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Experiencing Anxiety and trapped feelings - psychological / physiological

Emmarose47

Senior Member
Messages
2,115
Location
UK
Hi
My anxiety since I've been experiencing longer and worse flares has increased ..
In the mornings is especially more difficult .. tight chest , shallow breath , knotted stomach ... It's v unpleasant ..
Some of it seems related to being in the house a lot and feeling trapped . Losing control over life in the way it was and being able to go on long walks , be busy , be with others , work etc all this must have an effect on lack of stress relief. Lack of exercise having an effect on oxygen , the heart , blood and nervous system .. Some maybe to do with the physiological effect of CFS flare ...
All thoughts welcome ...
What helps you with anxiety ?
What helps you with lack of exercise and fresh air ... Being free to roam ...
 

Judee

Psalm 46:1-3
Messages
4,461
Location
Great Lakes
In the mornings

Mornings are the worst for many of us. I've taken to telling myself that it's morning and going to be bad.

Some of it seems related to being in the house a lot and feeling trapped .

Have you tried sitting by an open window or putting a chair on the back porch (if you have one) and sitting out there for a while? At least the breeze on your face might help. You could take some deeper breaths.

Do you live alone? That can also make it hard. It seems like all those types of feelings come flooding in if you cannot talk to someone close on a regular basis.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Thanks I love tumeric and can easily up my intake of that ...
I also have sinus issues so that's interesting ...

The NAG I found to be the far most potent anti-anxiety supplement. Turmeric and flaxseed oil are add-ons which further help. I suspect NAG works by reducing the brain inflammation which may underpin anxiety symptoms.
 

Rebeccare

Moose Enthusiast
Messages
9,064
Location
Massachusetts

DogLover

Senior Member
Messages
187
Kava is not super safe. Please read up on the side effects and risks.
I've looked and all I found was a bit about dry skin and yellowing. I've read that it boosts GABA receptor sensitivity. Do you have any sources or words of advice?


Aside that I found a few things that corresponded with dramatic anxiety reductions. Any thoughts are welcome...
1. Food. After quitting gluten my anxiety went from 9/10 down to a 5/10. It was that dramatic. I tested eating gluten three times since quitting and all three times my anxiety went back up through the roof. In my mind there is a definite causal role. I also quit eating sugar, dairy and any processed garbage at the same time. I don't think I'm quite as sensitive to those as I am gluten.

2. Candida. I battled candida for a few months. I'm not 100% sure that I had a candida problem, but remember a reduction in anxiety after a few heroic episodes in the bathroom. :) I would imagine that most people eating the std american diet and that have had a round or two of antibiotics would have candida. I still stay away from sugar and periodically take supps to fight candida as maintenance.

3. Supplements. As for the supplements mentioned by the great Hip, I take some of them and it seams that sometimes they help and other times not. It is a frustrating rope-a-dope. I already mentioned KAVA.

4. Benadryl (diphenyhydramine). If I start wigging out and feel an anxiety/depressive attack coming on, I will take a chip of Benadryl 10mg and that calms me down and works pretty much everytime.

5. Benzos. Generally, they are to be avoided because of dependency.

Given the fact that benadryl and diet are great influencers of anxiety in my case, I suspect there is still a food sensitivity that I'm unable to isolate, but my diet is very clean. On thing I haven't tried yet is intermittent fasting. In any case I believe the immune system and systemic inflammation are involved. Still trying. I recently gave up eggs....

Good Luck!
 

DogLover

Senior Member
Messages
187
One more thing about inflammation....

I saw on a Dr Kan video that inflammation can cause its own inflammation in a self sustaining vicious cycle. The implications of this are that even though you may have removed the original source of the inflammation, like gluten or whatever, the inflamed state can itself create it's own inflammation. A few supplements can calm down this inflamed state:
1. Tumeric - Is there anything this wonder spice can't do?
2. Fish Oil - Mostly Omega 3s.
3. Glutathione, s-actyal-glutathione, s-acytal-cystine:

Here's the video:
 

livinglighter

Senior Member
Messages
379
Hi
My anxiety since I've been experiencing longer and worse flares has increased ..
In the mornings is especially more difficult .. tight chest , shallow breath , knotted stomach ... It's v unpleasant ..
Some of it seems related to being in the house a lot and feeling trapped . Losing control over life in the way it was and being able to go on long walks , be busy , be with others , work etc all this must have an effect on lack of stress relief. Lack of exercise having an effect on oxygen , the heart , blood and nervous system .. Some maybe to do with the physiological effect of CFS flare ...
All thoughts welcome ...
What helps you with anxiety ?
What helps you with lack of exercise and fresh air ... Being free to roam ...

Mindfulness activities can help with the anxiety mediated by the reasons you mentioned, but it won't stop the anxiety from the release of adrenaline due to HPA axis dysfunction that also causes the symptoms you mention.
 

Booble

Senior Member
Messages
1,397
>>>I've looked and all I found was a bit about dry skin and yellowing. I've read that it boosts GABA receptor sensitivity. Do you have any sources or words of advice? <<<

Liver toxicity leading to the need for liver transplants.
 

Booble

Senior Member
Messages
1,397
Yes, I can't remember the details but when all the kava bars were opening up in my area I looked into and decided not to risk it.
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
Kava is not super safe. Please read up on the side effects and risks.
I agree.

There are multiple risks associated with Kava that somehow dont get into the glowing reports, or, if they are mentioned, are glossed over, including liver damage, sometimes extreme, and a definite risk of addiction, or, if you prefer, 'habituation'.

Please be careful, do some deep research, particularly on your supplier and their kava sources and refining/preparing techniques.
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
I never knew it could do liver damage.
I can't remember the details but when all the kava bars were opening up in my area I looked into and decided not to risk it.
There are parts of the kava plant that are, among other issues, hepatotoxic, and potentially lethal. If the kava you use is poorly prepared and the poisonous parts, even in relatively small amounts, are part of the compound, it can cause extensive and wide-ranging damage ....


As an aside, when Freud et al were snurfling cocaine, it was regarded as extremely safe and even therapeutic. It was eventually discovered that it was the exact opposite, but that knowledge was apparently lost by the 1970's and early 80's, when once again, it was touted as a benign social drug with positive side effects. Until they discovered that it wasn't.

But by that time, a world of damage had been done.

Please proceed with caution, yes?

EDIT ..... finally found the right word .... it's that kind of day ....
 
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YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
@Emmarose47
I think Ive already posted about this to you, but I don't trust my memory, so here it is again:


I had really devastating, almost deadly, panic/anxiety issues for almost 2 years. It's hard to describe credibly to anyone who hasnt experienced it, but they were incapacitating, and relentless to the point of making me suicidal.

Seeking help from the medical community was useless, and deepened both the devastation and the sense of hopelessness.

To make a long story short, what helped me was researching the CNS and the brain, and then GABA and glutamate.

This led to more research, and finally stumbling on some info re magnesium's ability to block NMDA receptors and inhibit calcium ion channels.

This is all really easy and quick to type out here, but it took me upwards of a year because my cognitive, focus, and brain, already severely affected by ME, were further damaged by whatever tipped me over into a constant, chest-ripping, head-exploding, shaking, quivering, vomiting state of panic that lasted pretty much all day every day.

I started trialing magnesium, and after trying multiple different forms, settled on mag glycinate, and after that, discovered that for me, dosing 50 mgs of mag gly and 250-500 mgs of Vit C pretty much constantly finally started turning things around, whereas larger doses of 200 to 400 mgs did absolutely nothing. I was taking doses at 45 to 60 min intervals, with mag intake as high as 2400 mgs or more a day.

Because the mag was bound to glycine, which is a large molecule and needs to be broken down in the stomach (unlike mag citrate, mag oxide, etc which are small molecules and shoot thru the stomach straight to the colon) over a longer period than other forms, it didnt cause the usual diarrhea effect that almost all other forms of mag induce.

When things were really bad, I added small amounts of melatonin, about .25 mcgs, tho I cant say for sure that helped.

That;s the best I have to offer, and I hope it helps. If you need more input or info, do tag me ....

EDITED FOR one glaring mistake and God knows how many typos :bang-head::bang-head: ....
 
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