what can I do to overcome panic attacks, without using a pill for the be all end all solution?

You could try meditation. It calms the body.
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take a deep breath and count to ten
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I was diagnosed with panic attacks and they are truly horrifying. I really sympathsize with you because most people who haven’t had one think "you can talk yourself out of it." I was prescribed Paxil and valium but the side effects of the Paxil sounded just as bad as the attacks. This sounds kind of silly but it helped me to use products containing Lavender. At bed time I use a lavender room spray for my pillow and lavender bubble bath etc. I thought it was silly when someone told me lavender contained a natural calming effect but it has helped me a lot. Plus, I got rid of the most stressful thing in my life… A creepy ex boyfriend! Good luck to you and remember that us worryworts usually make mountains out of a molehills!
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Hi Bosch. Good for you for not wanting to use pills to mask the cause of your problem. The key for you is to find the cause – the biochemical cause – of your condition.

Here are just a few possiblities:

1) heavy metal toxicities (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc.)

2) Essential fatty acid imbalances – usually not enough omega-3 fatty acids

3) Gut problems leading to what is commonly called a ‘leaky gut’. This can be caused by anitbiotics, acid-inhibitor drugs (Nexium, Pepcid, etc.), pain killers (Advil, Aleve, Motrin, etc.), and some autoimmune conditions, such as Celiac Disease. The leaky gut allows toxins and partially digested proteins to pass into your bloodstream. These can serve as ‘molecular mimics’ in the brain, that is, they can change your brain chemistry because they act like normal brain chemicals – except they act in places and at times where they do not belong.

Have I confused or overwhelmed you? That’s OK. I have some suggestions.

1) Read the book by Sherry Rogers, M.D. (with the nasty title) called "Detoxify or Die". It is available at Amazon.com and is full of very helpful info. to help you understand what can cause the body’s chemistry to ‘go haywire’ and cause symptoms like you are having.

2) Find a good Naturopathic Physician, Chiropractor or Medical Doctor that specializes in Functional Medicine ( the field of healthcare that focuses on finding the functional cause of problems, rather than treating/masking symtpoms). You can find a list of doctors at the website for "The Institute for Functional Medicine" (do a websearch with those words to find their site).

Best wishes and good luck!
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