Across Michigan, more and more patients are experiencing symptoms that point to one core issue: the nervous system is overwhelmed. People describe chronic stress that never fully shuts off, a baseline sense of vigilance, anxiety that seems to come from nowhere, insomnia, irritability, and a long list of physical symptoms that don’t show up clearly on standard tests.

These experiences aren’t just “stress” in the casual sense—they are signs that the body’s stress response circuitry has become dysregulated. And despite their best efforts, many patients find that conventional solutions simply don’t go deep enough. Short-term medications may dull symptoms temporarily. Talk therapy can be supportive but often doesn’t resolve the physiologic drivers of hyperarousal. General stress-management tips fall flat when inflammation, toxins, infections, or hormonal imbalances are pushing the nervous system into overdrive.

From a functional medicine perspective, stress physiology isn’t something that exists “in your head.” It is a biologic process influenced by real triggers—microbial, toxic, hormonal, metabolic, and inflammatory. When the body perceives internal threat signals, it activates the same pathways used for survival, even when life circumstances appear calm on the surface.

At the Restorative Medicine Center, I use a framework called the Root Cause Triad to evaluate nervous system imbalance:

• Microbes
• Toxins
• Stress Response

This model helps uncover the specific physiologic burdens pushing your system out of balance. The goal of treatment is not simply to reduce symptoms but to restore safety, stability, and resilience by addressing what your body has been trying to compensate for.

Understanding Stress and Nervous System Dysregulation

What the Nervous System Actually Does

Your nervous system is responsible for monitoring your environment, regulating your organs, managing your energy, and helping you shift between activity and rest.

It has three main components:

• Sympathetic Nervous System: your fight-or-flight response
• Parasympathetic Nervous System: rest, digestion, recovery
• Vagal Tone: the ability to regulate transitions between alertness and calm

When functioning properly, your system shifts fluidly between these states. But chronic stress—physiologic or emotional—can trap the body in patterns of fight-or-flight or freeze.

The Science of Chronic Stress

When stress becomes chronic, several changes occur:

• Cortisol and adrenaline remain elevated, even when the stressor is gone
• Inflammatory signaling increases, affecting the brain, immunity, and digestion
• Sleep cycles and circadian rhythms begin to break down

This creates a self-perpetuating loop: poor sleep worsens inflammation, which heightens nervous system activation, which further disrupts sleep.

When Stress Becomes a Physiologic Condition

Many people are told to “just relax,” but this advice does not work when deeper physiologic imbalances are driving the issue.

The nervous system can get stuck in survival mode because of:

• Chronic inflammation
• Toxin accumulation
• Infections that irritate the brain and immune system
• Limbic system sensitization after prolonged illness or trauma

Over time, the nervous system learns to detect danger even when the environment is safe. This is why symptoms can appear sudden, severe, or disconnected from daily stressors.

Functional Medicine Evaluation for Stress and Nervous System Disorders

Restoring nervous system balance begins with understanding which physiologic factors are pushing the system into overload. A comprehensive evaluation helps uncover the microbial, hormonal, toxic, metabolic, and inflammatory patterns driving your symptoms.

Hormone and Adrenal Testing

Hormones play a central role in how the nervous system responds to stress. When hormonal rhythms are disrupted, the body becomes more reactive, more inflamed, and less resilient.

We evaluate:

• Cortisol patterns across the day to assess HPA-axis stability
• Full thyroid panel, including reverse T3, to understand cellular thyroid activity
• DHEA levels as an indicator of adrenal reserve
• Melatonin levels to assess circadian rhythm integrity

These markers reveal whether hormonal imbalances are fueling anxiety, brain fog, sensitivity to stress, or sleep disruption.

Inflammatory and Immune Assessment

Chronic inflammation directly irritates the nervous system and amplifies hypervigilance, anxiety, and physical symptoms.

Key markers include:

• CIRS biomarkers: C4a, TGF-β1, MMP-9, VEGF, ECP
• hsCRP for general inflammation
• Immunoglobulin levels to detect immune strain, suppression, or imbalance

By measuring these patterns, we identify whether immune dysfunction is a major contributor to your nervous system symptoms.

Microbial and Co-Infection Testing

Microbes often act as hidden drivers of nervous system dysregulation. Their inflammatory byproducts and neurologic effects can alter stress physiology dramatically.

We assess:

• Tick-borne infections such as Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia
• Viral reactivation, including EBV and HHV-6
• Gut dysbiosis, which influences neurotransmitter balance and immune signaling

Identifying microbial load allows us to treat persistent physiologic stress at its source.

Mold/Mycotoxin Testing

Mycotoxins are potent nervous system irritants. They heighten stress physiology, impair detoxification, disrupt hormones, and activate the limbic system.

Testing includes:

• Urine mycotoxins
• Environmental mold evaluation of your home, workplace, or school

This is especially important for patients whose symptoms worsen in specific environments.

Nutrient and Mitochondrial Function

Nutrient status and cellular energy production shape the nervous system’s ability to regulate itself.

We evaluate:

• Magnesium, B vitamins, glutathione, ferritin
• Organic acid markers to assess mitochondrial function and neurotransmitter precursors

When cellular energy is low, the nervous system becomes more reactive and less able to recover from stress.

Autonomic and Nervous System Patterns

We also examine how the nervous system is functioning day-to-day.

This may include:

• Heart rate variability (HRV)
• Sleep cycle evaluation
• Symptom timeline tracking to uncover patterns of cause and effect

These assessments help pinpoint precisely where regulation is breaking down.

Functional Medicine Treatment Strategy for Stress and Nervous System Balance

Once we understand the underlying contributors, treatment follows a structured, paced strategy that supports the body without overwhelming it.

Calm and Stabilize

Before addressing deeper triggers, we help the nervous system settle.

This includes:

• Evidence-based nervous system regulation practices
• Breathwork, grounding, gentle somatic techniques
• Sleep and circadian rhythm optimization
• EMF reduction in the bedroom
• Gentle movement tailored to your capacity

This step helps reestablish safety so the system can tolerate further treatment.

Reduce Inflammation and Toxic Load

We begin removing sources of physiologic irritation:

• Mold remediation or avoidance
• Detoxification support, including methylation, glucuronidation, and mitochondrial repair
• Clean air, clean water, clean environment strategies

This reduces the signals that are keeping your stress pathways activated.

Treat Microbial Drivers

If infections are contributing to nervous system activation, we address them carefully and methodically:

• Herbal antimicrobials
• Antibiotics when indicated
• Bartonella and Babesia-specific protocols
• Support for managing die-off reactions to avoid overstimulating the system

This step reduces inflammatory triggers that directly affect the brain and autonomic nervous system.

Rebalance Hormones and Metabolism

Many patients experience breakthrough progress once hormonal and metabolic systems are stabilized.

Key interventions include:

• Blood sugar stabilization to reduce anxiety-like crashes
• Supporting thyroid and adrenal function
• Restoring healthy melatonin and cortisol rhythms

These shifts improve resilience, mood, energy, and the ability to handle daily stress.

Long-Term Nervous System Resilience

The final phase focuses on building a stable, adaptable, and calm nervous system.

We emphasize:

• Limbic system retraining to reduce hyperarousal
• Mitochondrial support for sustained energy
• Nutrient repletion
• Sustainable movement progression
• Ongoing symptom tracking to understand patterns and refine treatment

This stage is where patients begin to feel grounded, steady, and capable again—not just less symptomatic.

Rebuild Your Nervous System From the Ground Up

Chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation are not signs of personal weakness—they’re clear indicators that your body is carrying more physiologic strain than it can manage. Whether the root drivers are microbial, toxic, hormonal, metabolic, or related to long-standing nervous system conditioning, there are ways to restore balance.

Functional medicine provides a step-by-step, compassionate, and scientifically grounded roadmap to help your nervous system feel safe, steady, and regulated again. If you’re searching for truly comprehensive stress and nervous system treatment near you, we’re ready to help you begin a more informed and restorative healing process.

Restorative Medicine Center Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal, MD
705 Barclay Circle, Suite 115
Rochester Hills, Michigan 48307

Phone: 248-289-6349
Website: https://www.restorativemedcenter.com

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