DIsregulated Autonomic Nervous System After COVID
Why Your Body Feels Stuck in Survival Mode & How Acupuncture Helps
Welcome back to Dr. Ark’s Healing Tribe.
One of the most overlooked yet common post-COVID complications is a dysregulated autonomic nervous system, a state in which the body remains stuck in survival mode instead of returning to balance after illness.
The autonomic nervous system governs heart rate, breathing, digestion, blood pressure, temperature regulation, sleep, and energy levels, all without conscious control.
After COVID, many patients experience symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, anxiety, poor sleep, digestive disturbances, temperature sensitivity, fatigue, and a constant sense of internal tension or unease, even when external stress is minimal. For many, this imbalance has disrupted their daily routines and made it difficult or impossible to complete routine tasks.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, COVID acts as a powerful external pathogenic factor that not only injures the Lung and defensive Qi, but also deeply disrupts the Liver’s role in regulating the smooth flow of Qi throughout the body.
Liver & Qi
The Liver is central to autonomic balance because it governs the free flow of Qi, adapts the body to stress, and coordinates the relationship between movement and rest, tension and release, activation and recovery.
When the Liver’s function is impaired by viral inflammation, emotional stress, or prolonged recovery, Liver Qi stagnation develops, which closely mirrors sympathetic nervous system overactivation seen in biomedical terms. This stagnation can generate internal Heat or constrain the flow of Qi upward, contributing to symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, palpitations, chest tightness, headaches, shallow breathing, muscle tension, and disrupted sleep.
The Liver also plays a key role in emotional regulation, and post-COVID emotional instability, heightened stress responses, and exaggerated reactions to minor stimuli are often signs that Liver Qi is constrained and no longer moving freely. As Liver Qi stagnation persists, it can overact on the Spleen, weakening digestion and energy production, or disturb the Heart, leading to restlessness, poor sleep, and difficulty calming the mind.
Kidneys’ Role
At the same time, prolonged illness often depletes Kidney Yin, which normally anchors Liver Yang and Heart Yang; when this anchoring function is weakened, Yang becomes excessive and ungrounded, further driving autonomic instability, rapid heart rate, dizziness, and feelings of internal agitation.
How These Factors Interplay in Daily Life
This pattern explains why many post-COVID patients feel wired yet exhausted, mentally alert but physically tense, calm one moment and overwhelmed the next, or unable to tolerate stress or exertion without crashing.
In some individuals, this constellation of Liver Qi stagnation, underlying Qi or Yin deficiency, and residual pathogenic factors manifests as dysautonomia or POTS-like symptoms, including lightheadedness upon standing, exercise intolerance, and sudden energy drops.
How Acupuncture Regulates Autonomic Dysfunction
Acupuncture is particularly effective for treating post-COVID autonomic dysfunction because it directly regulates the Liver’s role in restoring smooth Qi flow while simultaneously calming the nervous system.
By selecting points that course the Liver, move stagnation, anchor Yang, calm the Shen, and strengthen the Spleen, Kidneys, and Lungs, Acupuncture helps shift the body out of chronic fight-or-flight and back into parasympathetic dominance. This corresponds with improved vagal tone, steadier heart rate, deeper breathing, better digestion, and a greater sense of internal calm.
Many patients notice that after treatment their body feels less tight, their emotions more stable, their sleep deeper, and their energy more consistent rather than reactive.
Post-Covid Recovery Stages
Recovery typically unfolds in stages:
nervous system stabilization and emotional regulation, followed by
improved stress tolerance and physical resilience, and ultimately
adaptive flexibility returns, allowing the body to respond to stress without becoming stuck in survival mode.
If you (or your patient) are experiencing lingering post-COVID symptoms that seem varied yet interconnected — such as fatigue, anxiety, palpitations, poor sleep, dizziness, digestive upset, and/or heightened stress reactivity — the Liver’s role in autonomic regulation may be a central missing piece.
Acupuncture offers a gentle, effective, and holistic approach to restoring Liver Qi flow, rebalancing the autonomic nervous system, and supporting your body’s transition out of survival mode and back into a state of balance, resilience, and health.
If post-COVID symptoms are interfering with your quality of life, I am here to help guide your nervous system and internal systems back into alignment and support your recovery. Let my many years of licensed, professional experience help speed your recovery and bring you relief.
From my hands to your healing,
— Dr. Ark
