Her name was Tory. She was 49 years old and was sitting in my office explaining to me her struggles. She suffered from anxiety, hot flashes, non-existent sleep and chronic neck and back pain. She worked in a medical office with a snide remarked doctor, standing long hours on her feet wearing heels. Additionally, she had two daughters. She was trying to provide with the older daughter, who was living with her along with her baby daughter, since her partner left her. with her baby since her partner left her. Her daughter was also struggling to raise and provide for her daughter and turned to Tory and her husband for help. Her second daughter, in her twenties, suffered from fibromyalgia, but acted defiant, angry, and was having trouble working at her day job, and was in denial about her health challenges. As a mother, she shared with me, it was very hard to watch her daughters struggle. Tory was asking me to help her with the anxiety and other related health issues.
She explained to me that she has been trying supplements and medication for her anxiety, but she felt dissatisfied with her results and how she felt tired, detached, and groggy from her medication. She wanted to get more help with the symptoms that she was still suffering from.
Are you suffering from anxiety too. If so many such as yourself are looking for solutions whether it is in addition to current therapies and practices such as medication, psychotherapy, yoga or exercise and vitamins as well as diet.
Not many people realize that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help with the anxiety and mood swings that plague you. Many people understand acupuncture for the use of pain management. But few, if any know that acupuncture and Chinese herbs can be very helpful in treating anxiety, depression and high levels of stress. It is only recently that the public is slowly accepting acupuncture for treatments. For many, the thought of going to acupuncture seems out of the realm of reality for most. It just seems way too out there right?
So how can acupuncture and Chinese medicine help anxiety and to help soothe your jagged mind?
1. Mind Body Connection: Chinese medicine looks at health beyond just muscles and the cardiovascular system. It posits that extreme emotional states adversely affect different organ systems. So emotions that are felt out of control or “too much” can have adverse effects on specific organ and systems of your body. Do you feel tired, have digestive or elimination complaints? Do you have allergies? Racing heart? These symptoms show which organ systems are getting disturbed from stress. Excessive anger, frustration, fear, grief and over stimulation stat to screw up different systems in your body. Acupuncture inserts needles into the pathways, known as meridians to send signals to the brain to release neuro-endorphins into the body. Naturally recurring endorphins help calm your “savage beast” and put you into a very deep relaxed state. Acupuncture beats anxiety and stress becasue it activates the relaxation system so your body can “re-learn” how to relax and to restore your body’s ability to relax.
2. Chinese herbs can be very helpful in treating anxiety. Herbs are tailor mixed according to your unique condition. Herbs are created to make a formula which is a group of herbs synergistically mixed to address your specific anxiety case. The herbs used are from trusted sources that subscribe to GMP, or good manufacturing standards, to ensure purity. The herbs help to regulate your nervous system and reduce the anxiety that keeps affecting you.
Traditional treatments use Serotonin Reuptake Drugs (SSRI’s) which help increase the amounts of serotonin, a feel-good hormone that is linked to feelings of well being. However, the SSRIs do not create more serotonin and so you increase the dosage to get the same effect over time. Can someone who is taking SSRIs for anxiety benefit from herbs. That is why, many are also looking to herbs to help increase their benefits.
3. Reducing your body’s response to stress is critical to beating your anxiety and stress:What happens under stress is your body reacts to stress at the slightest provocation. This makes it harder for you to go through your day without feeling harried and anxious. Certain vitamins and supplements as well as making small dietary and small lifestyle changes and eating styles were given to her to help her successfully overcome your anxiety.
What we did to help Tory beat her Anxiety and Stress
To help Tory, we worked together using acupuncture and supplements to reduce her hot flashes and to re-establish her sleep patterns. This was the primary issue that we needed to address. We also used the acupuncture to take care of her knotted muscle pain that plagues her neck and lower back. Chinese herbs were used to improve her sleep, along with other key vitamins such as B vitamins, and adaptogens to reduce her hot flashes and energy. We also talked about how specific eating strategies would help her to manage her stress and anxiety and to reduce her weight.
Tory noticed immediate relief with the acupuncture. She told me it was like a “pause switch” that helped stop her hot flashes in
her tracks and her anxiety halted. She would feel the symptoms return after a night. But 3 weeks later she was seeing longer stretches of relief. We got her off drinking 5 glasses of wine and building her diet around protein, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. We also had her notice her thoughts when she felt anxious. We discovered that she was very critical and harsh on herself. So we used some positive statements that she would substitute every time she criticized herself. She noticed how her aggressive stance towards herself softened and as it did her anxiety lessened as well.
As much as we all yearn to disconnect and retreat, unless significant changes are made to your nervous system, you will still be confronted with your anxiety, at every turn and twist in the rhythms and cycles of your life. The question is how long do you have to suffer like this? Just knowing that there is a way back to health, gives hope to people like Tory and yourself. The hardest thing to do is to take action. It takes a lot of bravery and admission and ultimately dissatisfaction with your current state of “over-whelm”, and the willingness to try something different for you to experience the change that you are yearning for!
If you have answered yes to any of these questions you may be suffering from some form of ongoing stress and anxiety. Now a certain amount of stress is good for your body, but too much stress creates a downward spinning spiral with your energy, motivation, sense of well-being being slowly whittled away at. Does this sound familiar?
If you are looking for help, we are never too busy to help you reduce and tame your anxiety! Speak to our local trained acupuncturist in your area to start feeling yourself again. Call us at 201-444-7150 or email us at integrativeacupuncturecenter@gmail.com to receive your free consultation worth $150 dollars. Our acupuncturist will spend up to an hour with you to listen to your concerns, assess your current situation and make specific recommendations for you. Start feeling yourself today. Remember to use promo code “STRESSSPECIAL” to receive your no-pressure consult today and start feeling “yourself” again!
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