Effective Natural Remedies for Anxiety

I have dealt with anxiety disorder for many years now, in particular, GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). I am on an antidepressant which helps a great deal. However,I also take 1000mg of Taurine everyday when I get up in the morning. It is better to take it on an empty stomach. I was feeling very anxious one day and did not want to take a benzo (xanax), so I decided to try the Taurine I had bought just for this purpose. I admit that I was not too optimistic that it would help as I'd tried many natural remedies for anxiety and they never really worked. But in desperation, I decided to give the Taurine a try. I took 1000mg and in a few minutes, I actually felt so much more calm! I could not believe it! I told a friend of mine with the same problem about it and he started taking it too and he is 100% better now!
Taurine is very cheap and is abundant in the human body. Being Taurine deficient can cause anxiety.

I read up on this at the following site: http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/011500.htm

If this helps just one person, I'm glad I took the time to share it!
Janet

That's hilarious! I suppose as you were reading your own comment you were thinking, "This person sounds pretty intelligent, too." ha, ha.

I have found myself to dramatically feel less burdened by daily stress when I'm taking Ashwagandha twice a day. My counselor suggested the improvement was attributable to other changes I've made in life but when I tested by ceasing Ashwagandha I returned to having more tense feeling days including clenching of teeth. I have tried both Organic India brand which is available at Whole Foods and Swanson's Ultimate Ashwagandha and while both were effective I believe the Swanson product worked best. Both of these products were only made from the root of the herb and I would love to hear from others if results have been better from taking both the root and leaves (I haven't yet tried).

I can vouch for the Rhodiola. Made my occasional panic attacks and general anxiety go away within a few hours.

I take 180 mg twice daily, once in morning and once at night. Works even better than Lorazepam in my opinion.

FYI Rhodiola also goes by the name "Arctic Root"

Hello!

My husband has been using GABA for a few years....maybe 5 years and there have been NO side affects at all, except to calm him down...I even take a pill when I'm going to be in a stressful situation, like visiting his mother, for example! lol

Please note that L-Carnitine and Acetyl L-Carnitine are different! L-Carnitine can help you lose weight and improve heart function, but for anxiety and depression, ALC is the one you want. ALC may benefit those with glucose issues and has been shown to improve memory and cognitive function. There are studies that an increase in oxidative stress while taking ALC is possible. If so, 100-600mg of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) will not only combat this side effect, it will increase the anti-aging effects!

I suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. I tried at least six or seven medications over a five year period but nothing worked. They all were just expensive and had bad side effects. A naturopathic biologist told me to take ACV and after a couple of days I felt much better for the first time. I believe there are people who need the prescription medications -and counseling is a great help to most of us- but for those of us suffering from occasional recurrent depression/anxiety I believe it is a fantastic cure. I have only taken it when my depression pops up and found relief every time. After reading the benefits for weight loss though, I believe I will begin taking it daily - and brushing my teeth afterward!

I would like to share a remedy I successfully used to cure schizophrenic thoughts. I was always shy as a kid, and little bit "paranoid" I guess you could say. But when I turned 24 I gradually began to have more paranoia, coupled with anxiety, and sometimes felt I was hearing voices. No, not the audible kind that people usually hear, but more or less I felt there were more thoughts in my head than my own; too many to deal with at once. Some very hateful thoughts had emerged and I sometimes became obsessed over certain angry thoughts, feeling like I couldn't relax and eventually would have a panic attack and feel out of control, possibly cry from too much stimulation etc. I soon found myself trying to figure my thoughts out, but they often made no sense, and I would play psycho-analytical games with other people thinking I really knew what they were thinking about me. I was always suspicious, and eventhough I didn't want to feel this way that's what happened.

Anyway, I know there are others out there that share a similiar story: how they once felt normal than started having some sort of mental illness, be it brain fog (which I also had from the obsessive paranoia), or adhd or whatever it may be. Niacinamide could be the answer to your problems. On the advice of Ted, a famous contributor to this site, I began taking 2000mg - 3000mg of Niacinamide (niacin can be used, but the flushing may become too annoying at such doses for some people). I noticed within a couple days my excessive paranoid thoughts dimnished almost completely, but I continue to take 500mg tablets everytime I feel them coming back.

I also continue to take at least one B 50 tablet a day to prevent deficiencies. It works~! I realize not every form of schizophrenic thoughts may be cured this way, but its worth a try for anyone seeking help like I did. High doses of niacinamide have cured my excessive anxiety, paranoia, and schizophrenic thoughts and even helped to solve stomach ailments I have had for years along with keeping myself more alkaline.

The alkaline remedy I used with most success in over-acidity was 1/4 sodium bicarbonate, and 1/4 potassium citrate (a 99mg tablet) in a glass of water 3x a day. This also helps to keep me much more stable. When I added sodium carbonate to this mixture sometimes it also helped with over-anxious thought patterns, and to calm the brain down. I hope this helps someone like it did for me.

Peace and love. Cordell

TLDR: Stress B-Complex that includes Zinc, Avoid stress & emotional distress like the plague(especially when the situation doesnt directly involve you), get outside in the sunlight, and welcome happiness and peace into your life every chance you get.

I beat a terrible case of anxiety without the use of pharma drugs. And by terrible, I mean absolutely terrible. I had never dealt with it before, but it hit me like a freight train out of nowhere. One night at work, I had a massive panic attack, thinking I was having a heart attack I rushed to the ER only for them to find nothing. I developed a fear of going to work as I worked alone, and I was scared to be alone. I was in constant fear that "something" (anxiety, panic attack, heart attack) was going to get me or "something" was going to happen. Constant insane tension. I had multiple panic attacks over the course of a few weeks and ended up in the ER on multiple occasions only for them to find nothing.

After a trip to my regular doctor he prescribed me some meds, which I refused for obvious reasons. However while I was there he gave me some excellent advice: "You are like chicken, be like duck." He explained that stress is like water. I was like a chicken because my "feathers" absorbed the water. And I needed to be shedding the water like the feathers of a duck. Eventually as you "absorb" water, the weight of it adds up and you will eventually begin to be crushed under the weight of it. This is when you run into anxiety and panic attacks. So, I took his advice and stopped allowing myself to take on stress that I didnt need to take on. I stopped allowing myself to get emotionally involved in other peoples problems or to be disturbed on any level. This doesnt mean I became heartless, unhelpful, or uncaring, it just means that I refused to allow things to needlessly cause me stress, especially when it wasnt my problem to begin with. If someone came to me with some drama or a problem, I didnt take it to heart and dwell on it. I would converse with them and offer my advice and condolences, etc. But thats where the problem would stop for me. As a matter of my own health, I would seek to get my mind into a place of peace and happiness as soon as possible and keep it there. Whether that was through a hobby, watching funny videos, having fun with a friend or family member, etc.

Through some research, I had read something about Zinc being crucial for helping you deal with stress. Its been a long while since I read up on it, and I'll probably butcher the recap, but something along the lines of, when you stress/worry, your body burns through your stores of Zinc, and when it runs out you get that anxious tense feeling we call anxiety. Anyways, again, full disclaimer, dont quote me on that, this was all years ago.

However, there are a lot of vitamins and minerals that contribute to dealing with stress/anxiety. Magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, copper, B vitamins.. the list goes on. I have good reason to believe in my case, Zinc made the difference.

I found a supplement, its a Stress B - Complex that includes Zinc. This for whatever reason works for me 100%. It doesnt include every vitamin or mineral that can help manage stress/anxiety, but this one works for me. I personally think the Zinc is what made a difference for me. As I was taking another B-Complex that didnt include Zinc and it didnt work.

Also, sunlight and the outdoors. In addition to the mental diet and the supplements, I found that getting myself outdoors helped a lot. Due to work, I was a night owl. I hardly every got out during the day. I made it a point to get out, take walks, go fishing, attending family get togethers and things like that.

All together my terrible run in with anxiety, lasted probably a month or less before I got a serious handle on it. In the years since, I've had it try to come back but I'm more than well enough equipped to handle it. Usually it happens during times I'm dealing with something stressful and all I need to do is step back from the stress and take my Stress B-Complex for a few days to knock it out again.

I'd give the brand of the supplement, but I dont know if giving exact brands is allowed here. I will say its usually readily available at Wal Mart. Brown bottle, with a yellow lid and label.

I have read a lot about L-Theanine and just want to get this info out to people who take L-Theanine for Anxiety, Relaxation, and how to search for interactions with supplements and or prescription medicines.

First of all, when purchasing L-Theanine, it is imperative that you purchase only the companies that list Suntheanine on the front container, it represents the best of L-Theanine. Theanine without the name Suntheanine is very, very inexpensive and it will not be the product you want to help your problem.

Dosages, companies supply 100mg, 125mg, 150mg, 200mg, you can safely take approximately 8,000mg L-Theanine (Suntheanine), I have found that 400mg (2 capsules each with 200mg each) in the morning and same in the evening. With or without food is fine. Of course, you can take less, depending on your reason for taking it. If you want to check for interaction(s) then Google that question yourself, it is not necessary to ask, just know that many of your questions can be answered by Googling your question.

Anxiety searchers can find relief from Severe Anxiety with Serpina (Indian Snakeroot) (Amazon) or 500mg-1000mg of N-acetyl-L-Carnitine, Amazon sells 500mg, 1000mg and 1500mg pills. Magnesium glycinate also helps but not as good as the other two products.

Thanks to the info on here, I just tried acetyl L carnitine for my anxiety. I am pleased to say I think it's helping. My husband took it years ago for neuropathy and it was great. My son is trying it for his neuropathy as well. My anxiety has been so bad because my husband died six months ago after fighting lung cancer for 14 months. My checkup showed elevated blood pressure. High blood pressure causes anxiety which raises blood pressure which causes more anxiety and round and round. So I am so happy to find something besides Xanax that actually makes me feel somewhat better. Now hopefully I can get my blood pressure down. 🤪🤪

I have anxiety and irritability. Magnesium is a life saver. I can really feel myself mellow over the course of the day when I take it regularly. Very grateful I found it.

Many years ago I haphazardly tried Holy Basil capsules and or the tea and I had felt that they didn't "work" for me and my stress, anxiety, and depression during my job. Fast forward a few years and I realize that my depression and anxiety have been pretty much chronic since I was a teen. I think that I always just feel nervous about things and recently it has held me back in doing many things.

Now that I am middle aged, I feel desperate to find some sort of relief for my depression, and anxiety and other symptoms. I have tried many different supplements and activities but I did them in a haphazard way So this week I decided to go to the health food store and look around. The only thing on sale happened to be Holy Basil capsules from a well known brand containing 536 mg strength. So I decided to try them again. This time I did a lot more research and reading on HB.

At first I chewed 1 capsule let it sit in my mouth as long as possible and then swallowed everything with water. I didn't feel anything amazing. The next day I still had that task I was dreading and it was making me feel really nervous. So I chewed 2 capsules back to back let it absorb in my mouth as long as possible and then some water.

Lo and behold, about half an hour later I realized that my feeling of nervousness had gone away. I felt "normal" or "ok". It is hard to describe, because I haven't felt "not nervous" for a very long time. It didn't make me sleepy like some other supplements do. I do feel that the effect is short lived though kind of like when I take a xanax, and I am not sure how to keep that "not nervous" feeling for a longer period of time.

Those of you with anxiety issues, start taking magnesium. every day take at least 250 mg; I personally take 500 mg. It will make you go to the bathroom a lot if you take too much. You won't notice any effect on you for maybe a week. Then bam your anxiety is gone.

I've read a few posts on the use of 5HTP and unusual symptoms (headaches, pains, etc) after using for awhile. Just wanted to recommend The Mood Cure book which helps to explain that these symptoms could possibly be caused by too much serotonin (serotonin syndrome). The gist of the 5HTP part is just using it long enough, and in proper doses, to where you feel better. Once you start getting abnormal symptoms, it can indicate that you are getting too much of a good thing, at which point you would stop or cut back.

Anxiety/Panic Attacks/ph balancing

My dh and I moved 1000 miles away to the middle of nowhere (seriously) with 2 small kids, for him to take a job working 80+hrs a week...in JANUARY! The dog died, the car died, my daughter burnt her arm on the woodstove, we were isolated etc. and of course for 3 months I tried every natural remedy to save our dog to no avail. So when I suddenly went to emerg one night with a racing heart that I couldn't slow down, the sweats, shakes and dizziness, I thought for sure I was having a heart attack...heck I am 40 after all! They gave me an adavan that I didn't take and told me to go home and relax with all the stress in my life. Although everyone kept telling me I was in emotional turmoil...for me there had to be another concrete reason, I had handled way worse in my life and heck it wasn't like I lived in a war torn country or anything...nutritionally I mean, or lack thereof.

I had been drinking black tea again to cope with the dog, the move etc. so it was the first to go with the result being less frequent attacks. So with the help of a guy in Nova Scotia I learned about PH balancing and the work of Dr. Carey Reams. I started balancing my ph each day and if it was 7ish I felt awesome, if it was acid I felt awful. Any sweetener- even honey affected me greatly on the acid side. Then I added in a green supplement from a doctor in Barrie Ontario. On his advice I also started taking a concentrated mineral supplement (the most popular one on the market he recommended) and I started with 1 drop 2x a day, then 2 drops 2x a day and so on. He said I would have loose stools when I reached enough. He said rarely some of his clients could handle 40-60 drops a day. THIS was ME! I was taking 30 drops 2x a day with no loose stools- AND I felt like a million bucks....and NO more panic attacks- ever. woohoo. Then I moved on to zeolite which got back my 5 yr flagging libido and life was incredibly awesome... of course I ended up pregnant with my 3rd, but it's all good and i'm still feeling awesome with no return of the horrifying panic attacks. Incidentlly I tried homeopathics, herbal tinctures, herbal teas, acv, baking soda etc. nothing worked but the constant paying attention of the day to day ph morning and night of my saliva and urine and taking the concentrated minerals. Believe me, for anyone going thru these you'll do just about anything to make them stop!!!

My son suffered from anxiety and depression after his divorce. I read an article by George Eby about Magnesium Glycinate for depression. I bought my son some of the magnesium and after a few days he started feeling better and talked about having more energy and concentration. He took 800-1000 mgs. for a few days to build it up in his system, then backed down to 400 mgs. The Magnesium Glycinate really changed his life.

I've been suffering from anxiety and depression for years, and recently I've started to get panic attacks. I finally got motivated to start researching my problem on my own because I've discovered that doctors (at least the ones I've been too) are useless.

I've discovered a lot of useful information on this website, but what really caught my eye is the cold shower therapy. I've never taken a cold shower in my life so I tried it today. Honestly, I've never felt so great. I don't know what it did to me, but I got a terrible fit of the giggles that lasted half an hour. I feel a lot better, and motivated, which is rare for me especially in the morning. I'll keep it up and see what else happens, but I definitely recommend trying it, for whatever reason. And Thank You for this great website!