Anyone had success with acupuncture for panic attacks?
I had my very first panic attack last night. I have been a hypochondriac my whole life so the stress of that is probably what caused it and also family history because my mom and sister suffer them. At first I had no idea what was going on. My cheeks and jaw felt swollen, I got really tired and I had that feeling I can only describe as feeling like you’re not here. Like the world exists, but you’re not in it. Kind of disconnected. I thought this was because I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was scared though so I was thinking it might be aneurysm because I had a headache earlier, but not while this was happening. I decided to take a shower to see if it would help, but when I was in the shower I started having a hard time breathing. I got out of the shower and could not catch my breath and out of nowhere I got nauseous. I had not idea what was going on so I started hyperventilating and went to grab a paper bag. I was using that, but still I could not catch my breath. I felt like I was dying. Because my mom suffers from panic attacks she gave me a Xanax and within 45 minutes everything was better. This was one of the scariest things in my life. I really did feel like dying. This was my first panic attack ever, but I don’t want it again and I don’t like taking drugs, so does anyone know if Acupuncture has worked for their panic attacks?
Tagged with: Acupuncture • anyone • attacks • panic • Success
Filed under: Acupuncture Panic Attacks
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I am not sure why you would think of using acupuncture, for a panic attack? And this comes from someone that used to have them as well. To this day, I am not sure of what happened, why they came on, as there really was no outside reason for them to appear. I started sweating, had breathing problems and got especially when I was at wide open places panicked and even lost urinary control. (Just one time). To this day, I dont know what brought this on. It just went away, like it came. Just dont loose self confidence, over this. I believe it is a physical manifestation, that comes over you like maybe a cold virus. For relaxation purposes I would use Reflexology, myself as it influences the parasymphatetic nervous system and puts your body back into a neutral balance, of to where it should be. Unless your stuck on needles.Here is a freebie, if under attack, stick your Finger in your ears, towards the opening of the earcanal. This is were the Tragus nerve runs along, which is the largest nerve in your cranial cavity. It will slow your braething and put you at a slower heart rate, and slow down your faster breathing, because you are under stress. Let me knw if this was of any help.
There is little evidence to suggest that acupuncture works at all, other than as a placebo.
Its interesting that most chinese medicine had died out until the chinese revolution when Mao tse tung
reinstated it as a cheap form of medicine for the masses, but when it came to Mao he wouldn’t touch the stuff only the best western medicine would do for him.
There are a number of pressure points on the body that help relieve anxiety and panic attacks. You can learn to use these pressure points for yourself from an experienced accupuncturist. In this way you apply accupressure for you own healing.
The most effective short term remedy is deep abdominal breathing. It is ironic that when you have anxiety you tend to breath shallow. This results in your brain only receiving 30% to 40% of its intended oxygen supply. Without adequate oxygen, the brain will go into stress and create the panic attack. Deep abdominal breathing is natural in babies and small children. It is a matter of relearning what the body already knows how to do. Deep abdominal breathing increases the oxygen supply in the blood. At 80% oxygen content, the brain will deal with the anxiety and panic attack itself. Search the Internet, there are a number of web sites that teach deep abdominal breathing.
The second action to take is meditation. The brain goes into an alpha wave state during meditation which brings about relaxation and release of anxiety.
Taking sedatives is a downward spiral. The body quickly builds up intolerance to the drug and you have to increase the dosage. The toxicity of the drug starts causing other problems in the body. All the drugs do is shift the anxiety to somewhere else in the body. You have to deal with the anxiety one way or another.