Dear Shanes,

If you want to try remedies without a diagnosis or knowing the cause of your anxiety (which may not be that easy to figure out) you might start with things that are less likely to have side effects. Cold Showers, magnesium (although, too much can cause diarrhea) etc. I wouldn't start with an herb like rhodiola as it can make anxiety worse in some people.

Read the anxiety pages to see what others say and what resonates with your situation. I think that would be very helpful for you.

~Mama to Many~

Check out EFT. It's like acupuncture without the needles. You just tap on the points. There are numerous videos on youtube that will take you through the steps for free. I can almost guarantee if you do EFT a few times it will calm everything down. For supplements valerian and 5HTP can be very helpful for anxiety.

S: Yes, the first response is to heal yourself with natural remedies. Hot foot or whole body baths w/ Epsom Salts would be a good beginning.

Shane ( Paris, France) ---

Ayurvedic Gotu Kola would be ideal for your needs. It deals with anxiety, calms and clears the mind. Do look it up online. It comes as a powder to make a tea and can be had with honey when cooled.

Namaste, Om

I'm by no means an expert and have never responded to a post before. I experienced the same problem and was able to arrest the problem of loose teeth and stop my gums from receding any further by taking 6-8000IU of vitamin D3 a day, a whole food based multi-vitamin, whole food based multi-mineral, real vitamin c such as camu camu not ascorbic acid which for me made the problem worse. I never received any help from the so called medical professional and realized that if I wanted to keep my teeth I was going to have to figure it out my self. Low D can make gums recede so go have your levels checked. Try any of the companies offering testing on the net.

My teeth are now tight and strong, and now I'm working on the receding gums. Right now I'm using grapefruit seed extract and a good probiotic to get rid of what I believe to be a bacterial overgrowth which might have caused the problem in the first place. I don't know if it can reverse the receding but my gums are no longer sore and swollen so the GSE is without a doubt making brushing easier. Check your diet, and see what your body needs that its not getting, and in some cases what its getting that it don't need. You might want to take a plant based calcium supplement as well. Good luck

There are so many things that can trigger anxiety or anxiety related symptoms that you describe. There are various ways to try and manage it. It might be helpful if you kept a diary for a week or so to see a) what you eat /drink etc and if the symptoms occur at particular times or after certain events or foods. Obviously caffeine is an obvious one, but lots of processed foods have E- numbers, additives/ chemical non-food substances and pesticides and which can also trigger symtoms. So try and eat as naturally and healthily as possible. b)is there a theme to the horrible thoughts etc? c) is it related to any medication you're taking etc? Also, deficiency in Magnesium (which helps the body create Seratonin and also is a great muscle relaxant and helps the body with over 300 vital processes) can cause anxiety symtoms. Taking lots of calcium can cause you to lose magnesium, doing lots of exercise/ sweating etc can all bind magnesium and make it unavailable to the body. Also your body retains less as you get older( though usually I think when you're over 60). look up 'Progressive muscle relaxation 'techniques on the web, as well as deep slow breathing from the diaphragm which is the opposite kind of breathing from Flight and fight reaction and gives the brain an 'all clear- relax' message. If it's not food/ nutrient related etc then try looking up some CBT techniques.

Do you have Gastric problems because when the Vegus nerve, which goes right down through the torso, gets inflamed it often mimics anxiety symptoms in my experience - in fact at times it's got so bad I thought I was having a heart attack.

Have you had an accident or shock in the last 12 months that's now causing flash backs etc ?above all, look at your diet and any medication to see if that's the possible cause. Once you've eliminated that as a cause, then you could do the relaxing/ breathing methods which should help to keep you centred.

Anxiety is always about the 'what ifs' in life which are always in the future, so by concentrating on slow abdominal breathing for example, visualisation etc you distract your mind from the imagined horrors and so break the vicious circle. You could also look up General Anxiety Disorder which can come on quite suddenly and is very prevalent. If you can find what's causing it, you can work with that and manage the symptoms rather than resorting to medical alternatives with all the possible unpleasant side effects.

Good luck. I hope you find something to help.