Hi Belle,
I am new to this group too. In fact I just signed up. I wanted to tell you that I understand exactly how you are feeling! This "thing" comes along and seemingly takes control of your whole life and before you know it you're taking all kinds of drugs and feeling like ur whole life is one giant "Panic Attack".
This is what I think you should know. You are not alone in this. Do you understand me? I promise you that this too will pass. You will find a way to fight this and so will I. I think the first thing we have to do is accept the simple fact that it's happening. That doesn't mean we have to accept the "reasons why" it is. Just that we have a problem that we have to face and there's no way we're going to get thru it unless we acknowledge it's there.
Here's my theory: This could be hormones. There is no doubt that studies have shown a strong correlation between hormone imbalances (low or high) and PD. I think we should be checked for this first. I feel too many women and men alike are told immediately without hesitation that they need to be on SSRI's, Benzodiazepines or any other drug they can stuff down our throats to get us out of their hair. The fact is...they don't know. Some people do show signs of improvement with these medications though so i'm not saying they don't work. I am saying however, that there can be other indicators of a biological nature that can cause people to have these things.
Now lets say we do find out our hormones are "off" in some way, now what do we do? Especially when some women get told that this has nothing to do with their recent arrival of "panic attacks". I think there is alot we can do. We can research this topic everywhere possible and do our best to find an appropriate and healthy approach to it. For example there are many natural things we can do to increase support of our endocrine systems such as supplements and special formulas derived by health food experts such as NONI juice, Vitex ect. These things are not hormone replacements but rather help to regulate your already existing hormone levels to a healthy balance. They may not work for everyone, but maybe some of us would get a positive effect from it.
Here is my personal suggestion in regard to those attacks, when you feel one co
