Anxiety causes just about every symptom in the book and I was experiencing all of these: nausea, weight loss, difficulty concentrating, rapid heart beat, fatigue, foggy head, problems remembering, all over body pain, hypochondria, headaches, sadness. The panic attacks started when I found out my dog had a terminal condition and they got worse after his death. It did not seem coincidental to me at all, so I went into therapy, got some anxiety meds, and was diagnosed with panic disorder. A few months later none of these conditions had shown much improvement.
On a seemingly non-related doctor visit to my OB-GYN complaining of vaginal dryness and frequent infections, my doctor asked if I was ok because I seemed nervous. I told him I had been experiencing panic attacks. You could immediately see the wheels turning in his head. He started asking me to describe how I had been feeling, so I started listing off my symptoms.
Turns out, all of the things I was experiencing are symptoms of low estrogen. These levels can change through natural processes like menopause, but they can also be triggered by depression or traumatic events, like my dog dying. And linked very closely to estrogen is serotonin, the chemical in your brain that helps elevate mood. My serotonin levels were too low, too, a huge reason behind the anxiety.
I immediately began medical treatment in order to raise my estrogen level and serotonin level. I haven't had a panic attack since. It took a couple of weeks for the medicine to kick in, but now that it has I feel AMAZING. I don't get heart palpitations or racing heart beat, my head feels a lot more clear, I can think, I don't have problems sleeping or waking up, my body doesn't hurt as much, I don't get headaches anymore, my sadness is at an appropriate level (instead of utter despair), and the snowballing effect of hypochondria is minimal. It's been over two months since my last panic attack and I feel like a new woman. It's been as simple as taking one small pill every day and sticking a small patch of natural estrogen to my abdomen. Easy.
If anybody out there thinks they might have low estrogen here's a website I found helpful. http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C327561.html#H1
And here's a link to information about estrogen and serotonin. http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Dowling1.html