ASK DR. B

CEDENE PORTALIYN

10.08.09

Anxiety Disorder

I have a lot of anxiety related to stress, and just fears and problems with my family, and the physical symptoms are making it hard to function. Is there anything natural that I can take to relax and be better able to deal with life? Thank you.

Dr. B.
10.09.09
The best treatments for anxiety related to stress are relaxation methods like deep abdominal breathing and meditation.

To practice deep abdominal breathing:
  • Place one hand on your abdomen, directly beneath your rib cage
  • Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, filling the bottom of your lungs. Your chest should move only slightly, as your stomach expands, pushing your hand up.
  • After you’ve inhaled fully, pause for a moment, then exhale fully through your mouth. Purse your lips and imagine that you are blowing up a balloon. As you exhale, let yourself relax and imagine your entire body going loose and limp. It should take you twice as long to exhale as it did to inhale.
In order to fully relax, do a sequence of 20 abdominal breaths. Try to keep your breathing smooth and regular throughout, without gulping air or exhaling suddenly. Try to do this breathing exercise both morning and evening.

If you're interested in learning meditation to control stress, I suggest contacting a local Yoga school.


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Hi Dr. B. I had my heart racing real fast with slight syncopated feeling on and off starting 10/28/09. 10/29-10/30/09 I felt better, however, on 10/31/09 the attack was more constant, which landed me in the ER. I had no chest pain. My blood pressure and pulse rate was high. I stayed overnight for observation and they ran tests on me. I have hperthyroidism, so a test was done for that. It came back negative, I did a cardiac enzyme test - it came back negative. I an wheat and gluten intolerant and have a lot of gastrointestinal problems. I had this attack before and I believe it was due to stress/anxiety. Could I be right? The hospital's diagnosis is tachycardia. Can you recommend a good naturopathic doctor or holistic doctor?

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Dr. Bhargava Boddu, ND is a natural and complementary medicine expert with over 20 years experience in the field. His specialties include naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine and yoga therapy. He is the author, with Professor Adrian Kennedy, PhD, of Holistic Health Solutions, a guide to the usage of alternative treatments for common diseases.

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