Do panic attacks need medication? TRY THIS INSTEAD!

Introduction to Anxiety and Panic Support 0:00

Hi, I wanted to make this video because I think it's so important to have a place for someone to Have some basic knowledge of how to handle anxiety and panic attacks. So many people reach out to me in my role as an integrative and functional psychiatrist asking me what can I do about my anxiety or I had a panic attack, but I don't want to take meds like Xanax or Ativan. What can i do? Well, here we are to dive in. Okay. So let's first start talking about some supplements. Magnesium three and eight is the very first one I want to mention.

It has a unique ability to cross the blood brain barrier. it enhances cognitive function and the way magnesium overall works is it works in calming overactive neural circuitry. so it calms down that physical and that mental anxiety. But magnesium 3 and 8 is much more mental than physical.

Magnesium Supplements for Calming Anxiety 0:58

And we'll talk about a different magnesium next. So how does it work? It supports synaptic plasticity for healthier brain communication. It actually reduces anxiety symptoms by regulating neural activity. and I will say it's very well tolerated with minimal side effects until you get to a very high dose. Typical doses are a thousand to four thousand daily and sometimes people dose higher, look up magnesium to bowel tolerance so you can understand how to dose up to treat the exact symptoms you're trying to tree.

So magnesium glycinate is a little bit different. It is the best bio available for your brain and body. It combines magnesium salt with glycine, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that enhances absorption and improves the calming effect. It also helps with sleep, it reduces that physical muscle tension, and it improves sleep quality. Doses are a little lower than the magnesium threonate, maybe 200 to 400 milligrams, may be once a day or twice a but also look up to bowel tolerance, because some people might need a lot more.

But if you get to too much, it will cause loosening of bowels. And then L-theanine. L theanin is it's an amino acid. It's naturally found in green tea, which is great, Which can be calm and focus. Um, but L Thean in general enhances alpha brainwaves to promote calm an alertness. without sedation, but people do use it at night to help turn down the volume. People also use to take with their caffeine. In fact, it's in certain stimulating drinks, energy drinks.

L-Theanine and Ashwagandha 2:51

You can look at the tab and you'll see L-thionine in there because it actually helps calm down that physical anxiety that certain high levels of caffeine and ephedrine can cause. So how does it work? Well, it is an amino acid. It modulates neurotransmitters, including GABA, serotonin, and dopamine, to reduce stress and reduce anxiety response. Effective dose typically is touted to be 100 to 200 milligrams daily. There's really no known serious interactions. That's something that we naturally have in our bodies.

Just sometimes it's depleted because of stress. And it can be combined with other supplements. All right, what about ashwagandha? Well, ashwhaganda is very old. We kind of call it the ancient wisdom adaptogen. It's a traditional Ayurvedic herb. Its got robust clinical evidence, has significant cortisol reduction, and improves stress resilience. And it comes in pills, powder, or a tea that you can make for yourself. and it has been demonstrated in clinical trials, really good reductions in anxiety scores and also improve sleep quality and just enhanced overall being.

Of course, something to notice is that this is an herb and a lot of herbs we want to use caution if pregnant or breastfeeding or if using certain medications, particularly thyroid medications. But that doesn't mean you can't just talk to your health care provider. Lavender, we've heard you know, all about lavender oil, lavender spray, lavendar and diffusers, putting lavender scents on that can be calming. But what about oral lavender? Oil? This is a very potent, that silaxin is very a potent lavender extract distilling the whole plant down.

Lavender, GABA, and Alpha-Stim 4:38

It's been heavily researched and it shows reduction of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. How does it work? Well, it modulates critical neurotransmitters including serotonin and voltage-gated calcium channel ions for anxiety relief. Most people take it either just on an as needed basis or at night. Some people will take in the morning and no matter what, you might experience a lavender burp. And some people find that offensive, some love it. So just thinking about if that's right for you. Well, GABA also comes in a supplemental form.

So GAba is the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, and it calms nerve activity and reduces overstimulation, playing a crucial role in promoting relaxation. GAbA is gamma-aminobutyric acid. And if you take it orally, you make it yourself, but if your depleted or you're not making enough, it doesn't really cross the blood-brain barrier that much. in supplemental form, but it's thought to influence the gut-brain axis because we know that the got and brain are inextricably linked, especially when it comes to neurotransmitters, GABA and glutamate and serotonin and dopamine especially.

It also works in the peripheral nervous system contributing to feelings of calm and reducing stress. Many of my patients take it just at night. but it can be something that is taken throughout the day if needed. The research shows that it could alleviate mild anxiety and stress, enhance mood, improve sleep quality in some, and it works pretty quickly. Doses tend to be 500 to 750 milligrams taken as needed and seems to have very few side effects except for drowsiness, which is in fact one of the things that you would want from it.

If you are heightened anxiety, you might want to decrease that down. All right. Well, let's talk about some FDA cleared technology. We have the alpha stem in our office. A lot of people are very impressed by it, it's a non-pharmaceutical, non supplement way to deliver anxiety to the brain through microcurrent on either ear. And it also has good outcomes on depression and insomnia through electrical stimulation.

Omega-3s, Probiotics, and Mind-Body Tools 7:18

So honestly, the clinical results are pretty amazing. The fact that it is a quick acting and shows anxiety reduction comparable to low dose benzodiazepines without sedation, without dependence or without cognitive impairment. 20 to 60 minutes a day. Some people use it morning while they're sitting at their computer having coffee and some people will use at night only. some People use a twice a Day. There are some considerations and you can contact the company, but we also have it at the office. Like I said, very impressive.

And there's other things other than the Alpha stem. This is just the one that I'm most familiar with. All right, what are some other evidence-based supplements and tools that we haven't talked about yet for generalized anxiety, for anxiety episodes or for panic attacks or all of the above? Well, upping your omega-3 fatty acids is imperative because that's an anti-inflammatory and that supports brain health and mood stabilization through improving neural function. That doesn't work immediately, but over one to three months uping that can be very beneficial.

anything with any brain need because the fact that omega is improved neural function helps with all symptoms. Probiotics, you know, the gut brain access, as I mentioned, is so imperative for mental wellness. And so getting a good probiotic that helps increase really the serotonin and the GABA calming in your gut. So there are certain bacteria, but pretty much all probiotics can have some effect. There are some that are made more specific for mood and anxiety. The microbiome balance is important for neurotransmitter production.

And then other things like mindfulness and yoga. That improves emotional and mental regulation through physiological stress changes, nutrition. We want to think about what your metabolics are like, your diet, etc.

Therapy Approaches for Anxiety and Panic 9:20

and then breath work. Breath work is well known to improve physiological state and resilience. I love it. What about therapy? Well, always I say this every day, therapy, we really need to get to the maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that might sink in, especially with habituated chronic anxiety or panic attacks. And so cognitive behavioral therapy does just that. Acceptance and commitment therapy can promote psychological flexibility and acceptance. It's a very algorithmic process and very beneficial to build resilience instead of avoid.

And then exposure therapy. I don't personally do exposure, therapy, but it's particularly effective for specific phobias. Love mindful-based stress reduction, which does, as you understand it from the title, mindfulness. So present moment awareness, meditation, deep relaxation techniques, and it is very valuable. There are a lot of digital aspects that are arms of treatment so your therapist can work with you and then digital therapeutics can be available for you as well. Sometimes we do need to consider medications because medications are are lot stronger than holistic approaches at providing quick relief for many.

So if you have severe or persistent symptoms where anxiety is disabling despite holistic and therapeutic interventions or if have need for rapid relief because of functional impairment due to severe anxiety attacks or panic attacks, or you if co-occurring conditions such as depression or other psychiatric conditions alongside the anxiety, medications are something to explore.

Medication Options for Anxiety Treatment 11:16

Of course, if someone had a positive medication response, or if a family member had similar symptoms and had a positive medication response, then that bodes well for using medications, certainly as well as the holistic and integrative approaches. What are the medications? So SSRIs, including Prozac, Paxil, Lexproselexa, Zoloft, et cetera. There's lots of those, but those are, the first line in what we're taught as psychiatrists for treatment improvement and related to serotonin. Then there are SNRI, seratonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, which include Pristique and Effexor and Zoloft and others.

And those are effective for generalizing anxiety disorder and indicated for them as well. Of course, there have been benzodiazepines, many of us are hesitant to start on a daily basis, but are very, very valuable for someone with intermittent panic attacks. Those would be your Xanax and Ativan, i.e. lorazepam and alprezolam, and they're fast acting, but of course the dependency risk is high for those, so we recommend it for short-term use only. And then buspirone is another medication. It's a non-benzodiazepine that is specific for generalized anxiety disorder, it has a slower onset and has safer long- term usage.

Beta blockers are actually blood pressure medications, one of them is well known to many people with panic or anxiety, especially performance anxiety i.e. standing on stage and having your heart go fast or turning red or sweating. It's called performance Anxiety, right? So propranolol is the well-known one for that and it reduces those physical symptoms and so it sends messages to your brain to not have the mental symptoms that go with it as well. So it can be very valuable to utilize. Well, okay, how to proceed?

If you reach out to admin at podestawellness.com, that's our office, we can easily create a full script account for you if you don't have one already, which is a great distributor of tried and true supplements and products, and we create it with the anxiety regimen in mind. Also, nutritionist Jan Johnson, who works closely with me, is fantastic functional medicine nutritionists, would probably be available to reach out if

How to Get Started and Next Steps 13:40

you reach to her to make a plan. Her email address is jan at janwjohnson.com. You can always join our next metabolic mindfulness course. you can find info on drarwin. com. Can always joined our breathwork course also find information at dr arwin dot com and then if your interested in becoming a patient with me and you are residing in either Louisiana or North Carolina then you can reach out to admin at podestawellness.com to seek an appointment. If you are looking for individual therapy or group therapy, check out www.psychologytoday.

com and enter your search criteria. All right, to health and to a life combating and conquering anxiety, and hopefully this helps you find your way.