck in functional freeze, the root cause is never addressed.
This is why nervous system work is so powerful.
When we begin to “thaw” our freeze response, motility returns, stomach acid rises, and the natural flow of bile, lymph, and blood resumes. The internal environment shifts, making it difficult for SIBO or H. pylori to survive.
In my experience, addressing the nervous system is the most effective path to full and lasting reversal. Often killing protocols offer a temporary fix.
The bonus to working at the level of the nervous system is that you come alive again.
Your energy, connection, curiosity, and joy return. Your system no longer needs to hide and protect you.
Getting out of freeze is not easy
Mentally and emotionally, freeze often feels like powerlessness or being trapped. Like nothing you do will make a difference. But you can get out, gently.
The key is slow thawing. The nervous system likes the safety of familiar patterns, even uncomfortable ones, so you have to coax it out with small, safe shifts.
For me, biking helped get me moving, when walking felt too emotionally painful.
Warm, easy-to-digest meals, soups, stews, broths, teas, were essential. In freeze state, cold foods and salads often worsen the shutdown.
Warming and moving the body helps, but you must also work with the mind and emotions to create safety and release.
When we clamp down to avoid our emotions, they still linger beneath the surface, putting weight on our nervous system.
There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for getting out of freeze.
The right approach depends on personality, circumstances, resources, and beliefs. But understanding nervous system freeze and its relationship to digestive issues helps carve the right path to healing, instead of spending time and money on things that won’t work.
The problem with freeze is it’s hard to get moving. You can feel numb, tired, afraid or resistant. These are not failures, they’re protective patterns.
In my practice, I use movement, mindset and emotional work and energy release to thaw freeze.
With patience, persistence, and compassion, even the most stubborn SIBO or H. pylori cases resolve. I’ve witnessed it many times.
To heal my own freeze and burnout, I relied on warm nourishing foods, sauna visits and movement. My life force slowly started to return after doing things that I enjoyed and found grounding. Sound healing, biking and dance really helped.
You know you’re emerging from freeze when you start to care more. You can access pleasure, play, and connection. And appreciate beauty. Life feels possible and safe again.
This deeper work, has a payoff far greater than just getting rid of symptoms. The benefits outweigh anything a killing protocol alone can offer.
If you are feeling frustrated with your healing progress take the road that is far less traveled but will bring you back home to yourself.
If you want to take my nervous system quiz to measure your state you can find it here.
