Anxiety/panic attacks before coming down with CFS

[Mrparadise]

@ljimbo423 Many thanks again for your response! I took Rifaximin once but didn't notice any benefits. Actually I want to try it out again anytime soon though. Do you take the herbs on a daily basis?

 

[ljimbo423]

Do you take the herbs on a daily basis?

Yes. I take the herbs daily. I've been taking the same ones for a long time. I guess it's possible that the bacteria in my gut has built up a tolerance to them. This could be part of the reason I seem to have plateaued in improving both my gut health and my ME/CFS.

 

[splusholia]

I did. I was in fight or flight mode before I got ill. Suddenly very anxious. I had no history of mental illness. Then sickness symptoms made me more panicky. I had to take medication to calm down in the end.

 

[Mrparadise]

@ljimbo423 Many thanks for clarifying! Are you thinking about adding more herbs or increasing the dose?

@Littleantlers Thats pretty interesting because that was my onset as well. Was there anything that helped you so far?

 

[ljimbo423]

@ljimbo423 Many thanks for clarifying! Are you thinking about adding more herbs or increasing the dose?

Your very welcome. I'm thinking about both adding in new herbs and increasing the dose of some of the ones I am already taking.

 

[splusholia]

@Littleantlers Thats pretty interesting because that was my onset as well. Was there anything that helped you so far?[/QUOTE]

Things that have helped have included addressing nutrient deficiencies, working on gut health, and stress avoidance (hard!). I had to take antidepressants at first just to calm down my anxiety. But I believe the anxiety was partly from inflammation, so using diet and supplements to reduce that helped. I’m not recovered, but no longer anxious.

 

[Mrparadise]

@Littleantlers Thanks for replying! I suppose getting rid of your anxiety caused your stress levels to go down and improved your CFS symptoms a bit - is that true? By how much would you say that you improved? And which antidepressant has helped you the most if I may ask?

 

[splusholia]

@Littleantlers Thanks for replying! I suppose getting rid of your anxiety caused your stress levels to go down and improved your CFS symptoms a bit - is that true? By how much would you say that you improved? And which antidepressant has helped you the most if I may ask?

Well basically before I got ill are used to work as a medical professional. I had just graduated. And I remembered reading research that showed people who had a strong mood had a better chance of recovery from the majority of illnesses. So I worked on my mood first which gave me the motivation and hope that I could recover from CFS. I took amytriptiline (sorry, wrong spelling I think!) which helped my sleep and anxiety. I also meditated, and took calming supplements (I like ionic magnesium and thiamine). Then I worked on the gut. I’m still not sure of the cause of my CFS but my logic is that I need to strengthen my body whatever the cause. I was a very severe case – 100% bedridden and unable to care for myself. I’m not ‘cured’ now but I am living independently and my quality of life is much improved. I think working on my gut really improves my mood, too.

 

[Mrparadise]

@Littleantlers Many thanks for your helpful comment!

 

[strepliferuiner]

I had severe unrelenting anxiety with panic attacks since as far back as I can remember. I definitely think it wore my body down and made me more susceptible to illnesses, and eventually developing CFS.

I no longer have it as of almost two years. The primary driver for me is a strong sensitivity to dietary amines (histamines, tyramines etc) and glutamate, closely followed by effects of severe streptococcal bowel overgrowth. I had a massive permanent decrease in anxiety following ampicillin to treat the strep.

These two driving factors also appear to have disrupted my ability to absorb and manage nutrients, because I also had significant decreases in anxiety when supplementing melatonin, tryptophan, niacin and high doses of Zinc. I need to take these continuously otherwise I backslide, but its never ever as bad as the old days (shudder). Unless I eat histamines/glutamates, well then...