Sometimes the physical symptoms come out of nowhere. Heart racing, uncomfortable tightness in my chest, shortness of breath, and an inability to focus. I feel out of control, like I'm about to explode. The fearful, anxious inner dialog [1] quickly follows where I ask myself, "Why is this happening right now? When will this be over? Just breathe. Everything is going to be OK. But what if it's not? What if I start feeling worse? What if I can't get this under control? No you can. You have to. Just breathe. In and out. In. And. Out. Just breathe."

I've suffered from anxiety [2] most of my life, and this is how I feel when I have a panic attack [3]. Most of the time I can get it under control by breathing and talking myself down, or removing myself from a stressful situation, like a crowd. Sometimes I need to take a prescription called lorazepam, but that's only when it gets really bad.

I'd love to be free of these debilitating symptoms, and would rather not be dependent on a prescription for emergencies. So when I heard that CBD oil can help with anxiety [4], I wanted to give it a try. To make matters worse, I also suffer from chronic pain that can flare up when I work out. Knowing that CBD may help with pain and anxiety, I started taking CBD oil [5] about three months ago to see if it could help.

I began with really low doses every morning and night, and gradually increased over the course of four weeks, until I got to 40 mg per day [6]. After that first month, I continued to take CBD every morning, but only took it at night after late-night workouts, to help me sleep.

During those three months, I didn't really notice if it helped with anxiety — that is, until the one morning when I forgot to take it. I was sipping on my coffee [7] at work and started to slowly feel all the common symptoms: chest tightness, shortness of breath, heart pounding, headache, nausea, and an overwhelming feeling of anxiety.

I had no idea CBD was helping this much. I was so used to feeling normal, feeling the absence of anxiety. I called my wife frantically and told her to pick up a bottle since I knew I was running low. As soon as I got home from work, I took my normal dose, 40 mg, but after an anxiety attack, it takes a while to shake it off. I didn't feel like myself for a few days, kind of like I needed to heal from it.

Since that day, I've continued to take CBD oil daily. Admittedly, I have mixed feelings about it. While I don't want to be hooked to any particular drug, CBD oil seems like the better option compared to prescription medication [8], since I experience no negative side effects. It obviously curbs my anxiety symptoms. But I also love that it prevents insomnia [9] after late-night workouts, and helps with overall inflammation and pain. I'd say those are reasons enough to keep taking it. And I can tell you, since the day of my panic attack, I haven't forgotten to take it once.

— As told to Jenny Sugar