Panic attacks and anxiety are all controlled by our Autonomic nervous system. It’s our brain that sends signals to our ANS and so this is why cognitive behavioural therapy is often recommended for anxiety disorders. Menopause-related anxiety and panic attacks are different from anxiety disorders or panic disorders because they are caused by depleting hormones affecting the autonomic nervous system.
The Autonomic Nervous System Explained
The autonomic nervous system (also known as the ANS) is made up of two parts: The Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). When both the SNS and PNS are in-balance we don’t experience such things as anxiety or panic attacks. Menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, and mood swings are associated with the sympathetic part of the ANS. The SNS is our body’s fight-flight stress reactor system. When faced with something that triggers fear, our SNS causes our heart to beat faster and allowed us to respond quickly to our environment. It gives us that feeling of ‘fear’ that we associate with feeling under threat.
On the other side, we have the Parasympathetic division which takes control of rest and digestion. It acts as the complete opposite to the SNS and regulates repair, aiding the body to recoup during times of stress. The PNS will reduce the heart rate, which is the exact opposite of the SNS. Together they work as one to regulate our entire body and all of the systems within it. During perimenopause and menopause itself, our bodies are experiencing depleted hormone levels. This is a depletion in hormones after decades of estrogen and progesterone production. Naturally, this depletion causes the ANS to become unbalanced. With this, unbalance often creates severe symptoms, most commonly hot flushes.
Panic Attacks
If you feel the panic rising within you, you might be about to experience a panic attack. It’s completely different for everyone, but typically your heart will race and you will start to sweat. Because your heart is racing, your breathing quickens and this can leave you gasping for breath. Some people feel tingling or numbness in their fingers and some will feel dizzy. Ironically, you can’t pass out during a panic attack because your adrenaline is so high.
Sometimes there really isn’t anything you can do other than ride it out, but if you can manage to, try this:
Try to ground yourself by finding one thing you can see, one thing you can hear and one thing you can smell. This forces you to focus on something other than your panic.
We designed LaBalance Plus+ to combat this unbalance within the ANS. When a woman wears LaBalance 24/7 (after at least 3 full months of wear) 71% of those women experience a decrease or complete elimination in up to 24 different symptoms of menopause. This is to due to the offset ANS being rebalanced. Many people are amazed at how such a small device can have such an impact, but this is why. LaBalance is the optimal power to carry this out. The majority of women will now purchase LaBalance over the standard LaBalance device for this reason. Due to the amazing response to LaBalance we will only be selling LaBalance in the future.