ToniM
06-03-18, 17:03
Hello,
and thank you for this forum.
I am 62 years old, Italian-born, a mum and grandma, living in the UK for the past 44 years, in Bristol for the past 28.
In March last year I had a cholecystectomy to remove my bladder, after a few years' progressive problems.
Then, sometime around the New Year, I began to experience panic attacks, quite out of the blue. I had never had them before and they were so intense and debilitating I thought I was losing my mind.
On 18th January I travelled home (Rome) for a week, to visit my 92 y.o. mother and my brother. It was a fortuitous thing, because mother had caught a bug and developed bronchitis. In spite of the antibiotics only a few days later she died, quite peacefully. Had I not gone I would have never seen her again in life.
I half convinced myself my panic attacks had been a premonition (I know, daft, but sometimes we tell ourselves these things, when we can't fathom what's going on).
But the attacks did not end. I tried 'mindfulness' exercises and meditation (I was desperate!), but no dice! Then I noticed, after taking Gaviscon for indigestion, that I did not get any attacks for the whole evening.
Next time I got an attack I tried it, and it half worked, though not fully.
Meanwhile I had discovered that Holland & Barrett sell CBD oil - the oil from the ordinary Hemp plant (cannabis, but the one they make rope from, not the Marijuana variety) without the psychoactive compound, (THC).
I bought two bottles and began taking 5 drops held under the tongue for 1-2 minutes, 3 times a day.
Well, what a difference! I have not had any panic attacks since! (touch wood!)
This set me thinking about the physiology - and in particular the innervation (nerves attachments) of the gallbladder and I looked it up....
It then became clear to me that, as the gallbladder is connected to the coeliac nerve (or solar plexus) - one of the most emotionally responsive nerve ganglia in the body - if the nerve endings should become trapped in the scar from, after removal of the organ, any contractions of the surrounding muscles could tug on the residual nerve fibres and give rise to the feeling of "butterflies in the stomach" that is characteristic of a solar plexus response.
Unfortunately that is no comfort, if you're feeling as terrified as I do, during an attack, but it would explain it as a physiological response, and not a mental health issue.
I can wholeheartedly recommend that you look into CBD oil, or any other anti-inflammatory treatment, to see if it does the job for you.
Thank you for your time.
I hope to report how I get on with CBD, when I stop taking it, hopefully in a few weeks.
and thank you for this forum.
I am 62 years old, Italian-born, a mum and grandma, living in the UK for the past 44 years, in Bristol for the past 28.
In March last year I had a cholecystectomy to remove my bladder, after a few years' progressive problems.
Then, sometime around the New Year, I began to experience panic attacks, quite out of the blue. I had never had them before and they were so intense and debilitating I thought I was losing my mind.
On 18th January I travelled home (Rome) for a week, to visit my 92 y.o. mother and my brother. It was a fortuitous thing, because mother had caught a bug and developed bronchitis. In spite of the antibiotics only a few days later she died, quite peacefully. Had I not gone I would have never seen her again in life.
I half convinced myself my panic attacks had been a premonition (I know, daft, but sometimes we tell ourselves these things, when we can't fathom what's going on).
But the attacks did not end. I tried 'mindfulness' exercises and meditation (I was desperate!), but no dice! Then I noticed, after taking Gaviscon for indigestion, that I did not get any attacks for the whole evening.
Next time I got an attack I tried it, and it half worked, though not fully.
Meanwhile I had discovered that Holland & Barrett sell CBD oil - the oil from the ordinary Hemp plant (cannabis, but the one they make rope from, not the Marijuana variety) without the psychoactive compound, (THC).
I bought two bottles and began taking 5 drops held under the tongue for 1-2 minutes, 3 times a day.
Well, what a difference! I have not had any panic attacks since! (touch wood!)
This set me thinking about the physiology - and in particular the innervation (nerves attachments) of the gallbladder and I looked it up....
It then became clear to me that, as the gallbladder is connected to the coeliac nerve (or solar plexus) - one of the most emotionally responsive nerve ganglia in the body - if the nerve endings should become trapped in the scar from, after removal of the organ, any contractions of the surrounding muscles could tug on the residual nerve fibres and give rise to the feeling of "butterflies in the stomach" that is characteristic of a solar plexus response.
Unfortunately that is no comfort, if you're feeling as terrified as I do, during an attack, but it would explain it as a physiological response, and not a mental health issue.
I can wholeheartedly recommend that you look into CBD oil, or any other anti-inflammatory treatment, to see if it does the job for you.
Thank you for your time.
I hope to report how I get on with CBD, when I stop taking it, hopefully in a few weeks.