Hormone inbalance/anxiety??

[jqq]

Hey everyone, my girlfriend has been diagnosed with anxiety. First a little about her background. She has the most supportive family, never been abused or anything like that. She also has a boyfriend that loves her. She began experiencing this anxiety, a few years ago and she went to a psychologist and that fixed everything until now. She has been having panic attacks, where she thinks that she is having a heart attack. She has a fear of dying, and choking. She reports having trouble breathing and various things that are associated with anxiety. She has been checked out by doctors and they have all told her that she is a perfectly normal girl. She is currently going to chinese medicine doctor that is giving her different natural stuff to help her with the anxiety, acupuncture and a psychologist. Previous psychologists have recommended Xanax but she wants to take the natural way, as before she defeated the anxiety with out drugs    Before these recent panic attacks she was on natural hormones because she was having irregular periods and painful ones. Her hormones are unbalanced. Doctors have recommended that she go on birth control but she doesn't want the side effects that come with it. My Question is, could the inbalance of the hormones be causing her brain chemistry to change therefore causing anxiety? Would birth control fix her hormones and therefore help her anxiety? thanks.

[Paxiled]

There is no proof that an imbalance of brain chemistry causes anxiety or depression or anything else.  So forget that route.  It's also very unlikely that natural hormone treatment would cause this kind of problem, depending on what you mean by natural hormone treatment.  There are herbal treatments, and then there are treatments synthetically manufactured by an ingredient in the Mexican wild yam.  These were the original hormone treatments.  They are close to natural, but are still synthesized, but are much closer to human hormones than the much stronger ones invented later.  It sounds to me like she has an anxiety disorder, like the rest of us on this forum.  I would say, give the natural treatments time to work.  Medication doesn't cure anyway, it just helps us cope, and since she's seeing a psychotherapist, that's where any cure if there is one would lie.  And Chinese medicine can be very effective in balancing the system.  Chinese medicine believes fear comes from, I believe, the kidneys, and the acupuncture and the herbs will be used to try and strengthen her adrenals and organs.  But the natural route does take time; there's no pretense of a magic pill as in pharmaceutical medicine, and she seems aware of that.  So give her time to do it her way; if it doesn't work, she can always try medication at any time, including birth control pills, but she has valid reasons for wanting to avoid that -- it does throw off the body's natural balance and can lead to trouble down the road, though birth control is less likely to do that than hormone therapy.  Just let her know you support her, and if this approach fails, I'm sure she'll be more than willing to try something else.  

[skepticalpeach]

Those are some symptoms of anxiety, but it sounds like there is something else wrong with her. It's very unusual to have symptoms like that for no reason. Since you said that she had irregular (and painful?) periods it could be related to that. She should go see an OBGYN.

[CassCore]

Absolutly the pill can help! I have panic disorder and anxiety and I take the pill. I have had nothing but positive things come from taking it. My periods are so much more managable, my horomones are regulated so I'm less moody, my skin cleared up, and above all the only time I experience any anxiety is right before I start my period but she could take her natural supplement at that time to try and prevent this. Tell her that birth control is a natural way of helping her. It is just adding extra horomones that your body already produces to her system. There are many different kinds and she would have to talk to her doctor about the best one for her, but I prefer the monophasic kind. This is the same amount of hormone in each pill, but she may prefer the triphasic which mimics the body's natural cycle more. So there ya go! Tell us how it goes!

[nikki1408]

first off just to make you feel better all those symptoms you have just talked about are anxiety. i have never done the natural hormones or any of that so i dont know the cause and effect with thise. but i am on birth control. i have been on the same birth control for years and i have not had ANY side effects from it whatsoever. i hope i helped at least a little.
nikki1408