I was flying back from a lecture in Clermont today and sat next to a wonderful young lady. She had been trying to flag down the steward before take off and the urgency in her voice made me think she was a little worried. It was headphones she was looking for to relax. I know the feeling. Several years ago about the time of the 911 tragedy, I used to have a fear of flying. I would take a xanax (fast acting valium) to relax. I think it came from years of flying back and forth to the Philippines during winter when the storms over Japan were harsh. Imagine, 2 hours after take off from a tropical island and then snow storm in Narita Japan....then only 16 more hours to fly before getting home! Needless to say it was either alcohol or drugs and drugs were cheaper. When I learned acupuncture, my instructor said he would take needles with him to France to start treating jet lag before he would even step off the plane. (The needles are so small they don't even set off security alarms) I tried this once and placed in 3 needles to relaxation points and landing didnt even phase me. From that point I was encouraged by my daughter to not stick needles in my self on a plane cause it looked "weird". I went onto acupressure techniques and breathing with meditation. (More recently I added aromatherapy-lavender- and piece of cake.
I quickly offered my seat mate a whiff of my lavender bottle and explained how it is used. Before I knew it we were up at 30 thousand feet and talking about all kinds of things. She had so much energy and life, it was inspiring to me. Usually the sick I see are worn down with a medical issue and chronic stress. Here is the perfect picture of someone with gobs of energy and life with some medical issues from not controlling or harnessing the power she wields. Stressed, on a medicine from the OB for anxiety/depression, never suggested to see a therapist, no experience of biofeedback. I forgot to ask if she ever was tested for thyroid disease of vitamin imbalance. Got a little diet hisorty from her but not enough. She also leads the typical life of a twenty something living single in "wrigley-ville". Alot of freinds and going to bars and parties. (ahhhh the good old days) What was a red flag for me was she had indicated a doctor placed her on Wellbutrin which she states helped her tremendously without gaining weight. But the doc never sent her to behavioral health. Here she is far from her initial stressor but still on the same dose.
I stressed to her that although she is feeling great with the low dose of the medicine and she uses it every day, more stressors are coming. Theres's always going to be stressors during christmas holiday, tax day, birthday and new years. God forbid she develops a sickness from Chicago winters in addition to late night partying on weekends. If she is being maintained on a level dose and a larger stressor comes up..doc is going to increase the dose or add another med. May I add that a rather large stressor for single women in the US is coming up.....30th birthday! So I gave her my advice for breathing exercises, yoga (although she sounds like an adrenaline junkie) aromatherapy and possibly acupuncture/tui na. Luckily Dr Leon Chen of East West Healing Center in Lombard also goes to Chicago and may be able to help her. Turns out there is also couple other problems typical for a person of her level and she would benefit from kidney clensing with probiotic.
I am a walking example of what I preach, The Saguil Approach-
-plan to wean off meds 2-3 weeks, have a substitute in place to help control the original issue, add a few more interventions with alternative medicine that will help control the flare up that always happens when stopping potent perscription medicines.
( although I dont think the alcohol is one thing she will give up)
Moral of this story is not to just accept a medicine as a cure. Always work to get off what you are on...whether it is a script or an herbal medicine. Nutrition and exercise are always the basis to treatment even if the doctors dont remember. I will keep an update as to how she tolerates acupuncture, anxiety sufferers dont do well and usually go to alcohol for its depresant properties. No coffee, caffeine, guarana, tobacco. She should also try carb rich diets. I usually suggest protein for breakfast and lunch then carb for dinner. In the anxious case, carbs for dinner with an evenly distributed prot/carb breakfst and lunch is good to go. Suggested breathing technique and reading into drweil.com for some pointers.
Alway insist the doc treats the mind, body and soul. In eastern medicine its all in the same package. Only in america does the body get treated without consideration of the mind. (and visa versa) serotonin that acts on the mind also is big in the colon so docs have no choice but to make it work with a multi faceted aproach.
valerian
respir-eze
kava kava
lavender aromatherapy
emotional freedom technique with psychology
diet and multivit changes.
