Effective Natural Remedies for Anxiety

GH3 (I used a more complexed type "GH7") is a mild, reversible MAO inhibitor. It does lift your mood. Sceletium, or "Kanna" herb is reputed to work faster and better than SJW, and I found it to be very useful too. Also, gotu kola is a good all around herb for depression and anxiety.

I have been plagued with depression and anxiety since 2001 when I was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. I have hot nodules on my thyroid. Began with one about 1in by .5 inch. Now I have two the size of a lemon. I have not been able to take antidepressants. So I have struggled with it all these years. One thing that helps with the anxiety is strong green tea. I take about 6 oz of water and add two tea bags. Let it set a while and make sure you move the tea bags around and squeeze out the good stuff. That is where the L theanine comes from. Drink as much as you want. I also take Lemon Balm. It works well but usually have the green tea. Wish I could beat this depression. I am now 65 and it seems to be getting worse and I am under a lot of stress. Have never tried Rhodiola. Think I will give it a try. Hope the green tea works.

Hemp Seed Powder and Kelp Powder

I used to get very anxious and depressed, headaches, stomachaches, sore and tired all over, the headaches were like migraines or tension headaches. I can't eat wheat. I read about how protein is used by the brain to manage its levels of nitrogen and ammonia, so thinking the migraine might be from a lack of protein I took 1/4 cup of hemp seed powder, with a teaspoon of kelp powder since I had the kelp powder, mixed in a glass of water. I feel much better. I did that once or twice a day for three days, I wake up less tired in the morning, my good mood lasts all day, I feel more optimistic and youthful, the headaches are almost gone. The dark circles under my eyes are lighter.

Taking potassium and magnesium pills help too. I take more than the label says depending on how I feel. Sometimes 4 to 6 99mg potassium at a time.

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.

For the last five days, I have experienced anxiety at a level of 8-9 on a scale of 10. Thought I would eat the ceiling, so horrible. I am normally a high energy person, but this anxiety was I guess a prolonged panic attack. Tried everything, magnesium, taurine, 5-htp, fish oil, passion flower, glutamine, calcium, breathing deeply and pranayama, thick brews of hops, sage, Shen's worry free pills, alcohol, valerian, a friend gave me some ambien to sleep, and the list goes on - about 10 more things. Thought I was going to die from a heart attack. Got it at the health food store - the brand that makes the liquid phyto-caps, which is the best in the country imo. Over 350 mgs per capsule. Instructions say 1 cap in between meals, but I was desperate, took 2,10 minutes apart, popped them open in my mouth. Unbelievable! The anxiety started to drain within an hour. Here I am 5 hours later late at night and really peaceful and softly tired. So grateful to the posters about Holy Basil and to Earthclinic!

Hi EarthClinic-ers! I've been experimenting with Holy Basil (a remedy I found on this site) both for myself and my husband. I have to say the results are great! I originally started my husband on the Holy Basil because he would get stressed out at work and get into weeks-long "funks" where he would be depressed/grouchy. It definitely helped to shorten the duration of his "funk" and lessen the severity. I think now it's even helping prevent them. I'm trying to finish my Ph. D. so there is a lot of stress in my life too. I started taking the Holy Basil on an as-needed basis (my husband takes it every day). Definite improvement. I feel like it takes the edge off my mood to where I can more easily cope with whatever problems I'm having.

Another interesting effect -- I had a big presentation to give early this morning in front of my Ph. D. Examination committee. I took 2 Holy Basil pills last night in preparation. I usually get stage fright when I have to talk in front of other people (especially when they determine when I can graduate! ). This morning, I had NO STAGE FRIGHT! I will definitely remember this when I have to give my dissertation defense later this year. Thank you Earth Clinic and thank you Holy Basil! I love this stuff!

Hope this can help someone else out there.

Sophie

Anxiety Remedies: A couple of years ago I started feeling anxious for no reason at all. It became worse and worse until I couldn't stand myself. My doctor gave me xanax to sleep at night but I still had that anxious feeling all the time. I tried no-flush niacin and that helped a little. Then I tried rhodiola and that helped a lot more. I went for several months until I found holy basil. I find it works the best and has a nice side benefit. I can have my tea and still sleep as long as I take my holy basil in the evening. So for me it counters the bad effects of caffeine. I still keep the rhodiola and niacin around for backup and take them in the morning sometimes but nothing replaces the holy basil.

I posted this at Cure Zone a couple of days ago and thought I'd post here, too. I had panic attacks for decades (I'm 58) and didn't know what my problem was. I had my most severe ones standing in lines (bank, grocery store, etc. ) and would feel like I was going to faint, and my heart would race to the point I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I came to the conclusion that they were psychosomatic. I was watching the Sally Jesse Raphael show (years ago) and the subject of the show was panic attacks. I'm relieved (or sorry?) that I wasn't the only one. I never went to the doctor for it. Why? So he could send me to a shrink who would put me on pills? No thanks. So, I've stumbled around with this condition for decades. I started inhaling 3% food grade H2O2, for what I don't remember. I came home from the grocery store one day and realized that I hadn't had a panic attack. I wondered if it was because of the H2O2 and started inhaling this every time I went anywhere. I haven't had a panic attack in 2-3 months.

I must conclude that MY panic attacks were physical. Why 'were' and not 'are'? I don't need the H2O2 anymore. I came home from the store one day and realized that I hadn't had any H2O2 and hadn't had a panic attack. I then realized that I hadn't had any H2O2 in a couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any two cents worth on what might have been my problem? Did the extra oxygen molecule (if that was what fixed my problem) create a bridge (or something else) in my brain (or somewhere else), so now I am "fixed"? I'd really like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. Thanks!

I've been having such bad anxiety, that the muscles in the front of my neck are in pain for days at a time from the tension. I noticed that taking a few drops of Lugol's iodine in water gives complete and instant relief from the tension and pain. It's weird how fast it happens--I mean AS I am drinking the water!! I think perhaps, since tyrosine and iodine work together to make thyroid hormones, that the deficiency of iodine causes excess tyrosine, which is known to cause elevated heart rate and anxiety. Also, I have been taking SAMe daily for six years, for depression, and I took my usual 3 day break from it, and felt complete relief from the anxiety, which came back when I took another SAMe pill yesterday. So, I guess it's time to exchange the daily SAMe with N-acetyl cysteine for the purposes of replacing methylation lost from mercury toxicity.

I was recently researching the link between iodine deficiency and anxiety. I didn't find a lot of convincing information, so I decided to try it on myself.

I've had IBS for at least a year now and strangely enough, I found it to be completely anxiety related and not at all to do with the bowels themselves. I also have regular anxiety as well, but I haven't seen any doctors about either condition because I refuse to get on the meds wagon.

Two nights ago, I painted two squares of 2.5% iodine tincture onto my wrists. I could feel the effects of that by the next day, I went the whole day without any symptoms. One important thing I did find in my research, was that selenium deficiency apparently aggravates iodine deficiency, so naturally, I took 200mcg of selenium the next night in addition to painting iodine on my biceps this time. Still no symptoms of anxiety or IBS on the third day now and I'm hoping this is the real deal. Another interesting bit, I used to take selenium regularly as part of my supplement routine and then stopped for a long time without any obvious reason (ran out and forgot to replenish.. ). For informational purposes, I'm 23, smoke regularly, drink on weekends, eat relatively healthy (always home cooked) but not a ton of fruit and vegetables in my diet.

Interesting Fact: The iodine painting deficiency test is not an indication of anything. Most of it evaporates and becomes colorless, and the rate of that is dependent on the environment that you are in. It does absorb into your system, however, in small amounts. To back that up: When you do this so-called test, wait until it disappears, then get some hydrogen peroxide and apply it to the area; you will see that the whole thing is actually still there.

Best of luck!

I think a lot of us are iodine deficient. I have low thyroid function with a body temp of around 97 as well as various other low-thyroid related symptoms which I would like to alleviate. I now take 10 drops of Lugol's in water in the AM and 6 more in the PM. That's about 100 mgs of iodine but my body seems to need it. I had tried iodoral, nascent iodine, painting feet & wrists with Lugols with no noticeable improvement. My body seems to crave iodine. Lugol's can be purchased online from various vendors.

While I would not consider myself "cured" of anything, I have found that Iodine..or the lack thereof...causes me to have panic and anxiety attacks. This is a recent (within 3 months) development for me as I have never had panic and anxiety attacks prior. And although I now take Kelp in a Thyroid supplement (for my newly developed Hypothyroidism), my Iodine test (painting a 2x2 in sq on my abdomen) still shows a regular Iodine insufficiency. Interestingly, I also drink protein shakes that contain 30% FDA Iodine each. I drink 2-3 of these each day. Yet, my Iodine is consistently depleted.

My therapist recently taught me how to knit. I was in her office one day and she said that knitting calms her down and she's taught many of her patients how to knit. So she started up the process for me, handed me the needles, and i took off like a natural. Since then I've become a knitting fiend, and whenever i get anxious or panicy, i pull out my yarn and knitting needles and it takes my mind off it, all the while making something useful...mostly scarves.

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.

L-Theanine works very well against anxiety. It provides a very mild calming effect with few (if any side effects), which is hardly noticeable until you find yourself under stress. In stressful situations, I noticed that my reactions and feelings of anxiety were significantly improved. I take 150 mg of l-theanine per day. I've never needed more.

I also recommend magnesium for anti-anxiety benefits. It can be obtained cheaply through transdermal dosing by bathing with Epsom Salts, or dissolving some Epsom Salts in a spray bottle and spraying it on. Alternatively, you can take magnesium citrate tablets, which are a little more expensive but highly bio-available.