Have any of you used a homeopathic remedy for panic attacks/anxiety? I would really like to find an alternative to presciption drugs for this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Sissy

-- Sissy Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), March 20, 2002

Answers

I have heard that to really get over an anxiety attack you have to work through it, because drugs is just a temporary solution. When the person feels the attack comming they have to brace themselves. Probably will need professional guidence, I heard this from someone who was having these attacks, and certainly better than taking devestating drugs.

-- Esther (realestatez@hotmail.com), March 21, 2002.

Hi Sissy, I wish you luck with your anxiety.There are a couple of different things to treat anxiety in the Homeopathic realm.If you really want help w/it you should consider talking to a Registered/Professional Homeopath.The other optiontion is to go to your (local?)healthfood store.My bosses wife had a panic/anxiety attack a few weeks ago and got a remedy from the Health Food Store that made a big difference for her.(Homeopathics are NOT drugs) Unfortunately I don't recall which one they gave her.(Ignatia Amara is called for in case of grief,emotional strain,mental stress,hysteria,insomnia & headache)

I fully believe in the ability of Homeopathics to get the body to HEAL IT'S SELF,that is what they do.I am leaving for a week or so and won't have the chance to see the bosses wife before I go but I will find out what she was using and come back to this then.

Arsenicum Album,Phosphorus & Spongia Tosta are also listed as being for Anxiety.

Hope this is of some help to you. HAPPY HOMESTEADING!!!

-- Shelly in WV (Shitwhistle69@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

i think the herb kava kava is suppose to help and valerian root

-- js (schlicker54@aol.com), March 21, 2002.

I remember taking vitamins and watching my salt and refined sugar intake. One of the vitamins was a water pill type thing. Check with the local GNC. Drink lots and lots of water and walking helped 100% it brings out the seratonin ( spelled?) . Good Luck..oh yeah praying seemed to help.

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), March 21, 2002.

Kava Kava works very well for anxiety/stress attacks. The trick is not to wait till you have a full blown panic attack before you take it. You have to get in tune with yourself so that you recognize the warning signs that you're getting wired. Kava is great compared to prescription medications. The meds just make you loopy so you don't care, kava lets you throttle down and keep a clear head. Other things that help are avoiding caffeine when your "wiring up", yoga type stretching and breathing or simply taking a brisk walk. Walking is like valium only better for you. Try increasing the B complex vitamins in your diet. Some people have difficulty assimilating them so if you're running low you're more susceptible to anxiety/depression. Even a cup of chamomile tea can help take off the edge. As you may have guessed I tend to function on the more electric side of life. The up side is that I always have a good reason to get out fishing, the most incredible stress reducer of them all. Good luck.

-- JJ Grandits (JJGBDF@aol.com), March 21, 2002.

Dr Bach's Rescue Remedy is available at most health food stores and is a great little potion for both humans and animals. Its widely used in the dog show world to calm last-minute jitters in dogs, and also in their handlers. It's certainly a good place to start. I second the advise about dietary changes, too. I've suffered from depression all my adult life, then 2 months ago I was diagnosed type2 diabetic. Since getting my blood glucose number back down to normal with diet and exercise, I feel great emotionally and physically.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), March 21, 2002.

The first thing that I would try, if you cannot get to a homeopath for a complete interview & consultation, is Arsenica album. I have used it myself when I had the flu and was feverish & anxious & seemed delirious to my husband, though I was not so delirious that I didn't realize I needed the remedy. In about 2 minutes I was calmed and went to sleep. Arsenica also worked very well for my husband when he was quitting smoking and he would start getting panicky & fidgety and, as he describes it, "the hands of a nicotine fit started to encircle his throat...aaaargh!!!"

Homeopathic remedies are not supplements like vitamins or herbal extracts. When you feel an attack coming on, just toss 3-4 of the little sugar pills under your tongue & let them melt. You take them as needed, not regularly like allopathic medicine). I assume, if you are subject to panic attacks, that you are not drinking coffee. For homeopathic remedies to work, you must keep away from coffee (tea is okay, though, because it is not the caffeine, it is something in coffee), as well as mint in any form, tiger balm-Vicks kind of smelly stuff of any sort. That includes minty toothpaste (use baking soda or Tom's of Maine makes a fennel toothpaste which does not interfere with the actions of homeopathic remedies.)

I used to own a teahouse in Seattle, and we had an herbal blend we called Tsudo Cha. One day a woman came in with her mother and parked her at a table, then came up and asked for a tea that would soothe an anxious person. I made up a pot of Tsudo Cha for them, and after some time the mother came up and said she felt much better, and bought a package of the blend. Several days later, they returned to say that her mother's panic attacks had disappeared. They bought a pound of Tsudo Cha and went on their way. I invented the blend to be a herbal which could take milk like a black tea and have no caffeine yet have enough complexity to appeal to regular tea drinkers. I sold the teahouse last year, but you can still get Tsudo Cha there (as a matter of fact, you can only get it there.) They had a website, but I am not sure they have maintained it, so if you would like to try it, it would be best to call the Teahouse Kuan Yin at (206)632-2055, noon-10pm 7days. It costs about $4.25, I think, for a 1/4lb.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), March 21, 2002.

Hi, Sissy. I get wonderful results from Pulsatilla and Nux Vomica. I would imagine Ignatia would work, too, if there is an emotional basis to the anxiety. When I'm away from my little farm on business trips and in a hotel room, I find that although I'm just beat, I can't get to sleep... I miss my cats, worry that the dogs are out, worry about coyotes, worry about the baby goats, worry if the petsitter is doing everything she should, will I run out of hay while I'm gone. I basically work myself up into a fever pitch. Pulsatilla will just shut the worry tapes off in my mind and let me fall asleep usually within 30 minutes. I recently discovered that Nux will do the same. I'm using the 30x, by the way. Good luck! debra

-- debra in nm (goatgirl@unm.edu), March 21, 2002.

thankyou so much for your replies, and ideas and such. I will try and see what might work for me. In His Grace, Sissy

-- Sissy Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), March 21, 2002.

increase your calcium and magnesium levels. you can take kava and valerian. do not take valerian for too long though. it is hard on the liver. usually anxiety is caused from lack of an amino acid called tyrosine. tyrosine is a precursor to the adrenal hormone.. food scources are aged cheese,beer,wine,yeast,ripe bananas,avacados,pickled herring and chicken livers. good health to you. cody

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), March 21, 2002.

My healthfood store lady swears by the magnesium. She uses a product called Natural Calm.

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

They are running a study that says Kava causes liver damage.

My homeopathic gave me something called SAM-e for anxiety but I didn't like it myself. Made me feel spacy.

Did you ever journal your panic attacks? It could be possible that it is linked to food or chemical allergies.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), March 21, 2002.

"Cast your cares on him for he careth for you" the best medicine i know of

dale

-- dale (dgarr@fidnet.com), March 22, 2002.

When my daughter was younger (6 or 7 yrs. old), I gave her GABA (from a health food store). It seemed to help. She doesn't have panic attacks anymore.

-- Nina (Ingardenwithcat@hotmail.com), March 22, 2002.

I too take the Natural Calm...but to aid in sleeping. I have had EXCELLENT results with Dr. Bach's Rescue Remedy...on ALL creatures, both 2 legged and 4.

Careful of the Kava Kava...I got to see this stuff up close and personal. The root of the plant is what is used. Some of the best varieties is grown on the Island of Tavieuni in the Fiji Chain. It is basically a substance similar and based on novacaine. TOO MUCH for TOO LONG can cause nasty side effects with the skin shedding and teeth falling out. This applies to the drink that is served in Fiji, but like everything else...all in moderation is best.

I spoke with one of my homopathic pharmacists the other day...very worried about the purity of their future products and cross contamination with GMO sources. Allergies and other reactions in mass proporation on the horizon as a result.

The "Meek will inherit the earth"....but will we really want it after the powerful have destroyed it?

-- BC (katnip364@aol.coom), March 23, 2002.

Folks homeopathy is a branch of naturopathy ,herbs and vitamins are not homeopthic remedies.You've had some good advice here sissy.Also avoid chemicals,MSG,hydrolised anything(has 25% msg)and caffeine.As well as the remedy you choose go heavy on the b vitamins,they are water soluble and you will pee out what you don't need.Worked for me!....ttfn teri

-- teri (dnsmacbeth@aol.com), March 23, 2002.

Here are a few links if you want to explore the food sensitivity issue. Anxiety/panic attacks are one of the symptoms.

http://www.amsterdam-clinic.com/allbro~1.htm

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mecfs/general/allergy.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041800.asp#T041803

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), March 24, 2002.