natural anxiety help?

[keels48]

Well, it' official. After convincing myself that I have absolutely every rare, fatal disease known to man and being checked out by a pulmonologist, cardiologist, and rhumatologist, I've come to terms that my anxiety has gotten the best of me. I've had very bad anxiety for about 2 years, but I've been convinced I had another medical complication on top of it (constant dizziness, fear of passing out, racing heart, tingling limbs, pain) so now that I'm learning to accept I have terrible anxiety, Im wondering what you guys do instead of meds? I'm very much not wanting to go on meds for anxiety, but I have a serious problem here. My anxiety is interferring severely with my life. What can I do to naturally help my anxiety? Any supplements or techniques or activities?

You guys have really made me feel at home. Anxiety *****, we're all in this together.

[SeanQ]

I was on prozac for a while but got pretty fed up with the negative side effects. I agree that meditation and yoga are really great... well mostly yoga. My wife is trying to get me to meditate but i really can't sit still for that long. She's got me into this yoga called heated vinyassa yoga. It's great because it brings you right to the edge and makes it so you literally CAN'T think about anything but breathing and moving.

Aside from that I have taken a bunch of natural supplements: L-Theanine, Trpyophan, GABA, Passion Flower, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and so on. After a few months of yoga and the natural supplements (and therapy), I am much less anxious. Check out a supplement called Tranquilene (www.tranquilene.com). It's got all the above and other herbal extracts in it.

[AnxiousinGA]

Therapy and distraction have helped me the most.  It wasn't enough though, so I gave in and am trying Wellbutrin right now.  2 weeks in, so far so good.  I still use distraction quite a lot.  The idle mind is a dangerous thing when it comes to anxiety.  Best of luck to you.  

[naturalone69]

hi keels,

i feel for what you are going through. i was very sick a few years ago and notice the past week small tell tale signs of possible prroblems like 3 yrs ago. it scared the hell out of me. it would mean i took a drastic turn for the worse. 3 yrs ago i was so close to either running away or turning myself into the hospital it was so bad.lately i have noticed myself feeling slightly emotional and started crying slightly. m,y anxiety has been through childhood as being a child who was constantly beaten by friends and emotionally tramatised by a teacher who would  stick pencils into our sides and slowly push them in and yell at us. also as an adult being attacked and other stuff. anyways it is not easy when one has anxietty and the worse part for me was knowing i will have to be aware of my condition for the rest of my life. That in itself brought on emotions. you can imagine being a man and going through this, meaning the emotions ect.even after 3 yrs i am still seeing a psycologist. i am learning to undo everything i thought or did. just remeber that thinking the things you are have a root to them. in other words theres a reason you are thinking ill thoughts. anytime you think your ill, make notes as to what your thinking just before or feeling and then think about what may have triggered it. ie. despare about being lonely,-fear of being liked and people will be interested in what in what i have to say-root is being rejected as a chjild, made fun of and not realizing my interests or having some anxiety at time. when yu think of certain things remember to breath into your diaphram and slowly out through your nose. try yoga as mentioned above, and most importantly treat yourself with love and kindness. you can and will conquor this. remember that. dont worry about things when you have an episode, just feel the experience and tell yourself good things.

[SkaterDave]

I'm as anti med as the next person. I've been trying to beat anxiety on my own for ten years!  I can't seem to beat it however.  So, just a couple days ago I went to my doctor to get the ball rolling for some meds.  Here are my thoughts:

Meds won't make you any crazier.  My fear is I'll take them and go crazy, or the side effects will be super super terrible.  Also, as a scientist, I owe it to myself to collect the data.  I've tried changing other variables but meds is a variable I've never allowed to change.  It's worth a shot, especially if it does actually work for me.  How sheepish am I gonna feel if it does work and I have a decade of unfulfilled life to look back at?  Also, with meds you can stop at anytime.  If i've been suffering for ten years, what's six more months of weirdness if trying meds proves not to be the thing.  

I have a pretty sweet book for you to read if you want to go the natural way though.  It's called "The Mind and the Brain" by jeffrey Schwartz.  It's actually about his OCD lifeswork as a neuropsychologist but OCD is in the anxiety family.  It's a fantastic read as it helps you understand your mind and brain pretty well.  The epilogue is all you really need to read though.  It's about how we can change the neural pathways/connections in our mind (the concept of neuroplasticity) and have a new pattern.  It isn't the easiest thing to do though because it takes directed mental effort applied over time.  If you want to go the natural way, one way to go is this approach.  It has other names or slightly different descriptions, but the work is the same. You have to take time every day to force yourself to think different, or introduce yourself to new thoughts via affirmations or whatever.  It won't work at first or will feel extremely foreign to you but the hope is that over time, if you stay focused you will begin to achieve these new ways.  Fake it til you make it takes on a whole new meaning.  

Just some thoughts.  I'm just beginning this take no prisoners, no holds barred approach to beating my anxiety.  So I dont' know how effective it actually is.  Good luck

cheers

[turkee23]

wow you sound just like me....i have been CONSTANT dizziness for 5 months now and had all the test and all have been fine....

i have come to terms thats it anxiety but it has taken over my life. so next week im meeting with a psychiatrist for meds =( the therapist say it will only be for a little while and then i will com eoff of them.

[vbilger]

I meditate and do yoga to help ONLY because I'm pregnant and can't take meds. As soon as the little bean gets here, I'm taking my meds when I need them!

[mammo]

Recognizing that physically you are healthy is a big step......congratulations!  Therapy is very beneficial for anxiety, especially if you have a root cause for your's.  Often our anxiety stems from a traumatic event from our past that we never truly dealt with, once we learn what this is, we can deal with it and move on.  Therapy teaches us to think differently and ways to cope better.  But therapy can be a lengthy process, and medication can help you tremendously while you go thru therapy.  Get plenty of exercise to burn off excessive adrenalin, read and do other things to keep your mind occupied.  But don't rule out medication, for many of us they have given us our lives back, allowing us to live a much happier life.  You have to weight the pros and cons of medication, and if your quality of life is going to improve then they are well worth it.  Often we need to look at our anxiety like any other medical condition.....for example diabetes...if your doctor told you that you had this, you wouldn't think twice about taking the needed medication, and anxiety is no different. Don't get hung up on because this is mental and not physical, that you should be able to handle it on your own because we rarely can.  It sounds like you've endured a lot, do what is needed to no longer be held hostage by anxiety.  Keep an open mind regarding medications and I wish you all the best!