Heres some help for anyone suffereing from panic attacks. First of all, im not a doctor at all (I do quite a bit of reading on health related topics and especially on alternative medcine), but I am just like all of you: I get really bad panic attacks with all the usual symptoms: pounding heart, palpitations, hyperventilation, tunnel vision, spinning head, feeling of like head pressure or something, tingling in the extrememties and sometimes in the head, nausea, intense feeling that im going to die or go nuts (thats the worst one), then when its all over im left hazy, tired, etc... The one thing I have noticed is that my panic attacks come in spurts over time. For example, I had them in college in spurts, then was clear for about a year, and now here I am in my first job and just went through about a month of awful attacks. I think that some of our nervous systems just arent wired to deal with the constant pressures that modern life puts on us, hence we freak out. I also noticed that this set of attacks coincided with high work stress, high emotional stress, a lack of exercise, poor eating, and smoking marijuana (yeah, im pretty much killing myself from the inside out!). I remember a particular attack after smoking cannabis where I almost checked myself into the hospital (I remember thinking to myself "see! this is why my parents told me not to do drugs!") Heres the deal though: they dont have to consume your lives, as im sure you already know. I started myself on a good diet, got some exercise, and hit up the health food store for some herbal remedies. Here is my current supplement routine that is working WONDERS.
- Two pills per day of Magnesium: this is an important mineral in nervous system function. It is often depleted in our cases. Im taking this without expecting short term results. Ill allow it to build up over time and make my nervous system healthier
-Holy Basil (in pill form): do some research. This is an herb with its roots in Indian (India) ayurvedic mediciine with a lot of health benefits. It seems to be most noted for promoting calmness and a general sense of well being to those who take it. It does not build up in your system, so you need to take it regularly.
-Bach Rescue Remedy Spray: this is used by even famous people. again, do your research but it works wonders. Its a spray that you use at the first sign of an attack and it seems to stop it right in its tracks.
So far so good. Everything is completely herbal, so no chance of side effects. I wanted to try this route first, without taking meds, and it seems to have worked. I feel general more relaxed (im usually just a tense person) and I havent had any attacks in about a week (I was getting them twice or three times a day for a month). Sometimes I feel like im about to have an attack and it just goes away. So, im thinking it might be worth a try for those of you who have the same problems. good luck!
