How is one to know the difference? Now days with all of the extra stress in daily life between your job, kids and family, gas prices and just day to day living, when is the occasional panic moment considered normal and when should one seriously consider seeking medical advice?
Do any of the following signs or symptoms describe you:
sweating
chest discomfort / tightness or pains
heart palpitations
frequent need to urinate
trembling
feelings of unreality
shortness of breath
difficulty swallowing
faintness or dizziness
Everyone experiences stress, anxiety and fear at some point in their lifetime, but at some point a professional opinion is not only warranted, but also wise. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or better known as panic attacks is an incredibly common disorder that affects more than 6,8 million people. The signs and symptoms can affect all aspects of your life and can be debilitating at times. Although there is strong research and evidence most things we experience both physically and mentally are the direct result in our own focus and thought. However, when the symptoms reach levels that are uncontrollable and unacceptable, an outside resource may be the answer.
After three different doctors, granted with different specialties and backgrounds, I now had three completely different diagnosis and therefore different opinions and treatments to research. One simply told me to change my diet and sleeping patterns. This I was used to as a long time sufferer of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I tried several variations on my diet and behaviors including caffeine, alcohol, sugar and smoking. As usually an abundance of anything in life is going to have a negative reaction there my symptoms did change but did not solve the problem as a whole.
The second opinion leaned towards severe depression and wanted to go the route of several medications. One may not be inclined to add any prescriptions to your daily regiment if there is a remote possibility that they are unnecessary, or the wrong type and dosage which results in an adverse reaction to that is worse than the original symptoms themselves.
The last physician suggested that a more holistic approach, which sounded like a much more solid and safe alternative. Over the past 5 months I have learned to love herbal tea again, have tried some traditional meditation, along with a couple of techniques I learned from Joe Barry who developed a program for controlling panic attacks. I have had quite a bit of success in controlling not only the number of panic episodes, but have managed to balance my IBS symptoms in the process.
