How functional medicine heals
Anxiety
The precursors to anxiety are everywhere. Whether you experience low-level stress on a daily basis or have intense anxiety and panic attacks - modern society is not kind to our parasympathetic nervous system.
Anxiety can be accompanied by an entire range of additional symptoms that are seemingly unrelated. Digestive problems, heavy metal toxicity, neurotransmitter issues, nutritional deficiencies, insomnia, or an allergic reaction can all cause severe anxiety.
Often, doctors advise patients to ’try to relax more' or to take up yoga. While relaxation practices can be helpful, those who have moderate to severe anxiety often require a more in-depth investigation into their symptoms for full relief.
For the chronically ill or for those who recently had a traumatic health experience like childbirth or surgery, there is usually also a component of 'neuro-plastic anxiety.' This happens when anxiety is heightened as a result of fear/response cycles.
For too long, anxiety has been regarded as either a mild side effect of a busy lifestyle, a consequence of benign hormone fluctuations, or a medical condition in which the only treatment is a symptom-suppressing pill.
In my experience, many cases of anxiety have an underlying factor of biochemical imbalance or nutrient deficiency, which can often be significantly reduced when the root cause is properly treated.
POTENTIAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY
This list is not exhaustive. These are just a few things that can cause anxiety ranging from mild to severe.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth 11
COVID & long COVID infection 22
Food allergy or sensitivity 33
Mold exposure 44
Genetic factors
Magnesium deficiency 55
Adrenal fatigue, prolonged stress 66
Insomnia 77
Neuroplastic fear response
Digestive symptoms (gut/brain axis dysfunction) 88
Spleen deficiency syndrome
Neuroinflammation 99
Heavy metal toxicity 1010
First rib dysfunction
Shallow breathing patterns
The information in this article and on this website are intended for informational purposes only and does not take the place of seeing a doctor and should not be used for the purposes of diagnosis. If you are experiencing severe symptoms, have chest pain or trouble breathing, go to a hospital right away. Consult a doctor before beginning or stopping any medications or interventions.
Potential chemical causes of anxiety:
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A biological or physical cause of anxiety is common, and it is not necessarily because you are ‘low’ on essential brain chemicals, as the oversimplified explanation goes. The reality is often more complicated.
A potential cause could be a combination of an increased viral load with neurotoxins inflaming and irritating the vagus or phrenic nerves. The vagus nerve starts at the base of the brain and then drops down, innervating the heart, lungs, and digestive organs.
The vagus nerve is one of the most important nerves in the autonomic nervous system, which regulates all the involuntary body functions which keep our body in balance.
If the vagus nerve is inflamed and improperly functioning, it can cause anxiety and be implicated in many other symptoms, including IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), depression, digestive upset, heart arrhythmias, and more.
The phrenic nerve starts around the third to fifth cervical vertebrae and then juts down, attaching to the diagram. This nerve is in charge of how we use our diaphragm to breathe, and when it doesn’t work properly, you are going to feel like you are in a fight or flight mode all the time.
In fact, diaphragm tightness and shallow breathing as a result of a Covid infection could be due to the pathological changes in the muscle tissue of the diaphragm, which has been shown to result in fibrosis (scar tissue). [11]
Neurotoxins can be the result of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections, as well as heavy metal or chemical toxicity.
Heavy metal toxicity is very common. Heavy metals such as mercury, tin, lead, cadmium, copper, and aluminum are often found in blood, hair, and urine samples from patients.
These toxic metals can strengthen a viral load and create toxins that start damaging and irritating the vagus and phrenic nerves.
No amount of anti-anxiety medication will properly address your inflamed nerves if an underlying infection or toxicity is the culprit. The infection must be addressed, and your neurotoxins extracted safely for you to feel better.
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Another biochemical cause of anxiety involves your digestive tract and the food you eat. For some people, food allergies or sensitives can cause an increase in histamine and increase gut inflammation.
This can cause symptoms of anxiety because of the gut-brain connection. Another potential cause of irritation lies in your intestinal lining.
One area of the intestines that can often become irritated is your ileocecal valve, where your small intestines transitions to your large intestine or colon.
Because it's a transition point, it tends to become irritated often. Any food can rub up against your inflamed intestinal lining, causing sensitive nerves to be irritated and triggering anxiety.
Shortcomings of a typical treatment of anxiety
Anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants are some of the most prescribed drugs in the United States. These medicines work by manipulating your brain chemistry to reduce feelings of anxiety.
It is typical for these medications to work in the short term, but their dosage usually needs to be increased over time. They can have severe side effects, and it is also usual for these medications to be difficult to stop taking.
Why antidepressants stop working
Antidepressants are used for the treatment of anxiety and/or depression by conventional medicine practitioners. Most antidepressant medications are 'reuptake inhibitors', meaning they stop the normal process of recycling brain molecules in order to 'correct' a chemical deficiency in the brain.
This is called the monoamine hypothesis. No chemical deficiency (which has been demonstrated in the progression of Parkinson's disease) has been demonstrated in the human brain for depression, as the exact biochemistry at work remains complex and unexplained. [12]
One theory as to why antidepressants stop working is that this attempt at chemical rebalancing artificially manipulates brain chemistry, so there is a temporary increase in serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, or other neurotransmitters in the brain to make you feel better.
These high levels, however, will eventually come down, and over time, the number and amount of neurotransmitters in your brain could be reduced or become less effective. This means that you could have fewer brain chemicals by taking these medications than when you started.
This newly reduced amount of neurotransmitters explains the need to increase dosage or switch medications and the difficulty of tapering off.
To be clear, there is certainly an appropriate time for antidepressants, but they should not be viewed as the only viable solution.
Rather than reaching for a symptom-suppressing pill first, it is crucial for a doctor to assess potential causes of anxiety. There is always a reason why you have anxiety - and it is not an anxiety medication deficiency.
When dealing with anxiety or depressive disorders, you may wish to work with a psychiatrist or psychologist as well as a primary care physician, and they can use a combination of therapies to support you best.
Practices like moderate exercise, spiritual practice, increased social activity, meditation, yoga, and qigong have also been proven to decrease anxiety symptoms.
The cause of anxiety is usually a combination of many factors - biological imbalance, emotional trauma, stress, infection, or problems with digestion.
The body cannot be compartmentalized into neat distinctions of ‘biological’ and ‘emotional’ because everything is connected. Each body system is integral to another.
The importance of adequate diagnosis and treatment
The causes outlined above are just a few out of hundreds of possible causes of anxiety symptoms.
It is imperative that you work with a doctor who understands the complex interactions that can cause anxiety to manifest.
I am a certified functional medicine practitioner (IFMCP) who has worked for over a decade specializing in complex and chronic illnesses.
Functional medicine testing and diagnosis can assess a wide range of possible causes and uses natural yet effective treatments.
I am currently accepting new patients worldwide for video or phone consultations.
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[1]Chojnacki, Cezary, Tomasz Popławski, Paulina Konrad, Michał Fila, Janusz Błasiak, and Jan Chojnacki. 2022. “Antimicrobial Treatment Improves Tryptophan Metabolism and Mood of Patients with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.” Nutrition & Metabolism 19 (1): 1–66. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12986-022-00700-5.
[2]Fancourt, Daisy, Andrew Steptoe, and Feifei Bu. 2023. “Psychological Consequences of Long COVID: Comparing Trajectories of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms before and after Contracting SARS-CoV-2 Between Matched Long- and Short-COVID Groups.” British Journal of Psychiatry 222 (2): 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2022.155.
[3]Peters, Rachel L., Philippe Eigenmann, and Ömer Kalaycı 2022. “Editorial Comments on: “Food‐allergy‐specific Anxiety and Distress in Parents of Children with Food Allergy: A Systematic Review”.” Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 33 (1): e13700–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13700.
[4]Harding, C.F, C Pytte, K Page, E Normand, L Blachorsky, T Roa, and N Adams. 2014. “85. Environmental Mold, Brain Inflammation, Cognitive Deficits, and Increased Anxiety and Fear.” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 40: e25–e25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2014.06.105.
[5]Sartori, S.B., N. Whittle, A. Hetzenauer, and N. Singewald. 2012. “Magnesium Deficiency Induces Anxiety and HPA Axis Dysregulation: Modulation by Therapeutic Drug Treatment.” Neuropharmacology 62 (1): 304–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.07.027.
[6]Head, Kathleen A., and Gregory S. Kelly. 2009. “Nutrients and Botanicals for Treatment of Stress, Adrenal Fatigue, Neurotransmitter Imbalance, Anxiety, and Restless Sleep.” Alternative Medicine Review 14 (2): 114–40.
[7]Carney, Colleen E., and Jack D. Edinger. 2010. Insomnia and Anxiety. 1st ed. 2010. New York, NY: Springer New York : Imprint: Springer.
[8]Lee, Younjung, and Yong-Ku Kim. 2021. “Understanding the Connection Between the Gut–Brain Axis and Stress/Anxiety Disorders.” Current Psychiatry Reports 23 (5): 22–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01235-x.
[9] Noronha, S.S.R., P.M. Lima, G.S.V. Campos, M.T.T. Chírico, A.R. Abreu, A.B. Figueiredo, F.C.S. Silva, D.A. Chianca, C.A. Lowry, and R.C.A. De Menezes. 2019. “Association of High-Fat Diet with Neuroinflammation, Anxiety-Like Defensive Behavioral Responses, and Altered Thermoregulatory Responses in Male Rats.” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 80: 500–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.04.030.
[10]Omeiza, Noah A., Halimat A. Abdulrahim, Abdullateef I. Alagbonsi, Precious U. Ezurike, Talha K. Soluoku, Happy Isiabor, and Abdulmusawwir A. Alli‐oluwafuyi. 2021. “Melatonin Salvages Lead‐induced Neuro‐cognitive Shutdown, Anxiety, and Depressive‐like Symptoms via Oxido‐inflammatory and Cholinergic Mechanisms.” Brain and Behavior 11 (8): e2227–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2227.
[11]Shi Z, Bogaards SJP, Conijn S, Onderwater Y, Espinosa P, Bink DI, van den Berg M, van de Locht M, Bugiani M, van der Hoeven H, Boon RA, Heunks L, Ottenheijm CAC. COVID-19 is associated with distinct myopathic features in the diaphragm of critically ill patients. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2021 Sep;8(1):e001052. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001052. PMID: 34544735; PMCID: PMC8453595.
[12]Warren, John B. 2020. “The Trouble with Antidepressants: Why the Evidence Overplays Benefits and Underplays Risks—an Essay by John B Warren.” BMJ (Online) 370: m3200–m3200. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3200.
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