Coping with anxiety

[designguy]

Hello all, this was my answer to a recent post in another HU forum and someone kindly suggested I post it for others to see. Hope someone finds this helpful.

I found medication helped some but did not resolve my anxiety issues. What really made the difference for me was learning everything I could about anxiety and understanding why and how I had developed it. Anxiety can stem from worries, fears, repressed emotions, shame etc... from our past, our present and thinking of the future. I also learned that anxiety/panic is a paradox and the more we resist it the more it persists so the solution is to surrender to it and let it flow through us and desensitize ourself over time. Anxiety is our bodies built in warning system that is malfunctioning so we need to accept it instead of rejecting it and learn how to reset it. Also understand and know that the anxious thoughts are lies and to not believe them, their intent was to protect you but it's most likely you don't need that kind of protection. As humans our natural state is one of calm and not of anxiety. My suggestion is to check out the DARE Anxiety book and youtube videos, or the youtube videos/website of Paige Pradko. I also found the book "At last a life and beyond" by Paul David helpful as well as the youtubes of Dr. Claire Weekes. There is also a lot of other good information on youtube about it. It takes commitment, determination and time to desensitize and retrain yourself but you can do it.

One of the things I found that also really helped my anxiety is getting my hormones (testosterone), thyroid and adrenals all functioning properly and balanced. It really made a big difference in reducing my anxiety and how I felt so I definitely recommend doing it. Another thing that contributes to anxiety is our diet, you might eliminate caffeine and reduce the amount of sugar and alcohol you eat and eat easily digestible foods and see if helps your anxiety. Also know that anxiety is a trickster and will try to make you believe things that aren't true including feelings/sensations as well as thoughts.

Learning and practicing a simple mindfulness meditation can be very helpful for learning to observe your thoughts and not attach to them so you are less triggered by them. It also helps with sitting with the anxious feelings and allowing them instead of resisting them.

[Cat33]

Thank you for sharing all this fantastic information I have found the Dare book amazing too

[designguy in reply to Cat33]

You're welcome, glad you've found it helpful too.

[Cat33 in reply to designguy]

I did thank you so much x

[piu_1961]

Can you share how you balanced your hormones. I want to be able to do it proactively.

[designguy in reply to piu_1961]

I originally started working with a naturopath to deal with digestive issues and anxiety/depression issues. She had me do some neurotransmitter tests that showed my body didn't produce enough of the good ones even with the antidepressant I was on. Also tested my testosterone and thyroid which were both low. She also gave me supplements to help support my adrenals. Over the years I tried various different approaches for my testosterone including a patch, oral troche and found doing the shots the most effective. I also found that taking HCG shots along with the testosterone helped with my mood. Apparently this is fairly common with men. I now work with a mens clinic specifically for my testosterone/hcg and they test and monitor regularly.

I have hypothyroidism and it took me awhile to get the right medication and dosage and I am on a natural version (Armour Thyroid) and also get tested for it regularly. The important thing with thyroid testing is to make sure they do a full panel test and not just your TSH levels. I believe that natural supplements are usually better with less side affects and try to use them when i can if they work but sometimes they aren't as affective as a pharmaceutical. I tried raising my serotonin levels with natural supplements but nothing helped. I then did a psychopharmacological test that used my dna to determine which psych meds were best suited for me genetically. The test showed that none of the half-dozen antidepressants I had tried were right for me so I started on one it recommended and it has worked well. The test also showed I had some genetic mthfr mutations and my functional medicine psych person prescribed natural supplements, SAMe and a Vit B complex to help which has worked well. My test was from Genesight.

You will have much better success and results if you work with a good naturopath or functional medicine practitioner that has a lot of experience/expertise in hormone/thyroid mood issues, they will be way more knowledgeable and looking at your whole health picture and more open minded than a doctor or physician. I even found a functional medicine psych person to work with for my psych meds and supplements who is way more informed and looks at my whole picture than a doctor or psychiatrist would.

Let me know if any questions.