One Misophonia Warrior’s Treatment Experiences

I connected with Michael Fredrick Lawrence in one of the Facebook misophonia groups where thousands of people who suffer from this condition ask about various misophonia treatments and their efficacy daily.

There are very few scientific studies done, but Michael has been gracious enough to share his personal quest in finding a successful misophonia treatment. MisoMatch does not endorse any treatment or provider, but it’s always valuable to hear experiences of others when there is no other data for us to rely on. Here is what Michael wrote us:

I would like to share some of the ideas and treatments that I have either tried or researched over the years. I will try to do this in chronological order.

1. Desensitization.

Not a great idea as most of us now know.

2. Spiritual healing and removal of evil oppressive demons.

I’m still not sure about that one.

3. Primal Therapy

Primal Scream and the work of the brilliant Dr. Arthur Janov. In many ways similar to what I am currently doing with Morven. SRT. Sequence Repatterning Therapy.
With Primal Therapy one learns to access past traumatic and stressful experiences in order to relive the original experience fully (but in bits at a time) in order to reduce the charge it has on thoughts and behavior. This can take you back to intrauterine life and often to the very primal and life-changing birth trauma as well as early childhood. It has helped me in many ways and I think helped me with my work with Morven Surmon.

4. Dianetics and Scientology

Again, find past trauma and getting rid of its charge. This one can take you back to past lives and past-life traumas that continue to affect this current life. I have enough problems dealing with this life, and they got enough of my money already!

5. Neurofeedback

I spent more money on the 5 different types of NFB than I wish to remember. It did not help me, and actually brought on visual triggers that I never had. But a few people reported some positive results.

6. Gut Health and the GAPS diet

I read “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and went to Utah to work with one of her students. She works with autistic children and also treats depression, ADD/ADHD etc. She believes that due to leaky gut and processed foods diet causes undigested proteins and other toxins to pass through the gut wall and through the blood/brain barrier to the brain causing these many of these disorders. I learned so much about diet and foods, but it did not help my Miso.

7. Nutrient Power

 Many of these conditions, possibly Miso it is believed are due to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. They test you and formulate nutrition specifically designed to correct your nutrient deficiencies. I did it for about a year with no improvement. But I am pretty healthy!

8. Metal Toxicity

This was a big one for a while. I read a lot on the subject and it was convincing. Again, brain toxicity caused by dental amalgams (silver and lead fillings), vaccines, and other exposures to toxic metals in the environment. My mother used to put Mercurochrome on my cuts. Are you trying to kill me, mom!

I could have gone my further with this, but it would be very expensive, and inconvenient and I was not convinced it would do the job. You can check out the Andy Cutler Protocol and holistic dentistry for more info.

9. Tom Dozier

 I worked for a while with Tom when he was first starting out. I did it for a while but did not have success. He believes that this is an averse physical/ emotional response to certain stimuli. Most of you know him and what he does.

10. Hypnosis

I did about 10 hypnosis treatments with Chris Pearson years ago but saw no change. He has since improved his treatment and developed SRT, which I am still doing with Morven.

11. Functional Neurology

I took 3 trips to Utah to work with Dr. John Hatch. I also did the daily exercises for about a year and a half. Some people have gotten real relief working with him, but I was not one of them. His ideas have changed over the years and with experience.

12. Scott Sessions

I have worked with Scott Sessions once in LA and twice in Wyoming. I love Scott and we did a number of techniques which he continues to refine. He uses Traditional Chinese Medicine as part of his treatment. He works very hard at this. He does not post his results, but I think many have gotten real help working with him.

12. SSP and the Polyvagal treatment of Dr. Stephen Porges.

I have done SSP treatment on 3 occasions. I still believe that it can be helpful with this and may try again. It is a very easy treatment and not too expensive. He has a great understanding of sensory sensitivities.

13. Digestive Health

I do take many supplements and eat a very healthy diet to support my system and brain function. I eat and drink fermented foods and drinks all the time to heal digest potentially brain toxic proteins and improve overall health. I do believe that removing processed foods from the diet is very important. Chronic stress, lack of good sleep and exercise will also hinder any treatment plan.

14. Genetics

There is certainly some evidence that Misophonia could have a genetic link. It is often multi-generational. Mine is at least 3 generations. My belief is that it is Epigenetic, meaning that environmental factors will switch on genes that can cause this and other similar conditions.

15. Gut microbiota

I delved into the many theories that our gut microbiota can pass past experiences from the mother to her children. It is a popular idea and who knows!

16. The Nemecheck Protocol.

I live a few miles from Dr. Nemechek who is an internal medicine doctor. He uses vagal nerve stimulators, some drugs, and diet to correct autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Misophonia does appear to fit that description. He tries to balance the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system with the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. Our sympathetic nervous system does not seem to shut off very easily and keeps us on high alert. I may still visit him again.

There are probably more and like I said I am currently working with Morven with the belief that this condition is caused by a normally functioning brain that has learned from EXPERIENCE the best ways to protect us. It finds cues or triggers if you will that are considered a threat in some way based on past experiences. This protection is in the very broadest sense and originates in the deeper parts of the brain in the autonomic nervous system.

If you want to get in touch with Michael, you can reach him as the admin of the Misophonia Treatment Tracker Facebook group.

We’d like to hear what misophonia treatment you have tried and whether it has worked or not for you!

Please leave a comment on here and visit https://misomatch.com/miso-tech/ to review any technical solutions (earphone, earplugs, insulation material, etc.) that has worked for you. We are working hard to add new items to the MisoTech platform every day, but you can also suggest some you would like to see there. We are considering creating a page where we list the various known treatments and let misophonia sufferers rate their experience with them. What would you think, is that a good idea?