Cheryl Poldrugach has struggled with panic attacks for many years, so when a long-time doctor suggested she explore alternative medicine, the Carrollton resident took it seriously.
“He’d always tell me to take natural things like magnesium, ashwagandha, and valerian root to help bring me down,” Poldrugach told Dallas Express. “I was sick of all the prescriptions that were being doled out. Everything hit the wall with me and I started to do more research.”
That research led the married mom of four children to spend some $10,000 on creating a 2-ounce all-natural concoction that’s now being sold online as a nutraceutical for $5.99.
“I looked at every ingredient that could be helpful,” she said. “I worked with a chemist then I had to get a formulator who knew how much of each ingredient was needed. I was a guinea pig for a long time until we ended up with Panic Aide.”
Panic Aide is marketed as a unique, liquid alternative to Xanax, a prescribed sedative used to combat anxiety.
“The reason Panic Aide is a drink is because when you’re having a panic attack, your throat may close or you may feel nauseous and it’s hard to count pills or take pills so that’s the reason I made it a drink,” Poldrugach said in an interview. “It also gets into your system faster because it’s bio-available.”
Anxiety affects some 40 million adults nationwide, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), Poldrugach created Panic Aide to help not only herself and her family members but also the general public.
“Trying to be in the fast lane of Dallas with all the pretty and famous people around here is not a healthy way to live and trying to use that as your gauge in life is not real,” Poldrugach said. “It’s a picture that’s been edited and sucked in. So, keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, is more pressure than a lot of people can handle. It can add to your already anxious, panicky self.”
Hemp-derived CBD, one of many ingredients in Panic Aide, makes up 10 milligrams of what’s in the drink. Poldrugach also sells Anxiety Aide, which is similar but is produced without CBD.
“There’s a lot of people who are still very hesitant with CBD,” she said. “So, I totally respect and understand people having issues with CBD. I have no problem with that. I made Anxiety Aide with zero CBD and then PM (a Panic Aide formula designed to help with sleep issues) has 20 milligrams. I use hemp-derived CBD, which has 0.0% THC in it. I get all my CBD from a very high-level lab in Colorado called Folium Biosciences.”
Poldrugach, a former Dallas TV broadcast professional, also hosts a YouTube show dedicated to raising awareness around mental health called Coping Convos.
“The best thing I did for myself with my anxiety and panic is talk about it because I hid it for 20 plus years,” she added. “We talk about mental health, suicide, depression, and my husband’s bipolar. The show is just one hundred percent, all mental health and making sure people don’t feel alone. We talk about things a lot of people don’t want to talk about.”