Mandy's story - Panic attacks, POTS and the magic of Phosphorus

It’s been nearly four months since I wrote about my treatment of Mandy and her recovery from POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and I’m glad to report that it’s all good news. There’s been a few bumps on the way but that’s often the case with real life stories. 

After first coming to see me in September 2017 for her debilitating symptoms of POTS, Mandy responded incredibly well to the remedy Sulphur. Within just a few weeks, her ‘at sea’ feeling, fainting and intense digestion problems (gastroparesis) had greatly improved and she was able to stand for much longer without the usual syncope or dizziness. By December 2017 her night sweats had disappeared along with her frequent nightmares.  

All was going well until mid February 2018 when Mandy noticed a change in her health. While her POTS symptoms remained much reduced, she now had a new problem. She was having palpitations and what felt like adrenline rushes leading to panic attacks with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, especially at night: 

"I’m waking up hot, though not sweaty like I used to before starting the homeopathy. It feels more like a constant anxiety or agoraphobia. I don’t want to be on my own. I hate being on my own. I feel like someone is behind me, I’m frightened of the dark, on edge. Any loud noise make me jump. My dreams have changed too, there’s lots of tidal waves where I’m being dragged under." 

Other new symptoms included a daily sore throat on waking and a new sensitivity to cold weather that made her joints and lungs ache. Her food preferences had also changed with a marked increase in thirst for ice cold drinks and ice-cream and cold foods generally. “If I eat anything hot it makes me feel faint”. Her constipation had also returned.

These marked changes in her symptoms signified that the Sulphur had now cleared a layer of illness, revealing another older one underneath. This called for a new remedy, in this case Phosphorous. Phosphorous is famed for its many fears as well as a love of ice-cream and ice cold drinks. This is what Mandy had to say a few weeks after the Phosphorus: 

“I haven't fainted at all. Occasionally I feel a little lightheaded only. My constipation is much better. It’s weird but my panic attacks feel different now. They’re not coming with palpitations or that frightened feeling or the shaky adrenaline feeling. It’s more a feeling like ‘I need to get out’, like I can’t cope. Apart from that I’m sleeping through the night”. 

Two weeks later though, Mandy was relapsing. 

“I’m feeling really on the edge. I couldn't deal with a meeting I had to go to, and it ended up with a discussion about whether I should quit work. I can’t concentrate. I feel so overwhelmed I can’t cope with being with people. All this stuff about a really bad experience I had years ago keeps coming up.” 

Mandy went on to tell me about a terrifying event that had happened to her while on holiday many years ago, a story that she had kept to herself for years and an experience that had put her, she now realises, into a chronic hypervigilant anxiety state ever since. Her POTS symptoms had also flared anew with a fainting spells and a return of gastroparesis and a new numbness and tingling in her toes and fingertips.  Now newly conscious of the importance of her past trauma and her panic attacks all seemed to fit ‘Ailments from fright’ calling for more Phosphorus. This interestingly supports the theory put forward by Patrick Ussher that POTS is perhaps a 'somatised' (pushed into the body) chronic fight or flight response to a trauma or shock to the system.  

How was Mandy after the second dose? She reported back three weeks later: 

“I’m feeling great, thanks! I went on a cooking course for 3 days and was able to stand up for much longer periods than in the past. I had a great time. I even ate lots of cake and didn’t feel awful afterwards! I’m still feeling a bit dizzy on standing mainly from getting out of bed but on the whole lots happier! There’s a real change in my dreams too, I’m now dreaming about being on rather than in deep water. That feels quite symbolic!”    

If you would like to know more about my work with POTS patients then check out Helix Homeopathy or 'Natural Treatment for POTS' on Facebook.