Hey POIS forum, this is my first post, although I have been keeping up with this forum and POIS developments for well over a year now. Haven't had anything to contribute to the discussion until now, thanks to the hard work of Quantum and many others who were way ahead of me in terms of understanding POIS.
The reason I decided to join POIS forum is out of disbelief with the 3rd interim report for the POIS study. It's like they set us up on a cliffhanger with the potential of VNS in the 2nd report, and then just spectacular failed in following it up with anything meaningful in the 3rd report. Seriously, a survey of POIS symptoms that took a month to peer review? POIS forum could have done that in a week. I trust that Dr. Komisaruk is making progress on understanding and treating POIS, but I think many of us find the pace of the study and the reporting of the results very disappointing.
The final interim report will likely not be released for 6 months to a year, and then probably a couple months to peer review, and I know that timeframe is unsatisfactory for everyone on this forum, especially when we have a promising treatment for POIS that is becoming more and more accessible. There is one VNS stimulator that I am particularly interested in, and was surprised to see zero posts about it on this forum.
From the "Nervana" VNS stimulators website
http://experiencenervana.com/technology-vagus-nerve-stimulation/NERVANA combines science and technology to make an ordinary experience extraordinary. NERVANA has the potential to revolutionize the music industry by being the only company offering a non-invasive, consumer Vagus nerve stimulator that synchronizes with music.
Until you read into the device, this doesn't sound exactly like what we're looking for, but it performs the job of stimulating the VNS and has several advantages that come from it not being specifically designed for medical use. The biggest advantage is accessibility; it is available for preorder now and will ship in a month, and while it is too expensive for me right now, the $300 price tag is very reasonable. While it is designed to synchronize the vns stimulation with music, it can be programmed to stimulate at other frequencies. Since we do not have a procedure for treatment with vns yet, this could prove to be a benefit, since long periods of vns stimulation may be required. If this is the case, this device would be perfect because it is small, portable, and to the outside world using it would just look like you are listening to music. It is safe and has been used on hundreds of adults. If anyone has the money to preorder it, it could significantly reduce POIS symptoms and your experiences with it would greatly help out everyone on POIS forum.
