Protect Your Mental Health.
Whether it’s news of the recent shootings at Fort Hood or incessant “tweets” about swine flu, there are plenty of reasons to feel anxious these days. Research confirms that more Americans suffer anxiety, often turning to alcohol, since 9/11.
Whether they experience abdominal pain, brain fog, dizziness, dry mouth, fatigue, headaches, insomnia, irregular heartbeat, irritability, rapid breathing, sexual problems, or sweaty palms, 19 million adults in this country have anxiety disorders. And most are women.
Conventional medicine prescribes anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants. But researchers at Harvard Medical School admit that these meds cause almost as many problems—including some of the very symptoms (fatigue and sexual dysfunction) that they aim to treat—as anxiety does.
Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:
Since feeling anxious can result from numerous causes—ranging from blood sugar imbalances to an overactive thyroid—it’s important to discover your own reasons for anxiety.
In our culture, many women’s emotional responses and/or reactions to events are often blamed on hormones. It’s either “that time of the month” or “that time of life.”
Granted, hormone-related mood swings, like those associated with PMS, can throw us for a loop. And during menopause, depression and mood swings may be related to imbalances of estrogen and progesterone.
Beyond Hormones
While anxiety is often the first symptom of perimenopause, it’s important to remember that, although uncomfortable and sometimes frightening, mood swings are not long-term and will go away as the body adjusts to lower estrogen levels during “the change.”
Shifting moods and anxious feelings during menopause often result from social and environmental stress combined with hormonal changes. Our children may be leaving home, for example, and our focus on child-rearing ends. Unless women have developed their own interests or careers, this change can negatively impact mental health.
Your own parents may have reached an age where they need to be cared for. And some women become single for the first time in many years, either through divorce or the death of a spouse. Anxiety is an understandable reaction to the many external stresses taking place at this time of life.
I’ve found that good ole Ultra H-3 combats mood swings and depression, while enhancing energy, promoting restful sleep, rejuvenating memory, and reviving a sagging sex drive. Based on the original GH3 formula developed by Romanian cardiologist Ana Aslan, MD, more than 50 years ago, this unique patented product combines two natural vitamin-like compounds, PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid) and DEAE (diethylmanioethanol), to relieve anxiety, memory loss, and premature aging.
Relax Naturally
For some people, passionflower (a safe and relaxing herb) works well. It has many of the same calming effects as Valium and other benziodiazepine drugs—without their adverse and addictive effects.
Of course, you should always make sure you’re getting plenty of stress-fighting B vitamins to help alleviate anxiety. Make sure you ingest at least 100 mg inositol, which balances mood and increases mental alertness and clarity. I recommend B-Complex Forte for that reason!
Turn off the news and quit texting so often. Instead, take time out every day to exercise (stimulating your body’s “happy hormones,” endorphins) and spend time with friends.
Support relaxation with deep breathing, listening to soothing music, and meditation. Relaxation techniques are highly individual, so experiment. Stimulate your creative side with a painting class or writing in your journal.
I highly recommend a 20-minute soak every evening in a warm bath fragrant with a relaxing aromatherapy oil like lavender. Or enjoy a weekly massage to relieve muscle tension and boost oxygen flow throughout your body.
Sources:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19895299
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-passionflower.html
Visionary, health guru, diet/detox expert, author, spokesperson, role model, and natural foods icon, Ann Louise Gittleman has always been a trendsetter. 
i don’t understand your take on hormones. i have been on estrogen for 10 years now and could not live without it. and most women i meet who are on it say the same thing. there’s a real push to make women live without estrogen and it’s ridiculous. estrogen is not evil. i have tried to live without estrogen and my body is seized with muscle cramps, headaches, depression, low energy, hot flashes, etc. i am a health nut and am on several supplements, but come on. get off the bandwagon and stop trying to make us think that estrogen is not natural and that we don’t need it.
Wow Leigh! Isn’t this a bit reactionary? I had to reread the entire blog–this article isn’t about hormones, she merely mentions that they can cause problems as they decline. I’m at a loss on where you’re coming from.
ughhhhhhh Leigh. Sounds as if you require a little “estrogen adjustment”. Might wanna get your levels tested! Chill
I agree…Leigh…you’re a little on the e d g e! People come to this sight willingly not because we have to. If you don’t enjoy the articles…chill out and don’t visit.
I agree…Leigh…you’re a little on the e d g e! People come to this website…(spelling) willingly not because we have to. If you don’t enjoy the articles…chill out and don’t visit.
All I can say is what articles were you reading Leigh? If it wasn’t for the information I read from here, I couldn’t have made an informed decision on what steps to take for my own health. I am eternally grateful (so is my husband)for what I have learned concerning hormones and have found solutions to my hot flashes and night sweats because someone else has done her homework. This works for me…if it doesn’ work for you…then it’s just another click away to another website!
I believe you need alot more than just estrogen.
I hope you don’t mind me changing the subject,
but is the Fat Flush plan something you can do without eating fish? I so dislike fish. I have tried the Fat Flush, but didn’t think I was following it without the fish. I had some leg surgery and have been on bedrest for over a month.
I have put on some pounds and had some to lose, before surgery.
I don’t know if I can get ahold of the author to ask. I just started gettin the news letter, so this may have been covered.
Also, I work at a school and can’t take potty breaks. Can you this while you have a job that you can’t take many breaks?
I haven’t reread the Fat Flush book for a long time, so I would have to reread it. I probably sound like I haven’t read it. It just seemed like it recommend fish a lot.
I would love to talk to someone who has stayed on it and knows the ins and outs.
Thanks
You don’t need to eat fish for the Fat Flush Program. Ann Louise has a great place to get support for the Program; the Forum: http://www.annlouiseforum.com/. It’s FREE, you can post questions and receive support from veteran Fat Flusher!
Anxiety is often times hormone related but you need to keep in mind that it isn’t always about single hormones like estrogen. Often times, it has more to do with the balance of estrogen and progesterone. Progesterone is naturally calming and makes you feel good. But if estrogen is out of whack then you can experience the same things.
I have found with my clients that most anxiety and depression comes from gut dysfunction as the majority of serotonin (happy neurotransmitter) is produced in the gut, not the brain. Heal the gut, eliminate depression. Works like a charm.
I can’t believe how many people seem to obsess about hormones (a hidden of source anxiety?) Women in other countries (like Japan) seem to get menopause without all this angst.
It’s enough to make me want to curl up with a good book (I’ve already ordered a copy of Fat Flush for Life). When the “world is too much with me,” I sip a little chamomile tea, enjoy a nice warm bath, and occasionally take a little muscle-relaxing kava. There are plenty of reasons to feel anxious without blaming hormones or my gut.
Hats off to Joel for coming up with some useful advice