Alternate ways to manage panic & anxiety

[Rob83]

I am currently learning to manage my anxiety and panic in a drug free way and would like to share a few techniques I've been using to dramatically reduce panic and also control my anxiety.

The first thing I have had to find is acceptance, I accept that I am a naturally anxious person, thats just who I am, I dont want to change who I am, what I want to change is how I deal with things.

When I wake up on a morning I just know whether or not my anxiety levels are high or low and this usually dictates the likelihood of a panic attack. So I take the first move, I will go for a jog/fast walk, anything that is a cardio workout, burning off excess adrenaline and bringing myself back down to a manageable level and then its into the shower and begin my day. (this one worked a treat for me, I found myself happier, more awake, fit and most importantly panic free).

Healthy diet is another important one to me, and by this I dont mean any of those crazy eat rabbit food diets. One of the biggest changes in my diet that has helped to reduce anxiety is completely cutting out dairy (well almost I couldnt give up Dairy Milk :)). It has reduced the bloating and nausea and that in turn has reduced the anxiety. Goats milk is a perfect replacement, at first it did taste like licking a battery but now I'm used to it, it just tastes like milk.


If anyone else is trying to change the way they treat their bodies rather than changing the way their bodies work with drugs I'd love to hear from you with any tips or things you have found to work well or things to avoid. Or if you are currently on medication but are considering a different way I'd love to share my experiences with you.

*Please dont take any offence by my personal opinions on drugs. Although I feel they aren't right for me I do understand there are circumstances where drugs can be vastly more beneficial than an apple a day.

[heavenly]

Hi there, well I am on meds and aren't thinking about coming off of them at the mo, its only been about a month since I started getting these dreaded anxiety/panic attacks, so its early days, I am also having counselling as well to get to the bottom of why this has happened to me. But I do love your ideas.

I am trying to exercise more, and your explanation of why we should, really makes sense. Going to do Tai Chi and Yoga, I think. Also, food as well, me and other half have cut out wheat and we are quite up to changing to goats milk and introducing more and more organic food into our diet. Anything to help my anxiety and other half wants to join in with my healthy changes. I will watch this thread with interest. Thanks. xx

[olderfella]

Hi Rob i go to the gym every day and lift weights and do cardio although this seems to make a major improvement i have actualy made myself so breathless and my heart rate rise very high that panic set in, so if exercise is burning off excess adrenaline what was happening to me when i started to panic?

[joannap]

hi olderfellea - you obviously relate the heart rate and breathlessness with panic so you then panic but i am sure the exercise is bringing the underlying adrenalin down but perhaps you need to go a bit easier!

rob83 - i love your post - i am down to 5mg ssri and have decided that yes - i am a naturally anxious person but will manage med free - i find that cutting down on junk food helps - if i eat crisps/chocolate etc all in same day i feel pretty rough the next. i also find that cutting my general tension levels helps - trying to find time to unwind and also to be on time for things - we do not realise how much stress and therefore adrenalin we pile on ourselves with our own bad habits!

[jothenurse]

olderfella: I have found that this is my main problem with exercising. Before I had the panic disorder, I exercised regularly at the gym with cardio and weights. When I got the panic disorder, I ended up in the ER a few times with a rapid heart rate (160's), so now when I try to exercise and find my pulse going up, I start to panic. If anyone has any tips on how to get over that, I'd really appreciate it. I really miss working out.

[Rob83]

Jo the nurse, you can bring on panic just by deliberately hyperventilating, its actually one of the techniques used to help people understand their panic. Its all interlinked, adrenaline, breathing, heart rate, muscle tension, change one you change them all.

The average resting heart rate for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, while well-conditioned athletes can achieve between 40 and 60 beats per minute. The general rule for maximum pulse rate is 220 minus your age, and the target for a healthy pulse rate during, or just after, exercise, is 60-80 per cent of this. So if you are getting a heart rate of 160 then unless you are 60 years old then really your heart will be fine not to mention that with regular excercise your heart rate will improve. When I first started excercising I thought my heart was trying to beat out of my chest but there was no pain, it was still beating which is always a good sign and it began to slow down after, basically it did exactly whats its meant to do.

I do think that anxiety and panic is a result of modern day living, from the food we eat to the way we live our lives, really we are just animals and we have built an ever increasingly more complicated way of life, I think us panickers are actually just more tuned into our own fight flight response even though modern day living rarely has use for it causing us confusion (which in turn tunes us in even more and the snowball effect kicks in). Its all very complicated and a nightmare for us.

[daybyday]

I am hoping and praying that the supplement regime I am on through a new dr to correct deficencies will help me. Along with knowing I need a major overhaul on my thinking pattern of thoughts.

[karenza]

loved reading your ideas but as my son is agrophobic and gets in a panic leaving the house excercise is hard to do, wish i could think of a way to try him with your ideas.

[Jaco45er]

Hi Rob

I must say I agree with everything you say. After years of anxiety, trying meds, therapy etc, three key components helped keep my anxiety at bay:

Claire Weekes books: for the understanding

The gym: Really hard at first, gym and anxiety is no fun, but after 3 weeks all those fight of flight anxiety causing chemicals were being kepted at bay

The diet: you are what you eat ;)

Although I do tend to let it all slip now and again, too much wine, periods were I stay away from the gym for weeks, I find when the ole anxiety kicks in, that's my wake up call for getting back down the gym.

The other benefit is just that sense of well being you get when you get yourself a little fitter (I am at the stage were I need to get back into the gym, only been twice in 2 months and feeling a little blugh).

Karenza, sorry to hear about your son, but you can develop exercise routines at home. And exercise bikes, cross-trainers, rowing machines are great for at home (look on ebay, there is loads of cheap 2nd hand machines being sold as they no longer need clothes horses ;)).

Jaco

[happycamper]

Hi Rob,
Interesting post from you.
I am taking citalopram and have been for 3 months, however don't want to be stuck on them for long and am working on alternative ways to rid myself of the anxiety that reared it's ugly head 3 years ago.
Yoga I find is fantastic, the classes have taught me more relaxation techniques and I'm trying to work on mindfulness meditation which keeps cropping up more and more in newspaper articles etc. Not sure how much it will help my anxiety problem but it's something positive to focus on.
I agree that modern day living contributes greatly to anxiety where it seems mindfulness has a big part to play. However having young sons and working part time gives me little time for opportunities to exercise and relaxation, but then I'm only one of many in similar situations so not grumbling.
Interested to hear about the dairy free diet Rob, can't see the link between that and anxiety so would love to hear more...

[Rob83]

DAIRY FREE, I honestly dont really get that one, its been trial and error cutting things out, trying new things, it may be just something specific to me but after just a week of no dairy I just felt so different, I am looking into why this could be, specifically at metabolism/thermic effect of foods. Basically food is energy, the rate we use the energy is controlled by hormones and the nervous system, digesting food requires energy, different foods require different amounts of energy and the distribution of this energy again is controlled by the hormones and nervous system. So by controlling what is been eaten, you can control the levels at which these chemicals are released and even when. There is also the whole side of what is in foods and the effect on your body but its all very complicated and something I'm only just scratching the surface of at the moment. Its just one approach to the problem, the human body is unbelievably complex and any one change can (and does) have a knock on effect.

My basic way of thinking is that the answer is out there for everyone, it cant possibly be the same for everyone because no two people are the same, no two people have had the same experiences, no two people live the same life, the ideas for change can be floated around but you've just got to be brave, take control of yourself, your life and experiment.

[Nigel H]

I would refer any of you to this information - as per the link below.

http://www.timelinetherapy.net/anxiety.html

http://www.timelinetherapy.net/

Note the section on Negative Emotions too ....

There are some very effective ways to deal with anxiety now, to enable you to leave those old attacks behind you and feel more comfortable about things that previously would have led you in to an anxious state and panic.

I really feel for anyone who is going through such things, having had my own 'stuff' to handle in the past. I know these methods work because I had them used on me and have got the 'old me' back again.

If I can help anyone with further information on this, then please ask me and I will do what I can to help.

Nigel

[kibbutz83]

Hey Rob, thankyou for your wisdom and a different perspective :) I personally believe that the exhausted body needs to be treated naturopathically, and holistically. If not then the problems which we presented with are just being perpetuated......

[Nigel H]

Interesting point Rob ... and if you want some further reading on the mind-body / body-mind link, I can suggest Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra ..... enlightening.

Has some very good points in regard to Cause & Effect for things like Neurotransmitters and stuff .... !

Nig