This past week I received an early morning call from a distressed  member.  Throughout the night he had found it impossible to fall asleep.  Every time he would begin to dose off his body was emotionally jarred back to wakefulness.  He described it like a gunshot going off in the room causing his pulse to shoot up, throwing him straight into an anxiety attack.  He used the Nerve Food formula he had on hand which aided in calming the anxiety but was not able to stop the body from sending out the alarm signals throwing him into “Fight Or Flight” mode.   

The fight or flight response is an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening. The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee.

His description of events brought to my mind an herbal remedy my father, Dr. Carlous Mason Dsc, had used when his patients had been stuck in an Adrenal spin, (aka Fight or Flight Mode) unable to calm down.  His specialty was Low Blood Sugar and Diabetes.  I remember he used Uva Ursi, as an herbal support that worked very effectively. 

Uva Ursi, an herb that is commonly used to support the renal system.  It’s valuable in any formula supporting the Kidneys, Bladder or for men, the prostate, it is also an excellent support herb for any diuretic formula.    Uva Ursi, is not a nervine herb, which are the herbal supports used as sedatives, calming to the nerves, and food to rebuild nerve tissue.  When dealing with a body unable to calm down the first thoughts would be to use a calming blend of herbs to settle them down.   I’m so grateful our member already had my “go-to” favorite blend of nervine herbs on hand for emotional support and  anxiety attacks, allowing both of us to know nervine herbs were not the answer for ending the adrenal spin he was in.

Uva Ursi is not a detoxing herb, it is extremely uncommon to have any detoxing backlash from using the high dose of 6 to 8 capsules, Dr. Mason, recommended to shut down the sympathetic nervous system, which is activated when the body is unable to calm down from the “Flight or Fight” Mode. 

After sharing Dr. Mason’s herbal suggestions with our member he decided to pick up a bottle of Nature’s Way, Uva Ursi capsules.  I received a text from him later that evening.  He shared that an hour after he had taken 8 of the capsules he was finally able to fall asleep.  He slept deeply for four hours.  When he awoke he felt calm, all the anxiety was gone.  He decided to use the herbs again that night and has no issues to share with repeated use of the high dose. 

Herbal common sense would suggest using this herbal support when the body needs the help to shut down the sympathetic nervous system.  It is not a nervine herb to be used to settle the nerves or induce sleep on a regular basis.

With the permission of Dr. Tim Jennings I have posted two articles from his blog that explain the changes in the body when the Sympathetic Nervous System is activated.  Which by the way shuts down our ability to reason clearly.  Living in fear prevents us from being able to make good decisions.