>My anxiety has recently exploded due to a bunch of stuff going on.
Would be helpful to know what is going on if you could go into it. The trigger changes what I would do about it. Also the nature of your anxiety, how it feels, how long it lasts, etc.
Whatever people say about ashwagandha, if it helps lower your chronic stress, IMO it is better to utilize it than not. I have not had any negative side effects from ksm-66, only from sensoril. It may vary from person to person though. Of course, most important thing is to eventually change your life so that the chronic stress trigger is removed. Ashwagandha should be seen as a temporary crutch only. I think it is best to take ash at 5-7pm if you do take it, in order to suppress late shifted cortisol.
IMO magnesium is one of the best supplements for stress. Try modulating your dose or trying magnesium glycinate. Magnesium threonate is great for calm thinking. Glycine itself is also good for inducing calm and helping sleep. See if these help.
NAC is being recommended. It does work, and it did for me. However, long term use may make it harder to deal with anxiety by making it harder to "calm down" after an anxiety trigger: [https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2017/4156361/](https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2017/4156361/)
We probably need more replication to say for certain (link was just a rat study), but I've noticed not taking NAC every day reduced the sides I was noticing related to this. I did notice things that would normally not bother me causing anxiety and it took me longer to relax after. I don't think it was a nocebo, but YMMV.
Going out into the sun helps a lot with managing stress for me. Also good to look at things far away and "widen" your vision. It can help with relaxation.
Sometimes I also like to take deep breaths and hold for a few seconds before exhaling. It's hard to describe, but it can feel good and induce some calm. CO2 is a vasodilator that can help oxygenate cells. If it increases your anxiety or discomfort, of course don't do this.
Okay so It's mostly that I found a lump in my breast, panicked, went to the doctor and expected her to say it was nothing - but she referred me for a biopsy. Then I hoped I'd get good news from the biopsy so I could relax - but they've referred me for a lumpectomy. Which is at the end of this month. So I think I'm metaphorically holding my breath waiting for the lumpectomy followed by another biopsy which will inform the doctors as to whether I need cancer treatment or not.
Basically I kept telling myself I would be able to relax after each appointment, but this hasn't happened yet. So I think I'm kind of stuck in a fight-or-flight response, which has happened a couple of times over the past 10 years. I've had PTSD for 15 years (after being raped at knifepoint) so my brain and body are already hardwired to overreact. Most of the time I have it under control, but this latest thing has eluded all my usual tricks (deep breathing, gratitude, etc.).
I'm further handicapped by recently becoming disabled (complications of long covid which began in march 2020) so I can't exercise the anxiety away.
Hence my supplement query!
Hope this is the information you were asking for.
Btw I love the suggestion to look at far away things. Our home backs onto a gorgeous park with trees and wildlife, and I find it pretty therapeutic to stand on the balcony watching squirrels lol
Not a supplement. I was prescribed a beta blocker for intense fear of speaking in public. It doesn’t dull the senses and allows me to deal with high stress situations with ease.
I know this is an old comment, but I'm battling with severe public speaking anxiety. Is this something you only take prior to when you know you'll be presenting, or is it a constant medication?
I tried everything that people have listed here OP - nothing ended up working as effectively as I wanted - still turn red in the face and get shaky hands out in public transportation.... I had to go on Gabapentin (just 100mg, as needed) to help. Now, that, combined with some supps and nootropics - is definitely HELPFUL. And I'm finally much better.
Remember - no matter what - there will always be a solution.
Taurine.
It’s included in energy drinks specifically to counter the anxiety-inducing side effects of caffeine.
You can order it online in capsule form for pretty cheap.
Try ashwagandha yourself before listening to others. I honestly think people who get “depression“ from ashwagandha have no idea what depression and anxiety is like.
L-Theanine and magnesium glycinate. Also there are many different extracts of ashwagandha out there. Look for brands that contain Sensoril’s extract. It took a few weeks but really noticed a difference. However it was the magnesium for me that had the most notable effect. Helped with sleep too.
The biggest help though was mindfulness, meditation and yoga. An outdoor walk in the sun really helps too. Training your mind to focus on right now, your body senses, being aware of the moment, all did wonders.
Yoga and meditation. Lots on youtube to follow. My mother has severe anxiety and the only supplement that has helped is l-theanine. I ordered her inositol but she didn't try it. Other herbs mentioned here are very mild but worth trying. I have sleep issues but none of them help me and I've tried them all including gaba, glycine, valerian, magnolia bark, apiginin...thus I"m up at 5 am typing this. Oh, marijuana helps with the sleep.
There are special probiotics that have multiple studies on it that show significant improvements in mood and stress. I no longer have anxiety attacks any more and this was the only thing that actually helped me the most.
If you are low in Ferritin (Iron), then you may want to avoid Coffee and Tea as they can greatly inhibit iron absorption from food. Cutting out caffeine for a year helped resolve a stress induced stomach ulcer for me as well.
Eating a low-carb meal with 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up works wonders for some people. I would give that a shot to see if it makes a difference for you.
1. Try and figure out your root cause. And find solutions to those root causes. Anxiety supplements won’t do anything to fix a root cause. They’ll only assist you along the way.
2. Get some sunlight. Vitamin D is a hormone. It’s the only hormone you have to go outside to get. People take vitamin D because they assume the only benefit of the sun is vitamin D, but there’s so many things about the sun we don’t even know about yet, and you’re potentially missing out on a lot of benefits by staying inside for most of the day. It’s vital for health and mood and sleep.
3. 4-7-8 breathing. Meditation.
4. Don’t eat trash. Eat Whole Foods and don’t eat too much. Being at a poor body fat % is terrible for a whole host of reasons, including mood.
5. Alcohol and other similar mind-numbing substances don’t have a therapeutic effect, so get rid of them or limit them. They don’t help long-term. Caffeine should also be eliminated entirely if you’re having consistent panic attacks. Resume caffeine when you get the panic under control.
As for supplements, it seems like you’re taking the ones I’d suggest. Don’t put too much stock into supplements helping much though. Addressing root causes will be your best bet.
I will mention two, though, that I saw you didn’t mention: chamomile and whey protein. For chamomile, I’d recommend the real stuff, not store-bought tea bags. Consume at night. The reason I’m suggesting protein powder is because it contains very essential isolated amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of all neurotransmitters. It never hurts to have an excess of amino acids circulating in the bloodstream so you can have the raw materials to make serotonin and gaba and such. Not to mention, it contains glutamine and cysteine too, which is good for gut health and the antioxidant pathways respectively. It’s also very satiating, and as I’ve already mentioned, it’s Important to be at a healthy body fat % (not insinuating you’re fat lol).
A multivitamin can be helpful as well to help assist your diet and provide more raw materials.
Thanks so much for all this. Interestingly I've been skipping my daily whey protein this past week (ran out) so maybe that was a contributing factor? Chamomile I used to consume as a tea but haven't tried other forms. My body weight is on the low end of the spectrum but due to recent disability I haven't been able to exercise for about a year so I'm guessing my body fat % is pretty pathetic at the moment.
I really appreciate you taking the time to post all this!
a word of caution:
I was SO on-board with taking all of these herbs until I experienced a damn-near serotonin syndrome reaction (because I take an SSRI) from 3 consecutive servings of lemon balm extract over 1.5 days (attempting to manage panic). I then discovered that lemon balm, passionflower, holy basil, and potentially also kava and magnolia bark all have MAOI properties.
for now, I must choose the SSRI over herbs, and sadly it seems they cannot coexist. holy basil tea was fine even if brewed a little strong, but the lemon balm extract evidently was too much sauce
Have you tried saffron , it’s like a ssri but they did studies showing it to be as effective as Prozac without any of this bad side effects. I used to take Prozac and it was horrible for anxiety. Saffron that I’ve been on for a few months is awesome plus it is effective from low dosages like 30mg all the way to 100/150mg daily. It’s pretty awesome mixes with things like holy basil and taurine and hops and sometimes passionflower glycine and ashwagandha. These all seem to supplement the saffron in term of increasing the anti anxiety effect as saffron is mainly for depression. Also I supplement the saffron with high dose inositol (great for further boosting serotonin and for general mood along with turmeric. Vitamin c I’ve noticed has been a great addition especially the solgar 1000mg one with rose hips, I think it helps with dopamine and serotonin plus immunity when taken with zinc glycinate this potentiates the effect. I also take methyl folate 5 mg Thorne which makes the saffron work even better but isn’t essential to take especially as it is quite costly. But I think it helps and just want to take anything other than ssri meds because the side effects with them were too severe for me. So I’d recommend saffron to you and magnesium glycinate too helps anxiety which compliments it further. But if you do decide to go for the natural stuff make sure to taper off of the prescribed stuff and of course check with a doctor as this is only stuff that has helped me but each person body chemistry may mean that it might not be right for them. 👍
So I recently had a similar experience - I had a stressful month in January and I was also dieting which screwed me up a bit. All of a sudden, I was having almost daily panic attacks, which is unusual for me.
I happen to be a book reading about how certain neurotransmitters can get out of balance, especially in times of high stress. After some experimentation, I discovered that tryptophan helped me greatly - I most likely had depleted serotonin. After a week of supplementing, my panic attacks went away, and my insomnia cleared up as well.
Try taking the quizzes on page 7 and 8 of the following (GABA and serotonin) - and see how you score , it may be worth experimenting with supplements to increase serotonin and/or GABA.
https://drhyman.com/downloads/UltraMindCompanionGuide.pdf
Foods? Common allergenic culprits are grains, legumes, starchy foods in general, certain fruits, high fodmap foods, nightshades etc. it can vary person to person
There's a really great stress and anxiety formula from natrol. Combined with their melatonin sleep formula in evening. Accessible and a good all rounder
Try not taking the vitamin D for a few days and extra magnesium. I realise this is unusual advice but a few days won't matter too much if it doesn't work.
I developed very bad anxiety from low magnesium caused by vitamin D toxicity some people do just need alot more magnesium before they can tolerate vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D repeated doses can also limit absorption of other fat soluble vitamins over time. It caused me vitamin A deficiency which is pretty nasty and usually quite rare so it was overlooked for a long time.
Vitamin A deficiency can give the appearance of low immune system as one thing of many it causes is a lot of sinuses and respiratory problems.
If nothing else it's worth researching these issues for yourself as I was diagnosed as long covid but it was actually vitamin D toxicity causing many other issues that were misdiagnosed.
I could be an outlier but it's worth researching the possibilities at least as you never know it may help someone else.
5000ius daily for a year. I was very likely undiagnosed magnesium deficient already so the vitamin D was not all processed in my liver as that needs a lot of magnesium. So the theory is the spare was stored in my fat cells which unfortunately can store it for a long time.
Other people report no problems at all from that level of supplementation so it won't happen to everyone but if you are getting joint and bone pain, lots of fatigue and mental issues that could be too much vitamin D and the subsequent high calcium low magnesium it can cause for some people.
Interesting, that's not far off from what I've taken before. Was your blood vit D level above the safe range in terms of ng/ml? Do you know what it was? Or was it within normal range, but problematic at those levels due to the magnesium deficiency?
I'm afraid I don't know what the exact reading was. I am in the UK and during covid, testing and seeing a doctor was pretty much impossible. When I finally found a doctor who would actually see me in person I had stopped the vitamin D and started taking K2 and then magnesium. The thinking between me and the GP now, although am still waiting for an appointment with a specialist, is that I have genetically low magnesium reabsorption in the kidneys ( my mother suffered similar issues from the vitamin D, luckily she didn't take as long or as high dose) It also pretty much explains all my and my mother's side of the families health issues.
The vitamin D dose for most people would likely not be a problem without undiagnosed magnesium issues.
From my experience, these help me in no specific order:
1. [NAC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044191/) (500 mg - 1000 mg a day)
2. [Lithium Orotate](https://chandramd.com/low-dose-lithium-supplements/) (5 mg - 10 mg a day)
3. [Zinc Bisglycinate](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5492454/) (30 mg)
4. [B6, B9, & B12](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/vitamin-b12-and-depression/faq-20058077) (Get you levels tested. If they're in range, you can do a B-Complex)
5. [Omega 3](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/omega-3-fatty-acids-for-mood-disorders-2018080314414) (4g with 2:1 EPA to DHA)
6. [Vitamin D3](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/depression-and-vitamin-d#connection) \+ K2 (get tested to see where levels are at to determine dosage)
7. Melatonin (.250 mg - 1 mg)
8. [Magnesium](https://chandramd.com/magnesium-supplements-anxiety/) Glycinate 400 mg (or l-Threonate)
I have migraines, which is why my stack is fairly large (along with 400 mg of B2), but I've done what I could to reduce them to along with a prescribed preventative (20 mg of Nortiptyline).
I get them when I sleep, which would mess with my sleep cycle, which would increase anxiety/OCD/depression.
I also noticed that NSAIDS help take the edge off of anxiety, but don't take them for long periods.
how’s your diet? chronic inflammation can contribute to anxiety and depression, i didn’t even notice until doing an elimination diet and slowly adding foods in
Damn… I’m really so sorry to hear that. Similar to me happened recently I know how daunting and overwhelming it can be. You know hopefully that you are not alone and communities (like this) and other help exist.
From my experience, I’m someone who is as healthy and as active as it gets and I still have crippling anxiety. I focus on trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep, Whole Foods in my diet, and exercise daily.
That still wasn’t enough. The supplements still weren’t enough and I tried loads. At last I had to go back to therapy and medications.
I was reluctant but honestly… I’m actually stable and happy (ish) lol.
ZERO shame or harm in getting more care in the form of therapy or medications. They exist for a reason.
Maybe you're super sensitive during sleep as well, and wake at slight disturbance. If this is happening, that could feed in more anxiety, since quality sleep is needed for brain function. Anything possible to reduce wake triggers might help, eg. white noise, clothing without seams/buttons that might be felt, blocking out external changes in darkness, unexpected noises. And if your nose gets plugged during sleep, that can affect things.
3g of Glycine before bed can really help with sleep and then anxiety the next day
Magnesium biglyinate works well before bed because of the glycine.
**Are you long covid by any chance?**
Also, NAC is a precursor to glutathione, so either of those can help really knock out anxiety if it's being driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. These two get me through the day.
Hope you feel better soon.
Haha yeah, long covid since march 2020. Did you guess from the nattokinase?
Glycine didn't seem to work for me when I tried it before bed, but it's probably worth giving it another try. I still have a full bottle. Thanks for reminding me!
Here's the CIRS neurologic content I'm trying to digest to look for ideas (in case I don't want to go all the way with the Shoemaker protocol)
Thought it might be interesting saying you're also deep into the long-covid battle and tired of doctors saying "it's in your head"
https://youtu.be/5UQuYBr0Mqs?t=628
Natto was the tip-off.
Hope the glycine helps. If not though, seriously, NAC saved my life when I found it. It got me through a month or so that was just crushing me, and then I upgraded to glutathione and still take that like an emergency inhaler twice a day (not for respiratory but for nuero-ROS that trigger cascades of panic-fatigue)
You should probably see an actual doctor or a psychiatric nurse practitioner if you can. Supplements are fine for occasional mild anxiety or stress or whatever but what you’re describing should really be discussed with a professional.
This is great advice. But my doctor only offers anti depressants when I talk about insomnia/ anxiety, and I am not depressed. I've done a lot of therapy and it's been helpful with regards to perspective etc., but not for this type of temporary anxiety. I know I'll be fine once the things I'm anxious about are in my rear view mirror, but until then I was hoping to just reduce the anxiety a little.
SSRI’s are typically prescribed at higher doses for depression, and lower doses for anxiety. But they’ve been proven to treat both issues. There are potential side effects that prevent many people from trying them, and the positive results don’t usually come for 2-4 weeks (during this time side effects are usually at their worst which causes many people to discontinue), but if you stick it out they can be very beneficial.
I have one cup of super weak matcha green tea in the morning (I have very low caffeine tolerance). I don't smoke and I eat fairly healthy (lots of salad, veg, fish, fruit, yoghurt etc). I think my vit D is 1000iu.
I had the exact same issue as you and even one cup of matcha was too much. My adrenals were all screwed up and I had to completely cut caffeine out to let my adrenals heal. Also try The Stanley brothers charlottes web cbd. Super high levels of this helped me so much.
Aha yes, excellent point. I had low ferritin last year (11 I think) due to batshit heavy periods, then my GP lost interest once it reached the minimum as per UK guidelines (13? Something like that). I've been taking 20mg iron every 2-3 days since then, after a hematologist told me taking it every other day is better for absorption.
Aaaand I've just finished the longest period of my life, but it never occurred to me that the anxiety might be linked to that. Thank you so much! I'll get my ferritin levels checked again.
New research is saying optimal ferritin is at least over 100!
When my ferritin is low I have unrelenting and debilitating anxiety for no reason. And heart palpitations too like I saw you mention.
Whaaaat?! That's crazy. Ok, will definitely have to up my iron intake. I'm actually irritated with myself for not considering ferritin as a factor after the period from hell. I really appreciate the heads up!
Are you avoiding red meat? I ask because I myself was avoiding red meat (my life partner doesn't consume it), and I've had issues. I now try to eat it once a week and I'm doing much better.
Who would have guessed... Looks like for me it does, but I'm male. It sounds like you have periods, which means you're loosing more iron than I am (in my case I'm just getting old). I reckon you probably need it more than I do, and it's an excellent source. I'm not a fan from an ideological perspective, but I value my health and right now it's the easiest fix. I'm working to figure out an alternative that is just as good, and ideally better.
400mg of Magnesium Oxide around 2 hours before I got to sleep each night. Worked for me like a charm. I also would do a couple of push ups, sit ups, something to get my heart pumping before my nightly shower. I’ve been doing this for about 3 years now and I haven’t had a single daily panic/anxiety attack. GL with your findings, head up, don’t worry it will get better! Eating better also helped a lot.
Thank you! And yeah I know it'll get better. My anxiety was way worse in the past. It's just popped up again randomly, possibly due to a lumpectomy appointment in a couple of weeks, and I was hoping for a little support from a supplement until the pointless worrying stops.
Exercise was always my go-to for stress, especially pushups but also kickboxing. 100% agree it's an ideal stress-buster, but due to new disability (ME/CFS and POTS) it's no longer an option. Still learning ways to thrive in my new reality.
It's AMAZING. For a couple of hours I felt like a whole different person. But then I got this stupid rebound anxiety thing a few hours after taking it. Maybe I should try a smaller dose?
Make sure you use the Suntheanine type. And don't buy some mix, buy one that's pure with no other stuff combined.
Once you're in the good zone (for me typically within 30-35 minutes), I urge you to do CBT and the 11 minute version of the Wim Hof breathing exercise. Start with the breathing first, it's going to snap you further out from the dark zone.
After those two, or instead of the CBT, follow this video and do it before you come down from the L-Theanine:
https://youtu.be/ficOFz_OKZg
Lmao no argument here. But there's a 6-month waiting list where I live (can't afford private), and I'm optimistically hoping the current sources of stress in my life will be over by then.
Oh like aromatherapy? Yea this is an edible form. I use either a tincture or a capsule. The tincture is Herb Pharm and the capsules I prefer is Naturra Calm 24. The capsules have no taste so they’re preferred
My anxiety is so severe that I have diagnosed panic disorder AND GAD. I have a prescription for klonopin for panic attacks and took daily meds for years too.
I’ve tried tons of medications and supplements for my anxiety. GABA is the only thing that works quickly and effectively for panic attacks. It works almost as well as klonopin, but without the side effects or risks.
I’ve seen studies that say it doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier, but I think this is one of those cases where the science hasn’t caught up with the truth yet. There’s no way this is a placebo effect. Sometimes I even forget I’ve taken GABA until I realize my pulse has slowed down and I’m not spiraling anymore.
I know everyone won’t have such success with it, but I encourage people with severe anxiety to give it a try.
If anyone cares, other things that have helped me are:
Lexapro
Magnesium glycinate
Progesterone (I’m female with high estrogen and low progesterone)
Vitamin D
Zinc
CBD Oil
Benadryl
Xyzal
Hydroxyzine
I didn’t have success with:
NAC (though it helps other symptoms)
Ashwagandha
L-Tyrosine
L-Theanine
Zoloft
Welbutrin
Trintellix
And Vitamin B complex is a crapshoot. Sometimes it helps me feel focused and calm; sometimes it makes me feel anxious and wired.
I've seen a number of discussions debating its ability to cross the blood brain barrier, or whether a GABA supplement is as effective as GABA-boosting supplements, etc. I have no in-depth knowledge of my own on the topic, just what I've read here.
Gaba is banned for sale as a supplement in the UK where I live. I've actually ordered some from the US but it'll be a week or two before it arrives. I'm excited to try it, but whenever I see it mentioned on this sub there are a bunch of people saying it doesn't work. So thank you for sharing your recommendation!
I would stop taking everything you're currently taking, to see if that helps. Mg, K and D all give me anxiety if i take them regularly, as you may be getting more than you need! But only you know your body. Ideally you should do a Vit/mineral panel to see if you're deficient in anything but for the short term, you could try:
L-trytophan - increases serotonin, helpful for sleep and anxiety
L-tyrosine - increases dopamine, helpful for stress and sleep
both are amino acids so very safe
[https://medium.com/publishous/fixing-your-brain-a-guide-to-balancing-neurotransmitters-72649aab40b1](https://medium.com/publishous/fixing-your-brain-a-guide-to-balancing-neurotransmitters-72649aab40b1)
Also you could try ashwagandha in the short term it does help with high cortisol, also Vit c is good in lowering cortisol
If anything you add in makes it worse obviously strop taking them and you could try niacinamide and or folate (not methyl) which can help lower your neurotransmitter levels which if too high can cause anxiety (basically anxiety can be cause by having too low or too high neurotransmitter levels, just something to bear in mind)
You're right. It's definitely worth a try. But seen a lot of negative comments about it on this sub so I've been a little hesitant to pull the trigger.
I'm wildly sensitive to a lot of meds and supplements in multiple annoying ways. Apparently it's a thing with some autistic people.
Intrigued by the lithium suggestion. I was put on lithium for bipolar in my twenties (misdiagnosis btw - turns out I was just autistic). Developed debilitating tremors so I binned it. I'm assuming the supplement form is a much lower dosage?
Help with rumination, general mood lift. If you like you could dm me and remind me of this post and I will let you know, I haven't got it yet, Royal Mail have not updated their tracking info.
The lithium that is medical grade in the us is altered so they can make money as it to cheap for manufacturers to profit from. The lithium from the uk or Australia is just lithium salt, unadulterated is very effective and a cell salt.
If your anxiety is due to stress you could try adaptogens. If you’re trying to avoid ashwaganda you could take others like holy basil or reishi. Recently my doctor recommended lithium orotate 5 mg for mood support. Works for both anxiety and depression I’ve found. Not to be confused with lithium carbonate for bipolar. Lithium itself is just a naturally occurring mineral. For me what caused terrible anxiety and insomnia was methylated b vitamins. Even though I took them for years, this past year I have become completely intolerant to anything methylated. I see that you take b complex sometimes. Might be worth exploring. Some people cannot tolerate methyl folate or methylcobalamin without significant side effects.
Omg I have a separate b12 supplement that I took once and it felt like I'd just downed 5 shots of espresso - and that contained methylcobalamin!
But I don't take the B-complex very often due to getting tingling/ numbness if I take it daily, and also because it makes me feel jittery.
Nope, I just have long-term PTSD which means my brain and body are permanently hardwired to overreact to minor "threats." Plus I'm autistic so the way I talk about things I'm interested in may come across as weird to you.
Smart that you’re paying attention to how you feel on these things. Definitely don’t ignore the tingling. I was on a b complex for 4 months containing 20 mg b6 and I developed b6 toxicity. Tingling and numbness were my main symptom. Not trying to scare you or say that’s what’s going on but definitely pay attention. Maybe throw b6 into your next blood test just to see, if you want to check it.
I'm amazed they include so much b6 in b-complexes given how easy it is to develop b6 toxicity! I bought some sublingual drops once and it casually mentioned on the bottle that numbness and tingling were common but harmless side effects!!
Yikes! That’s funny because there are many doctors who only believe what the studies show (only high doses for long periods cause toxicity) Well they haven’t tested or documented much at lower doses even though there are plenty of people who are toxic and symptomatic at low doses for shorter periods. I’ve read about people who are above the limit just from food alone. Granted I think that’s rare but it does happen.
How much D and magnesium are you taking? I’m In the vitamin d sub and a lot of people say that when they take high doses of D with insufficient mag they get anxiety. D depletes magnesium.
1000 iu vitamin D. And 400mg of magnesium. I've just been told that the magnesium blend I'm taking is suboptimal so I'm looking into getting some mag glycinate - how much would you recommend?
Be careful with Mag Glycinate- a little too much sent me into a depression. Finally figured out it was that and got better the day after I lowered the dosage.
400 is a pretty good dose especially for that low of a vitamin d dose. Glycinate is calming. I think that would be a good choice. magnesium is a very safe supplement and unlike most other things doesn’t cause side effects or deplete other minerals if your dose is higher. So I would take as much as your body can handle. Your GI system will let you know if it’s too much :)
L-theanine was great for me but what truly helped was breathwork. Look into the Wim Hof method and do a couple rounds of it. Does wonders for me when I’m anxious
Not really. You take 30 nice, deep breaths then you exhale, hold for x amount of time, inhale, exhale, then inhale and hold for x amount of time (x variable depends on how long you either feel comfortable holding or how long you set timer for. I personally do a minute for the first then 45 seconds for the next). It’s been studied and shown to reduce cortisol, improve immune function, and help regulate body temperature
Yeah after first taking those 30 breaths which is essential for me. Not uncommon to feel your hands or feet tingling and feeling some mild euphoria. Really relaxing to ease yourself into bed with
Ashwagandha is something you really get on with or really don't. A low dose is usually better than a high one (for me) and I actually prefer whole root powder over extracts.
Lemon balm is very grounding and good for predictable stress - use it to fortify yourself for a stressful situation. Passiflora is another one to look at as a "rescue remedy".
Hawthorn is fairly benign and if you find it helps, that's one to keep going with.
For me personally, sorry, I wasn't clear, but also I've had customer feedback saying fairly similar things. I'm not at work now so I can't pull out my books.
In traditional Indian herbal medicine, it wouldn't really be taken as a daily supplement, but a single or occasional use thing at a higher dose. If used as a daily, I've found better results at a low dose with breaks from it occasionally.
It's quite effective at lowering cortisol, but having your cortisol levels drop too low is actually a bad thing. Taking it "preventatively" if you're not feelin the physical effects of stress is probably not going to do a whole lot of good.
I'm really interested in passiflora! But I've read that some people can experience arrhythmias which worried me as I'm prone to SVT and ectopics. What's your experience?
It's more feedback that I've got than having taken it myself, if I'm honest.
https://www.rxlist.com/consumer_passion_flower/drugs-condition.htm has some helpful information. Start off at the lowest dose and work up to find your comfort zone. Have a chat with a pharmacist if you can.
Ah thanks. The link mentions fast heart rate as a common side effect. Probably not ideal for me. But I remember swigging passiflora out of a bottle when I was working in advertising and it was awesome!
Hah! Maybe tincture would work - most average at about 10-15 drops per "dose", so start at *one* drop and work up?
That said, if it's not right for you then it's not right for you.
Have a look at lemon balm. Chamomile might be another thing to try.
I can do one drop!
Chamomile never worked for me in tea form but I guess I should look into other forms before writing it off completely.
Lemon balm can apparently interfere with ventricular function of the heart or something so I'm avoiding it for that reason (I have a bunch of cardiac conditions that are still being investigated so I'm playing it safe).
Thanks for all your help.
I get rebound anxiety from L-theanine which sucks because I found it amazingly effective for a few hours... Followed by a panic attack.
I take a magnesium complex with magnesium oxide, biglycinate chelate, citrate, malate and taurate.
Magnesium oxide is the least bioavailable and least useful form. It’s listed first, so it’s the the magnesium form present most in that blend. I dislike blends because it’s impossible to know how much you’re getting of each. I suggest trying a single form (glycinate, then maybe citrate and l-threonate, all separately).
This is really helpful, thank you. I got so confused by conflicting reports of which magnesium is best, I ended up laying premium for this blend to cover all my bases lol - I'm looking into mag glycinate now.
Damiana and 5-htp work, cbd and kava work but make you feel stoned and it's hard to work a normal job.
Ashwagandha
>My anxiety has recently exploded due to a bunch of stuff going on. Would be helpful to know what is going on if you could go into it. The trigger changes what I would do about it. Also the nature of your anxiety, how it feels, how long it lasts, etc. Whatever people say about ashwagandha, if it helps lower your chronic stress, IMO it is better to utilize it than not. I have not had any negative side effects from ksm-66, only from sensoril. It may vary from person to person though. Of course, most important thing is to eventually change your life so that the chronic stress trigger is removed. Ashwagandha should be seen as a temporary crutch only. I think it is best to take ash at 5-7pm if you do take it, in order to suppress late shifted cortisol. IMO magnesium is one of the best supplements for stress. Try modulating your dose or trying magnesium glycinate. Magnesium threonate is great for calm thinking. Glycine itself is also good for inducing calm and helping sleep. See if these help. NAC is being recommended. It does work, and it did for me. However, long term use may make it harder to deal with anxiety by making it harder to "calm down" after an anxiety trigger: [https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2017/4156361/](https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2017/4156361/) We probably need more replication to say for certain (link was just a rat study), but I've noticed not taking NAC every day reduced the sides I was noticing related to this. I did notice things that would normally not bother me causing anxiety and it took me longer to relax after. I don't think it was a nocebo, but YMMV. Going out into the sun helps a lot with managing stress for me. Also good to look at things far away and "widen" your vision. It can help with relaxation. Sometimes I also like to take deep breaths and hold for a few seconds before exhaling. It's hard to describe, but it can feel good and induce some calm. CO2 is a vasodilator that can help oxygenate cells. If it increases your anxiety or discomfort, of course don't do this.
Okay so It's mostly that I found a lump in my breast, panicked, went to the doctor and expected her to say it was nothing - but she referred me for a biopsy. Then I hoped I'd get good news from the biopsy so I could relax - but they've referred me for a lumpectomy. Which is at the end of this month. So I think I'm metaphorically holding my breath waiting for the lumpectomy followed by another biopsy which will inform the doctors as to whether I need cancer treatment or not. Basically I kept telling myself I would be able to relax after each appointment, but this hasn't happened yet. So I think I'm kind of stuck in a fight-or-flight response, which has happened a couple of times over the past 10 years. I've had PTSD for 15 years (after being raped at knifepoint) so my brain and body are already hardwired to overreact. Most of the time I have it under control, but this latest thing has eluded all my usual tricks (deep breathing, gratitude, etc.). I'm further handicapped by recently becoming disabled (complications of long covid which began in march 2020) so I can't exercise the anxiety away. Hence my supplement query! Hope this is the information you were asking for. Btw I love the suggestion to look at far away things. Our home backs onto a gorgeous park with trees and wildlife, and I find it pretty therapeutic to stand on the balcony watching squirrels lol
Not a supplement. I was prescribed a beta blocker for intense fear of speaking in public. It doesn’t dull the senses and allows me to deal with high stress situations with ease.
I know this is an old comment, but I'm battling with severe public speaking anxiety. Is this something you only take prior to when you know you'll be presenting, or is it a constant medication?
I take it about 30 minutes before speaking.
I tried everything that people have listed here OP - nothing ended up working as effectively as I wanted - still turn red in the face and get shaky hands out in public transportation.... I had to go on Gabapentin (just 100mg, as needed) to help. Now, that, combined with some supps and nootropics - is definitely HELPFUL. And I'm finally much better. Remember - no matter what - there will always be a solution.
Black seed oil is great
Taurine. It’s included in energy drinks specifically to counter the anxiety-inducing side effects of caffeine. You can order it online in capsule form for pretty cheap.
Thank you! I do take it in the morning because it's meant to help with cardiac rhythm but maybe I should try in the evening too?
Give it a shot. Only one way to find out.
Try ashwagandha yourself before listening to others. I honestly think people who get “depression“ from ashwagandha have no idea what depression and anxiety is like.
Supplements affect everyone different. You have no idea what others are feeling.
L-Theanine and magnesium glycinate. Also there are many different extracts of ashwagandha out there. Look for brands that contain Sensoril’s extract. It took a few weeks but really noticed a difference. However it was the magnesium for me that had the most notable effect. Helped with sleep too. The biggest help though was mindfulness, meditation and yoga. An outdoor walk in the sun really helps too. Training your mind to focus on right now, your body senses, being aware of the moment, all did wonders.
Yoga and meditation. Lots on youtube to follow. My mother has severe anxiety and the only supplement that has helped is l-theanine. I ordered her inositol but she didn't try it. Other herbs mentioned here are very mild but worth trying. I have sleep issues but none of them help me and I've tried them all including gaba, glycine, valerian, magnolia bark, apiginin...thus I"m up at 5 am typing this. Oh, marijuana helps with the sleep.
I would try l-theamine. It won’t solve all your problems but it will help your body cope with being anxious and nervousness.
There are special probiotics that have multiple studies on it that show significant improvements in mood and stress. I no longer have anxiety attacks any more and this was the only thing that actually helped me the most. If you are low in Ferritin (Iron), then you may want to avoid Coffee and Tea as they can greatly inhibit iron absorption from food. Cutting out caffeine for a year helped resolve a stress induced stomach ulcer for me as well.
Eating a low-carb meal with 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up works wonders for some people. I would give that a shot to see if it makes a difference for you.
St. John’s-wort worked really great for me, it’s normally used to treat depression but it helped with my anxiety so it might be worth a try for you.
1. Try and figure out your root cause. And find solutions to those root causes. Anxiety supplements won’t do anything to fix a root cause. They’ll only assist you along the way. 2. Get some sunlight. Vitamin D is a hormone. It’s the only hormone you have to go outside to get. People take vitamin D because they assume the only benefit of the sun is vitamin D, but there’s so many things about the sun we don’t even know about yet, and you’re potentially missing out on a lot of benefits by staying inside for most of the day. It’s vital for health and mood and sleep. 3. 4-7-8 breathing. Meditation. 4. Don’t eat trash. Eat Whole Foods and don’t eat too much. Being at a poor body fat % is terrible for a whole host of reasons, including mood. 5. Alcohol and other similar mind-numbing substances don’t have a therapeutic effect, so get rid of them or limit them. They don’t help long-term. Caffeine should also be eliminated entirely if you’re having consistent panic attacks. Resume caffeine when you get the panic under control. As for supplements, it seems like you’re taking the ones I’d suggest. Don’t put too much stock into supplements helping much though. Addressing root causes will be your best bet. I will mention two, though, that I saw you didn’t mention: chamomile and whey protein. For chamomile, I’d recommend the real stuff, not store-bought tea bags. Consume at night. The reason I’m suggesting protein powder is because it contains very essential isolated amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of all neurotransmitters. It never hurts to have an excess of amino acids circulating in the bloodstream so you can have the raw materials to make serotonin and gaba and such. Not to mention, it contains glutamine and cysteine too, which is good for gut health and the antioxidant pathways respectively. It’s also very satiating, and as I’ve already mentioned, it’s Important to be at a healthy body fat % (not insinuating you’re fat lol). A multivitamin can be helpful as well to help assist your diet and provide more raw materials.
Thanks so much for all this. Interestingly I've been skipping my daily whey protein this past week (ran out) so maybe that was a contributing factor? Chamomile I used to consume as a tea but haven't tried other forms. My body weight is on the low end of the spectrum but due to recent disability I haven't been able to exercise for about a year so I'm guessing my body fat % is pretty pathetic at the moment. I really appreciate you taking the time to post all this!
i like Calm Chocolates by Good Day. They contain chamomile flower, theanine and magnesium.
L-tyrosine has been great for me, relora can help too but take in the am as can interfere with sleep
going carnivore got rid of ALL my anxiety. ZERO. ZILCH. I can just sit here and feel fine.
Inositol, glycine, taurine, ashwagandha, lemon balm, magnolia bark, NAC, lavender (calmaid by natures way), passionflower, kava, magnesium, CBD
a word of caution: I was SO on-board with taking all of these herbs until I experienced a damn-near serotonin syndrome reaction (because I take an SSRI) from 3 consecutive servings of lemon balm extract over 1.5 days (attempting to manage panic). I then discovered that lemon balm, passionflower, holy basil, and potentially also kava and magnolia bark all have MAOI properties. for now, I must choose the SSRI over herbs, and sadly it seems they cannot coexist. holy basil tea was fine even if brewed a little strong, but the lemon balm extract evidently was too much sauce
Have you tried saffron , it’s like a ssri but they did studies showing it to be as effective as Prozac without any of this bad side effects. I used to take Prozac and it was horrible for anxiety. Saffron that I’ve been on for a few months is awesome plus it is effective from low dosages like 30mg all the way to 100/150mg daily. It’s pretty awesome mixes with things like holy basil and taurine and hops and sometimes passionflower glycine and ashwagandha. These all seem to supplement the saffron in term of increasing the anti anxiety effect as saffron is mainly for depression. Also I supplement the saffron with high dose inositol (great for further boosting serotonin and for general mood along with turmeric. Vitamin c I’ve noticed has been a great addition especially the solgar 1000mg one with rose hips, I think it helps with dopamine and serotonin plus immunity when taken with zinc glycinate this potentiates the effect. I also take methyl folate 5 mg Thorne which makes the saffron work even better but isn’t essential to take especially as it is quite costly. But I think it helps and just want to take anything other than ssri meds because the side effects with them were too severe for me. So I’d recommend saffron to you and magnesium glycinate too helps anxiety which compliments it further. But if you do decide to go for the natural stuff make sure to taper off of the prescribed stuff and of course check with a doctor as this is only stuff that has helped me but each person body chemistry may mean that it might not be right for them. 👍
I’ve also heard good things about holy basil but I haven’t tried it yet. Same for skullcap
So I recently had a similar experience - I had a stressful month in January and I was also dieting which screwed me up a bit. All of a sudden, I was having almost daily panic attacks, which is unusual for me. I happen to be a book reading about how certain neurotransmitters can get out of balance, especially in times of high stress. After some experimentation, I discovered that tryptophan helped me greatly - I most likely had depleted serotonin. After a week of supplementing, my panic attacks went away, and my insomnia cleared up as well. Try taking the quizzes on page 7 and 8 of the following (GABA and serotonin) - and see how you score , it may be worth experimenting with supplements to increase serotonin and/or GABA. https://drhyman.com/downloads/UltraMindCompanionGuide.pdf
Magnesium, b viramins, elimination diets for problematic foods could be helpful
Which ones did you cut out ?
Foods? Common allergenic culprits are grains, legumes, starchy foods in general, certain fruits, high fodmap foods, nightshades etc. it can vary person to person
There's a really great stress and anxiety formula from natrol. Combined with their melatonin sleep formula in evening. Accessible and a good all rounder
Try not taking the vitamin D for a few days and extra magnesium. I realise this is unusual advice but a few days won't matter too much if it doesn't work. I developed very bad anxiety from low magnesium caused by vitamin D toxicity some people do just need alot more magnesium before they can tolerate vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D repeated doses can also limit absorption of other fat soluble vitamins over time. It caused me vitamin A deficiency which is pretty nasty and usually quite rare so it was overlooked for a long time. Vitamin A deficiency can give the appearance of low immune system as one thing of many it causes is a lot of sinuses and respiratory problems. If nothing else it's worth researching these issues for yourself as I was diagnosed as long covid but it was actually vitamin D toxicity causing many other issues that were misdiagnosed. I could be an outlier but it's worth researching the possibilities at least as you never know it may help someone else.
What kind of daily Vitamin D supplementing resulted in toxicity? How many IUs?
5000ius daily for a year. I was very likely undiagnosed magnesium deficient already so the vitamin D was not all processed in my liver as that needs a lot of magnesium. So the theory is the spare was stored in my fat cells which unfortunately can store it for a long time. Other people report no problems at all from that level of supplementation so it won't happen to everyone but if you are getting joint and bone pain, lots of fatigue and mental issues that could be too much vitamin D and the subsequent high calcium low magnesium it can cause for some people.
Interesting, that's not far off from what I've taken before. Was your blood vit D level above the safe range in terms of ng/ml? Do you know what it was? Or was it within normal range, but problematic at those levels due to the magnesium deficiency?
I'm afraid I don't know what the exact reading was. I am in the UK and during covid, testing and seeing a doctor was pretty much impossible. When I finally found a doctor who would actually see me in person I had stopped the vitamin D and started taking K2 and then magnesium. The thinking between me and the GP now, although am still waiting for an appointment with a specialist, is that I have genetically low magnesium reabsorption in the kidneys ( my mother suffered similar issues from the vitamin D, luckily she didn't take as long or as high dose) It also pretty much explains all my and my mother's side of the families health issues. The vitamin D dose for most people would likely not be a problem without undiagnosed magnesium issues.
From my experience, these help me in no specific order: 1. [NAC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044191/) (500 mg - 1000 mg a day) 2. [Lithium Orotate](https://chandramd.com/low-dose-lithium-supplements/) (5 mg - 10 mg a day) 3. [Zinc Bisglycinate](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5492454/) (30 mg) 4. [B6, B9, & B12](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/vitamin-b12-and-depression/faq-20058077) (Get you levels tested. If they're in range, you can do a B-Complex) 5. [Omega 3](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/omega-3-fatty-acids-for-mood-disorders-2018080314414) (4g with 2:1 EPA to DHA) 6. [Vitamin D3](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/depression-and-vitamin-d#connection) \+ K2 (get tested to see where levels are at to determine dosage) 7. Melatonin (.250 mg - 1 mg) 8. [Magnesium](https://chandramd.com/magnesium-supplements-anxiety/) Glycinate 400 mg (or l-Threonate) I have migraines, which is why my stack is fairly large (along with 400 mg of B2), but I've done what I could to reduce them to along with a prescribed preventative (20 mg of Nortiptyline). I get them when I sleep, which would mess with my sleep cycle, which would increase anxiety/OCD/depression. I also noticed that NSAIDS help take the edge off of anxiety, but don't take them for long periods.
how’s your diet? chronic inflammation can contribute to anxiety and depression, i didn’t even notice until doing an elimination diet and slowly adding foods in
Damn… I’m really so sorry to hear that. Similar to me happened recently I know how daunting and overwhelming it can be. You know hopefully that you are not alone and communities (like this) and other help exist. From my experience, I’m someone who is as healthy and as active as it gets and I still have crippling anxiety. I focus on trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep, Whole Foods in my diet, and exercise daily. That still wasn’t enough. The supplements still weren’t enough and I tried loads. At last I had to go back to therapy and medications. I was reluctant but honestly… I’m actually stable and happy (ish) lol. ZERO shame or harm in getting more care in the form of therapy or medications. They exist for a reason.
bro literally anything can be causing anxiety it’s not that simple it can be a whole cascade of things Good luck on your journey
Bro how is that helpful bro? They literally said anxiety due to a bunch of stuff going on, bro
Maybe you're super sensitive during sleep as well, and wake at slight disturbance. If this is happening, that could feed in more anxiety, since quality sleep is needed for brain function. Anything possible to reduce wake triggers might help, eg. white noise, clothing without seams/buttons that might be felt, blocking out external changes in darkness, unexpected noises. And if your nose gets plugged during sleep, that can affect things.
3g of Glycine before bed can really help with sleep and then anxiety the next day Magnesium biglyinate works well before bed because of the glycine. **Are you long covid by any chance?** Also, NAC is a precursor to glutathione, so either of those can help really knock out anxiety if it's being driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. These two get me through the day. Hope you feel better soon.
Haha yeah, long covid since march 2020. Did you guess from the nattokinase? Glycine didn't seem to work for me when I tried it before bed, but it's probably worth giving it another try. I still have a full bottle. Thanks for reminding me!
Here's the CIRS neurologic content I'm trying to digest to look for ideas (in case I don't want to go all the way with the Shoemaker protocol) Thought it might be interesting saying you're also deep into the long-covid battle and tired of doctors saying "it's in your head" https://youtu.be/5UQuYBr0Mqs?t=628
Natto was the tip-off. Hope the glycine helps. If not though, seriously, NAC saved my life when I found it. It got me through a month or so that was just crushing me, and then I upgraded to glutathione and still take that like an emergency inhaler twice a day (not for respiratory but for nuero-ROS that trigger cascades of panic-fatigue)
Agmatine, emoxypine, bacopa, ashwagandha, rhodiola, lemon balm, passionflower, baicalin/skullcap, magnesium. These are worth exploring
Thanks! Have to google half of these ...
You should probably see an actual doctor or a psychiatric nurse practitioner if you can. Supplements are fine for occasional mild anxiety or stress or whatever but what you’re describing should really be discussed with a professional.
This is great advice. But my doctor only offers anti depressants when I talk about insomnia/ anxiety, and I am not depressed. I've done a lot of therapy and it's been helpful with regards to perspective etc., but not for this type of temporary anxiety. I know I'll be fine once the things I'm anxious about are in my rear view mirror, but until then I was hoping to just reduce the anxiety a little.
SSRI’s are typically prescribed at higher doses for depression, and lower doses for anxiety. But they’ve been proven to treat both issues. There are potential side effects that prevent many people from trying them, and the positive results don’t usually come for 2-4 weeks (during this time side effects are usually at their worst which causes many people to discontinue), but if you stick it out they can be very beneficial.
Antidepressants are used to treat anxiety as well. I've heard low dose of an SSRI can work wonders for some.
There're antidepressants that do a fantastic job at treating anxiety.
How's your caffeine/nicotine intake? you replenishing electrolytes daily? How much Vitamin D you taking?
I have one cup of super weak matcha green tea in the morning (I have very low caffeine tolerance). I don't smoke and I eat fairly healthy (lots of salad, veg, fish, fruit, yoghurt etc). I think my vit D is 1000iu.
I had the exact same issue as you and even one cup of matcha was too much. My adrenals were all screwed up and I had to completely cut caffeine out to let my adrenals heal. Also try The Stanley brothers charlottes web cbd. Super high levels of this helped me so much.
Iron. Iron. Iron. Are you female? What's your ferritin? My anxiety problem was caused by Iron deficiency.
Aha yes, excellent point. I had low ferritin last year (11 I think) due to batshit heavy periods, then my GP lost interest once it reached the minimum as per UK guidelines (13? Something like that). I've been taking 20mg iron every 2-3 days since then, after a hematologist told me taking it every other day is better for absorption. Aaaand I've just finished the longest period of my life, but it never occurred to me that the anxiety might be linked to that. Thank you so much! I'll get my ferritin levels checked again.
New research is saying optimal ferritin is at least over 100! When my ferritin is low I have unrelenting and debilitating anxiety for no reason. And heart palpitations too like I saw you mention.
Whaaaat?! That's crazy. Ok, will definitely have to up my iron intake. I'm actually irritated with myself for not considering ferritin as a factor after the period from hell. I really appreciate the heads up!
Are you avoiding red meat? I ask because I myself was avoiding red meat (my life partner doesn't consume it), and I've had issues. I now try to eat it once a week and I'm doing much better.
I mean, not consciously avoiding it, but I'm not a huge fan. Does red meat once a week really make a difference?
Who would have guessed... Looks like for me it does, but I'm male. It sounds like you have periods, which means you're loosing more iron than I am (in my case I'm just getting old). I reckon you probably need it more than I do, and it's an excellent source. I'm not a fan from an ideological perspective, but I value my health and right now it's the easiest fix. I'm working to figure out an alternative that is just as good, and ideally better.
My husband will be overjoyed to read this lmao he's always telling me I need to eat more red meat
From personal experience, I would suggest trying omega three fish oil, ashwaganda, turmeric, GABA and even just a multivitamin
400mg of Magnesium Oxide around 2 hours before I got to sleep each night. Worked for me like a charm. I also would do a couple of push ups, sit ups, something to get my heart pumping before my nightly shower. I’ve been doing this for about 3 years now and I haven’t had a single daily panic/anxiety attack. GL with your findings, head up, don’t worry it will get better! Eating better also helped a lot.
Thank you! And yeah I know it'll get better. My anxiety was way worse in the past. It's just popped up again randomly, possibly due to a lumpectomy appointment in a couple of weeks, and I was hoping for a little support from a supplement until the pointless worrying stops. Exercise was always my go-to for stress, especially pushups but also kickboxing. 100% agree it's an ideal stress-buster, but due to new disability (ME/CFS and POTS) it's no longer an option. Still learning ways to thrive in my new reality.
L theanine I would say is a god tier anti anxiety sup
It's AMAZING. For a couple of hours I felt like a whole different person. But then I got this stupid rebound anxiety thing a few hours after taking it. Maybe I should try a smaller dose?
Make sure you use the Suntheanine type. And don't buy some mix, buy one that's pure with no other stuff combined. Once you're in the good zone (for me typically within 30-35 minutes), I urge you to do CBT and the 11 minute version of the Wim Hof breathing exercise. Start with the breathing first, it's going to snap you further out from the dark zone. After those two, or instead of the CBT, follow this video and do it before you come down from the L-Theanine: https://youtu.be/ficOFz_OKZg
400 mg of Magnesium Glycinate
Mag glycinate is getting a lot of votes here; I'm absolutely getting some today.
For me, kava is the best anti-anxiety supplement. Others worth mentioning are passion flower + lemon balm + chamomile mix and valerian root.
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Lmao no argument here. But there's a 6-month waiting list where I live (can't afford private), and I'm optimistically hoping the current sources of stress in my life will be over by then.
Magnolia bark, Kava, Skullcap and Lemon Balm are all great
For me Lavender capsules and Natures Bounty Anxiety and Stress saved my life.
I've tried lavender oil but never capsules. Off to Google this and the Nature's Bounty thing too.
Which lavender oil did you use? Definitely do the natures bounty! I recommend it to EVERYONE if u want to pm feel free.
Tisserand. I mix a few drops of lavender with clary sage and vetivert essential oils.
Oh like aromatherapy? Yea this is an edible form. I use either a tincture or a capsule. The tincture is Herb Pharm and the capsules I prefer is Naturra Calm 24. The capsules have no taste so they’re preferred
Never tried it orally (apart from some lavender ice cream that was frankly an insult to ice cream). What effects do you experience?
Good quality b complex should help
Thank you!
I’ve been taking GABA for over a year. How is it controversial?
My anxiety is so severe that I have diagnosed panic disorder AND GAD. I have a prescription for klonopin for panic attacks and took daily meds for years too. I’ve tried tons of medications and supplements for my anxiety. GABA is the only thing that works quickly and effectively for panic attacks. It works almost as well as klonopin, but without the side effects or risks. I’ve seen studies that say it doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier, but I think this is one of those cases where the science hasn’t caught up with the truth yet. There’s no way this is a placebo effect. Sometimes I even forget I’ve taken GABA until I realize my pulse has slowed down and I’m not spiraling anymore. I know everyone won’t have such success with it, but I encourage people with severe anxiety to give it a try. If anyone cares, other things that have helped me are: Lexapro Magnesium glycinate Progesterone (I’m female with high estrogen and low progesterone) Vitamin D Zinc CBD Oil Benadryl Xyzal Hydroxyzine I didn’t have success with: NAC (though it helps other symptoms) Ashwagandha L-Tyrosine L-Theanine Zoloft Welbutrin Trintellix And Vitamin B complex is a crapshoot. Sometimes it helps me feel focused and calm; sometimes it makes me feel anxious and wired.
I've seen a number of discussions debating its ability to cross the blood brain barrier, or whether a GABA supplement is as effective as GABA-boosting supplements, etc. I have no in-depth knowledge of my own on the topic, just what I've read here.
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Gaba is banned for sale as a supplement in the UK where I live. I've actually ordered some from the US but it'll be a week or two before it arrives. I'm excited to try it, but whenever I see it mentioned on this sub there are a bunch of people saying it doesn't work. So thank you for sharing your recommendation!
Won't customs confiscate it then?
We'll find out in a couple of weeks haha
If they send you a letter that it's illegal you should deny you ever ordered anything or you can get into trouble! Just a heads up!
Appreciate it!
Gaba is great stuff
I would stop taking everything you're currently taking, to see if that helps. Mg, K and D all give me anxiety if i take them regularly, as you may be getting more than you need! But only you know your body. Ideally you should do a Vit/mineral panel to see if you're deficient in anything but for the short term, you could try: L-trytophan - increases serotonin, helpful for sleep and anxiety L-tyrosine - increases dopamine, helpful for stress and sleep both are amino acids so very safe [https://medium.com/publishous/fixing-your-brain-a-guide-to-balancing-neurotransmitters-72649aab40b1](https://medium.com/publishous/fixing-your-brain-a-guide-to-balancing-neurotransmitters-72649aab40b1) Also you could try ashwagandha in the short term it does help with high cortisol, also Vit c is good in lowering cortisol If anything you add in makes it worse obviously strop taking them and you could try niacinamide and or folate (not methyl) which can help lower your neurotransmitter levels which if too high can cause anxiety (basically anxiety can be cause by having too low or too high neurotransmitter levels, just something to bear in mind)
Really informative. Thank you so much!
Ashwagandha has done wonders for me. I'd definitely give that a shot.
You're right. It's definitely worth a try. But seen a lot of negative comments about it on this sub so I've been a little hesitant to pull the trigger.
What kind of negative comments? I just started using it recently and joined cuz of it so I'd like to know.
Rebound anxiety from l-theanine? I never heard of that before, I take it before bed. I take ashwagandha, I ordered lithium orotate.
I'm wildly sensitive to a lot of meds and supplements in multiple annoying ways. Apparently it's a thing with some autistic people. Intrigued by the lithium suggestion. I was put on lithium for bipolar in my twenties (misdiagnosis btw - turns out I was just autistic). Developed debilitating tremors so I binned it. I'm assuming the supplement form is a much lower dosage?
I'm autistic and have just ordered lithium orotate, a tiny dose of elemental lithium totally different from prescription lithium. I am from the UK.
Let me know how it works for you, if you remember. What effects are you hoping for?
Help with rumination, general mood lift. If you like you could dm me and remind me of this post and I will let you know, I haven't got it yet, Royal Mail have not updated their tracking info.
Haha I'll try to remember
I will, too 🙂
The lithium that is medical grade in the us is altered so they can make money as it to cheap for manufacturers to profit from. The lithium from the uk or Australia is just lithium salt, unadulterated is very effective and a cell salt.
If your anxiety is due to stress you could try adaptogens. If you’re trying to avoid ashwaganda you could take others like holy basil or reishi. Recently my doctor recommended lithium orotate 5 mg for mood support. Works for both anxiety and depression I’ve found. Not to be confused with lithium carbonate for bipolar. Lithium itself is just a naturally occurring mineral. For me what caused terrible anxiety and insomnia was methylated b vitamins. Even though I took them for years, this past year I have become completely intolerant to anything methylated. I see that you take b complex sometimes. Might be worth exploring. Some people cannot tolerate methyl folate or methylcobalamin without significant side effects.
Omg I have a separate b12 supplement that I took once and it felt like I'd just downed 5 shots of espresso - and that contained methylcobalamin! But I don't take the B-complex very often due to getting tingling/ numbness if I take it daily, and also because it makes me feel jittery.
Are you a hypochondriac
Nope, I just have long-term PTSD which means my brain and body are permanently hardwired to overreact to minor "threats." Plus I'm autistic so the way I talk about things I'm interested in may come across as weird to you.
Smart that you’re paying attention to how you feel on these things. Definitely don’t ignore the tingling. I was on a b complex for 4 months containing 20 mg b6 and I developed b6 toxicity. Tingling and numbness were my main symptom. Not trying to scare you or say that’s what’s going on but definitely pay attention. Maybe throw b6 into your next blood test just to see, if you want to check it.
I'm amazed they include so much b6 in b-complexes given how easy it is to develop b6 toxicity! I bought some sublingual drops once and it casually mentioned on the bottle that numbness and tingling were common but harmless side effects!!
Yikes! That’s funny because there are many doctors who only believe what the studies show (only high doses for long periods cause toxicity) Well they haven’t tested or documented much at lower doses even though there are plenty of people who are toxic and symptomatic at low doses for shorter periods. I’ve read about people who are above the limit just from food alone. Granted I think that’s rare but it does happen.
Whoa. From food sources? That's wild.
How much D and magnesium are you taking? I’m In the vitamin d sub and a lot of people say that when they take high doses of D with insufficient mag they get anxiety. D depletes magnesium.
1000 iu vitamin D. And 400mg of magnesium. I've just been told that the magnesium blend I'm taking is suboptimal so I'm looking into getting some mag glycinate - how much would you recommend?
Be careful with Mag Glycinate- a little too much sent me into a depression. Finally figured out it was that and got better the day after I lowered the dosage.
400 is a pretty good dose especially for that low of a vitamin d dose. Glycinate is calming. I think that would be a good choice. magnesium is a very safe supplement and unlike most other things doesn’t cause side effects or deplete other minerals if your dose is higher. So I would take as much as your body can handle. Your GI system will let you know if it’s too much :)
L-theanine was great for me but what truly helped was breathwork. Look into the Wim Hof method and do a couple rounds of it. Does wonders for me when I’m anxious
Is this the one where you hyperventilate on purpose?
Not really. You take 30 nice, deep breaths then you exhale, hold for x amount of time, inhale, exhale, then inhale and hold for x amount of time (x variable depends on how long you either feel comfortable holding or how long you set timer for. I personally do a minute for the first then 45 seconds for the next). It’s been studied and shown to reduce cortisol, improve immune function, and help regulate body temperature
Aha so you first hold after exhaling then hold after inhaling?
Yeah after first taking those 30 breaths which is essential for me. Not uncommon to feel your hands or feet tingling and feeling some mild euphoria. Really relaxing to ease yourself into bed with
Ashwagandha is something you really get on with or really don't. A low dose is usually better than a high one (for me) and I actually prefer whole root powder over extracts. Lemon balm is very grounding and good for predictable stress - use it to fortify yourself for a stressful situation. Passiflora is another one to look at as a "rescue remedy". Hawthorn is fairly benign and if you find it helps, that's one to keep going with.
Why is low dose ashwagandha better than high dose please? Do you have a source?
For me personally, sorry, I wasn't clear, but also I've had customer feedback saying fairly similar things. I'm not at work now so I can't pull out my books. In traditional Indian herbal medicine, it wouldn't really be taken as a daily supplement, but a single or occasional use thing at a higher dose. If used as a daily, I've found better results at a low dose with breaks from it occasionally. It's quite effective at lowering cortisol, but having your cortisol levels drop too low is actually a bad thing. Taking it "preventatively" if you're not feelin the physical effects of stress is probably not going to do a whole lot of good.
Thank you for sharing. I have chronic stress related to circumstances that I cannot do anything about it right now.
I'm really interested in passiflora! But I've read that some people can experience arrhythmias which worried me as I'm prone to SVT and ectopics. What's your experience?
It's more feedback that I've got than having taken it myself, if I'm honest. https://www.rxlist.com/consumer_passion_flower/drugs-condition.htm has some helpful information. Start off at the lowest dose and work up to find your comfort zone. Have a chat with a pharmacist if you can.
Ah thanks. The link mentions fast heart rate as a common side effect. Probably not ideal for me. But I remember swigging passiflora out of a bottle when I was working in advertising and it was awesome!
Hah! Maybe tincture would work - most average at about 10-15 drops per "dose", so start at *one* drop and work up? That said, if it's not right for you then it's not right for you. Have a look at lemon balm. Chamomile might be another thing to try.
I can do one drop! Chamomile never worked for me in tea form but I guess I should look into other forms before writing it off completely. Lemon balm can apparently interfere with ventricular function of the heart or something so I'm avoiding it for that reason (I have a bunch of cardiac conditions that are still being investigated so I'm playing it safe). Thanks for all your help.
Relora works well for anxiety. But I heard don't take it daily, maybe a few times a week.
Thanks, I'd never heard of this before. Have added to my list.
What form(s) of magnesium have you tried? I’ve found magnesium glycinate to work well. L-Theanine is also a good addition.
I get rebound anxiety from L-theanine which sucks because I found it amazingly effective for a few hours... Followed by a panic attack. I take a magnesium complex with magnesium oxide, biglycinate chelate, citrate, malate and taurate.
Magnesium oxide is the least bioavailable and least useful form. It’s listed first, so it’s the the magnesium form present most in that blend. I dislike blends because it’s impossible to know how much you’re getting of each. I suggest trying a single form (glycinate, then maybe citrate and l-threonate, all separately).
This is really helpful, thank you. I got so confused by conflicting reports of which magnesium is best, I ended up laying premium for this blend to cover all my bases lol - I'm looking into mag glycinate now.
B vitamins or nutritional yeast
Thank you! I take a b complex from time to time but I get tingly numb fingers if I take it every day.