Nervous System
Case Study | Anxiety
Case study kindly provided by Asti Renaut, Naturopath & Herbalist
As herbalists, we all know that stress is a common contributing factor in our patient's ailments. This has never been more apparent to me than over the past 18 months here in Christchurch seeing patients as they cope with the various stresses of earthquakes, insurance companies, EQC, uncertainty and financial and personal difficulty.
A past client reappeared in my clinic in November of last year, a nurse, 40 years old, mother of 2. She was relieved to be in the clinic for the appointment as she felt she was “on the brink of a breakdown”.
She was feeling continually anxious, stressed, and in constant fear that “something terrible will happen”. She had a heightened sense of impending doom and described her stress as being “like she was running on top of water”. She was not sleeping due to a racing mind that she couldn't prevent from imagining worst case scenarios.
Although her appetite was absent, she was eating regularly. As a nurse, she was fully aware that she could see a doctor and get anti -anxiety medication. However she knew how well natural medicines had worked for her before, and wanted these to be her first line of action.
My recommendations were for her to continue to take her B vitamins, to take a magnesium supplement which I gave her to take twice daily, and the following herbal formula:
Withania 1:2 45%
Kava 40%
Licorice 15%
Mitte 200ml, 8ml 2 -4x daily
I also gave her the number for Anxiety Support Canterbury, an excellent organisation offering free support services. As it was a Friday when I saw her, it felt important that she have the phone number in case her situation became critical over the weekend.
Follow -up 10 days later: The patient reports she is 50 -75% better. She is not feeling the same level of dread and doom, and is able to control her thoughts (but only just). Instead of constant anxiety, she now has waves of it, alternating with deep exhaustion. Her appetite is back and she is sleeping better, though sometimes still wakes in the night with anxiety.
She has also developed mouth ulcers. She had not had time to seek any further support or counselling, or indeed have any time to herself at all.
Initially she took the tonic 4x daily, but has reduced the dose now to twice daily.
I advised her to continue with the B vitamins and magnesium, but also gave her a zinc supplement and changed her herbal formula to the following to offer extra immune support:
Withania 1:1 40ml
Kava 60ml
Licorice 20ml
Echinacea Root Blend 40ml
Astragalus 60ml
Mitte 220ml, 8ml 2 -4x daily as needed
I also recommended she seek further support for her anxiety in the form of counselling or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and gave her referral phone numbers.
Follow -up 2 weeks later: The patient was wowed by how fast her mouth ulcers cleared up, calling it “miraculous”. Her anxiety was so much better (only “occasional”) that she was often forgetting to take her tonic. She is sleeping through and no longer waking with any anxiety during the night. She is keen to continue with the herbal formula.
We have had 2 more appointments since then during this year, predominantly for hormonal issues, as the anxiety has been so much improved as to not be a primary focus any longer. She is feeling much more balanced, and has not sought any counselling support as has not felt the need for it. When she does have any moments of anxiety due to relationship issues, she either goes back to using her tonic or increases the doses of it for a few days.
Comments
As we know, Kava has been shown in clinical trials to be as effective as some anti -anxiety medications, and can be safely used acutely and chronically for stress and anxiety. This patient felt that taking the herbal formula allowed her to 're -pattern' her thoughts and behaviours and provided an effective solution for a condition that was initially quite debilitating. The power of herbal medicine never ceases to amaze and inspire me, as does the simple efficacy of liquid Kava.
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