16 Oct Bump In The Night – Overcoming Panic Attacks
Freedom from panic
Written by Louise
How many times have you heard of women going to the doctors with one of the following symptoms: IBS, headaches, depression, lethargy, pre-menstrual tension, post-menstrual tension, all month menstrual tension! Skin conditions, panic attacks and stress to name but a few? These are common ailments that the modern day woman is cursed with.
Have you ever been to the doctors and been told that you need to keep a record of what you eat to see if there are any “triggers” for the above symptoms or maybe you were sent away with a list of medication or even those wonderful antidepressants that are going to level out your hormones and make everything just perfect? (excuse my cynicism)!
On the face of it, I thought I was stressed but not in the normal way. At night, after I had dropped off to sleep, I would get woken up with my head spinning, fear coursing through my body and an instant urge to go to the toilet and there I would sit, shaking, not knowing whether I had a bug, or I had eaten something that disagreed with me or if it was “just one of those bad nights” that I was afflicted with.
Sat on the toilet with my head in a bucket with a panic attack consuming me is something I have battled with for years until eventually the doctors prescribed medication to help me through it. Initially the medication helped but as time went on the dosage had to be increased to prevent the attacks happening. I was not happy that I was still on the medication and what was concerning me even more was the fact that I was sure they would need to be increased in the not too distant future. As an immensely proud person with a very strong character, no one, other than my partner was aware of my haunted nights.
In steps Balanced Wellness with Kinesiology. I had tried herbalists etc in the past so I have to say I was not entirely optimistic. I also knew that she would have very little to work with as whilst the symptoms were very real, the trigger was clearly in my mind.
I went for my first appointment back in April 2012. For 2 hours Laura and I went through details of my lifestyle and exactly what happened when I had my “night terrors”. She used muscle testing to find the minerals and vitamins my body needed and there was also a lot of bizarre massage, hand wafting and pinching of toes. But I came away so incredibly relaxed I thought I might sleep for 24 hours!
I can now tell you about the shifts I have experienced. After one week, I had only had one night terror. What was strange is that on a Sunday afternoon, I felt tired, not ill, just a bit weary and so I settled down on the sofa with a film and had a snooze. Sounds like normal behaviour? Not for me. I had been running on adrenaline for so long I was unable to sit down unless I was going to bed. I found my ability to relax and sit with my family became increasingly easier as the weeks passed and if I sat in the garden to sunbathe I no longer counted the minutes in my head to check how long I had been sitting down for.
Another sign of my stress was cracking my teeth and grinding my jaw. I always had a dull ache in my jaw but it was not something that I was aware of. It was only when my jaw stopped hurting that I realised that in my new relaxed state I was no longer grinding my teeth.
The night terrors had given me a fear of food. I would eat the same things in case it aggravated my stomach and triggered off a night terror. Panic would set in if someone else was cooking for me and consequently I rarely ate out. After seeing Laura I suddenly developed a new appetite for foods that I used to eat about 20 years ago. Once the fear had gone I found a new enthusiasm for the whole “eating” experience.
After only three visits to my kinesiologist the night terrors have practically stopped and I have emerged as a woman that is in control of herself and no longer the victim of her fear. I have booked a girly weekend away – being able to share a bathroom with a friend was not something I would have EVER considered before. I went for a flight in a Tiger Moth, I have a wing walk planned for charity and I have commenced dressage lessons on my not so dressage horse!
I feel strongly enough about the treatment I have received to recommend that if you have any ailments, mental or physical, that you go and see Balanced Wellness. It is not a cheap exercise and you may feel like you are rattling for the first few weeks with the amount of vitamins you may need to take. But it is all natural AND you cannot put a price on your health. Whilst the medication received from the Doctors did assist my cause, without Kinesiology I would never have had the “shifts” that have made such a difference to me.
If I manage to convince just one person to give Kinesiology a go and the result is exceptional as mine then writing down my experience will have been so worthwhile. Remember – Life is short and it is a journey, not a destination.
Written by Louise from Portsmouth, a client at Balanced Wellness.
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