Question: Hi Dr. XXXXXXX
I am 41 year old who has always led an active, creative and fairly adventurous life. Then a few years ago, my father acquired Alzheimer's and died of old age related complications. He used to be an intellectual giant, highly educated and erudite, but was reduced to a horrifically helpless state when he forgot how to speak, could not recognise anyone and so on. Around the same time, my relationship with my partner of 7 years fell apart. After she left, my father passed away shortly, and I decided to quit my fairly high stress job to try my hand at freelancing. My first three months in my new life was quite blissful but then one evening out of the blue I had a horrible episode. I thought I was having a stroke or a heart attack. I was driving through heavy traffic then, and somehow managed to not crash my car and get home. I felt better in a few hours, but those episodes kept coming back. My doctor ran all sorts of checks and the diagnosis was panic disorder. It was debilitating for a year. I stopped going out, stopped interacting with people, stopped driving. I used to be super-fit, but I put on weight, I looked older, I got shifty eyed, couldn't look people in the eye anymore. I was a wreck. I used to be a prolific traveller and did high altitude trekking in the Himalayas regularly. All that became unthinkable. I became a hypochondriac, compulsively checking my own pulse and blood pressure. A psychiatrist advised me to get on Xanax but I didn't want to do anything that might impair my cognitive abilities, even temporarily. Instead I gritted my teeth and forced myself to do the things I was afraid of. I started working out, I went out and met people, I also started driving. I am much better now. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give myself 7. I was 10 before i started getting the panic attacks. I was about 2 immediately after. Now this is my question. I think I am now a functional member of society again, but I do have my bad days, say once a fortnight or so, when I have to consciously tell myself that this is just a panic attack and it will go away in a bit. The possibility of an episode clouds my existence. I miss the carefree, fearless, adventurous old me. Is that gone forever? Can I ever be the person I used to be? Lastly, you should know that I was a regular marijuana user for over a decade and a half prior to getting the disorder. I stopped immediately afterwards and it has been 4 years since I had my last use. Thank you very much for your patience.

Thank you for your detailed answer. I will try JPMR and pranayam. I would also like to know if you have any dietary recommendations. Because I am physically active, I try to maintain a regular and balanced diet. But I am not aware of any specific dietary changes I should do. Are there foods I should avoid/eat more regularly?
Thanks.