CPTSD-UARS Nervous System Toolkit
For when fixing your airway isn't enough. The trauma-UARS loop, nervous system recalibration, and what actually helps when you're still struggling after treatment.
4-part workbook series + Notion Recovery Dashboard
Coming soon - currently being refined
Join the waitlist for launch updates. You can start with the free guide in the meantime.
"I had the surgery. My AHI went to zero. I was still exhausted. Still anxious. Still waking at 3am in a state of dread. Nobody had told me that a nervous system that has been in survival mode for twenty years doesn't just reset when the mechanical problem is fixed. This workbook is what I needed in that period — when I was finally treated and still not well."
Josie — UARS patient, double jaw surgery survivor, Rest Reclaimed founder
The Four Parts
The CPTSD-UARS Connection
Why UARS and CPTSD reinforce each other at a physiological level — the shared HPA axis dysregulation, how childhood trauma lowers the arousal threshold that makes UARS worse, and why treating one without the other often delivers partial results.
Treatment Decision Framework
How to think about sequencing treatment when you have both conditions — what to address first, what needs to happen in parallel, how to evaluate whether PAP therapy is working vs nervous system dysregulation is still the dominant driver.
Nervous System Healing Practices
The specific practices that help recalibrate the nervous system after years of UARS-driven micro-arousals and chronic trauma activation — what the evidence supports, what doesn't work for dysregulated systems, and how to pace the work.
Living With It — Day-to-Day and Recovery
The honest reality of recovery when your nervous system has been dysregulated for years. Managing flares, rebuilding function slowly, the social cost of healing, and sustaining yourself through a long process without burning out.
Notion: Recovery Dashboard
Four databases designed for the long and non-linear process of CPTSD-UARS recovery — tracking what you try, what helps, what doesn't, and building evidence of progress on the days when you can't feel it.
Treatment Tracker
Log every intervention — PAP therapy, bodywork, medication, practices — with outcome ratings over time
Nervous System Practice Log
Daily log of regulation practices with mood, sleep quality, and body state fields
Wins Journal
Structured capture of improvements — evidence for days when you can't feel progress
Weekly Check-In
Weekly reflection on patterns, what helped, what didn't, and what needs adjusting
Notion is free to use. Each database comes with sample rows.
This Toolkit Is For You If...
- ✓You've been treated for UARS — surgery, PAP therapy, or both — and you're still not well
- ✓You suspect your nervous system has been in survival mode for so long it doesn't know how to come out
- ✓You have both CPTSD and UARS and you're not sure which to treat first — or how they interact
- ✓You feel like you're moving through lead even when the sleep data looks better
- ✓Therapy hasn't been enough — or has been actively unhelpful — and you need a different framework
- ✓You want to understand the physiology of what's happening in your body, not just be told to meditate
- ✓You're in it for the long haul and need help pacing the recovery without burning out
Questions
Is this available yet?
Not yet. The toolkit is still being refined before it goes live. Join the waitlist for launch updates and start with the free guide in the meantime.
Do I need a CPTSD diagnosis?
No. This toolkit is for anyone who suspects their nervous system has been chronically dysregulated alongside their UARS — whether or not you have a formal CPTSD diagnosis. Adverse childhood experiences, chronic stress, and prolonged illness all have similar effects.
Is this a replacement for therapy?
No — it's a complement. The workbook works alongside therapy (if you have access to good therapy) or independently as a framework for understanding and pacing your own recovery. It acknowledges that good CPTSD-informed therapy is hard to access.
I haven't been treated for UARS yet — is this still useful?
Parts 1 and 2 are especially relevant pre-treatment — understanding the loop and thinking about sequencing. Parts 3 and 4 are most useful during or after treatment. You can use the whole workbook at any stage.
Is this medical advice?
No — this is a patient advocacy and self-understanding resource based on personal experience and research. It's not a substitute for professional medical or psychological care.
This Toolkit Is Coming Soon
The framework is there, but I'm still tightening the paid version before it goes live.
Join the WaitlistJoin the waitlist for launch updates. You can start with The Map They Never Gave You in the meantime.
Connected Conditions
UARS
Repeated micro-arousals through the night activate the sympathetic nervous system — sleep becomes a stress response.
PMDD
Childhood trauma dysregulates the HPA axis and significantly amplifies PMDD severity in the luteal phase.
Endometriosis
Chronic pain keeps the nervous system in a sensitised state — CPTSD and endo reinforce each other.