Women's Anxiety: The Nitty-Gritty

Women's Anxiety: The Nitty-Gritty
This is a personal subject for the NMM's. 
Personal Experience: Paula (mom of the NMM's) parents passed away about two weeks apart after major illnesses. She took care of them full time for several years prior to their deaths.  That, along with being a mom to many small children, left her in a state of severe anxiety.  At one point she told her husband she thought she needed "to be committed" because of the swing of emotions and anxiety that plagued her as she recovered emotionally. 

What was a curse turned into a major blessing because it is what ultimately lead her on the "Natural Medicine Path". She has made it a quest to free herself from the major effects of anxiety disorders and help many women around her be able to do the same. She is seeking out how to treat it naturally and how to  help other people do the same. Likewise, all of us at NMM have had anxiety issues at some point or another, and we totally "Get It". We are here to help in every way possible. No judgement!

We recommend the Anxiety R & R: Women's Anxiety & Stress Herb Mix we have put together from the many years of study and personal understanding of this subject.

WHAT IS ANXIETY?
Before we go any further, let's talk about what it is exactly. Anxiety, worry and stress are a combination of both emotional and physical reactions. Over 30 years of scientific research into severe anxiety disorders and panic attacks has established that all anxiety has a real, physiological cause that is just as important to treat — especially for relief of anxiety related to hormonal imbalance.

This is GREAT news. Anxiety symptoms were once dismissed as character flaws. It means you don't have to live with your "imperfect, worry wart, crazy, emotional" self...There is a lot more to the story in your anxiety-ridden body and A LOT you can do to heal yourself. 

Knowledge is power, so let's take some time to dive into the science of it.

ANXIETY NITTY-GRITTY:

We are made with a built-in alarm system that brings the full weight of our mental and physical warrior to face danger — the “fight or flight” response.

The limbic system, the parts of the brain responsible for orchestrating our emotions (including the fight or flight response) relies on communication between neurotransmitters and hormones to fuel your body and mind to deal with a perceived enemy.

It used to be the bear in the woods hundreds of years ago, however our society has changed, and our perceived enemies can be anything around us... stressful email, children yelling and screaming, relationship problems, money issues, pushing the limits of energy, etc (all of these examples happening within 15 minutes of each other). In our day and age, too many of us choose to never relax: our minds are perpetually on high alert - which accompanies the physical response (including continual hormonal response which leads to systemic issues).

It’s no exaggeration to say there is an epidemic of anxiety. Over 19 million American adults and millions of children have anxiety disorders ranging from mild to severe. The feeling of anxiety you have ALWAYS begins with a trigger that initiates your survival response from your limbic system. At the first sign of apparent danger, your brain chemistry, blood hormones and cellular metabolism all crank into action. 

You see...When our ancestors had to run from the wild bears, this response was a very good thing. But now the constant stress and "bears" of our society are affecting our bodies in a way we are just learning how to deal with.
When you have chronic anxiety, this response may lessen but it never gets turned off, even when there’s no palpable threat. The domino effect is deadly = Over time anxiety symptoms may be triggered by less and less serious events because your limbic system has been sensitized to react in a highly anxious way. Can you understand what is happening in your body because of this? The problem with anxiety is that it becomes so easily entrenched — it becomes your normal state. The links among your neurotransmitters, hormones and metabolism become tuned to an equilibrium in which anxiety is maintained. That’s why anxiety relief is ALL ABOUT changing your physical and emotional causes of your anxiety and creating a new, healthier equilibrium.

Along with your neurotransmitters, your hormones play a crucial role in mediating anxiety. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is the hormonal system that influences mood. Imbalances along this system can bring on panic attacks and chronic anxiety. As part of the flood of hormones in the fight-or-flight response, your hypothalamus releases a hormone called corticotropin–releasing factor (CRF), which jolts you into action. CRF flows through your pituitary gland, where it stimulates adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which in turn tells your adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol opens the gates for a rush of glucose, fat, and protein to give your cells the energy and alertness they need.
In a healthy , the hormonal flood recedes once the threat is disabled. But different factors can disrupt this pathway, causing the gates to stay open and running the adrenals to exhaustion. Levels of ACTH and cortisol stay elevated, causing anxiety, weight gain, accelerated aging, and metabolic imbalances.

CRF also seems to be a factor in anxiety. People with high anxiety generally have high levels of CRF — which indicates that the HPA axis is always on. Researchers think that early emotional trauma may trigger elevated levels of CRF, which the body then maintains through adulthood.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?
There is so much that can be done, but we started with the top five. These responses are the same answers to almost EVERYTHING you read about from us....Hmmmm... maybe there is a reason for that!
1. Realize that you have an anxiety disorder. Signs are stomach and intestinal issues, constipation, diarrhea, constant worry, elevating stress especially when there is no need, binge eating, sugar cravings, no eating, high emotional responses, crying often over small things, the feeling of, "I just can't take it" literally takes over your world. 
2. Physical Exercise. We PROMISE this is huge. When all these hormones as explained above are running through your body, there MUST be energy released. The "fight or flight" response has that name for a very good reason. You need to run and fight and get rid of the energy that is building up in your body. 
3. Nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition. When there are imbalances going on in your system, your body is using as much energy as possible, especially the deep vitamin and mineral stores. We can guarantee everyone with anxiety issues need to increase your magnesium intake... and there are many others!
4. Supplement. Unfortunately as we all know, we can't always trust our food to give our bodies everything they need. We advocate supplementing, especially with the Women's Anxiety Formula. There are many applications to supplementing... but tea's are HUGE because they are a water base and your body will use them more efficiently than popping a vitamin pill. Glycerite and alcohol tinctures are so beneficial because of how immediately they enter your blood stream. 
5. Take responsibility for your emotional health. Say NO to over extending yourself and fill up your bucket. Slow down so your brain can also RESET the triggers that have been put into place. 
We have suffered and dealt with the bear that anxiety disorders are. We WANT TO HELP YOU! Let us know of questions.