hella anxiety meds

[yarn and glue]

So, I am a guy who aims for sustainable, independent living as far as I can manage it, and as a result I have been highly resistant to commercial, non-herbal anxiety / depression treatments for as long as shit's been going on in my noggin. But there is a certain level of demented, shaking sleepless nailbiting that st. john's wort does not address and I am at the point of at least hearing folks out on their experiences with psych meds, albeit not ready to dive in headfirst yet without more research.

Good, bad, and ugly. Or more herbal suggestions. All advice welcome. I have primarily used st. john's wort and skullcap but while they do a nice job of soothing more minor spells, what I need during worse episodes is more of a "bludgeoner" than a "soother."

P.s. No heroin jokes tonight

 

[angelenesdreams]

i suffer waking with anxiety frequently during the night. it's at the point where i dread going to sleep because i know i'm going to wake at 3am with a head full of completely irrational fears. i worry about dying in car crashes, burning to death, getting caught in machinery at work, shit happening to my kids, etc. i'll go ahead and add that i'm on the low end of the autism spectrum, and anxiety goes hand-in-hand with the disorder. but i never used to be this bad, and it seems to get worse the older i get. =(

the only thing that's worked for me is weed. smoking before bed usually gets me through the night, and on the rare occasion i do wake up at 3am, i can just take another hit to relax and then i'm off to sleep again. i home-grow two plants at a time to keep in stock, but i fucked it up last time and lost them, so i've been out for a while, and had no luck finding a supplier. so now i'm just waiting for this grow to mature so i can get my life back to normal.

i think it's a nice natural solution, as i'd really not rather into drinking or pills to sleep. however, and i'm not fond of this solution, if i feel overly anxious before bed, i'll take a dose of Simply Sleep, which is basically Tylenol PM without the pain killer in it. it works well enough, but i feel hung over in the morning.

good luck finding a solution that works for you. =)

 

[wartomods]

poppy tea

 

[iamwhatiam]

wow. i'm sorry to hear this man.
how long have you been having these issues? are there any things that set it off? anytimes of the year or places where the condition is worsened? what's your diet consist of?
what could be causing this? something traumatic that happened in the past?
have you considered hypnosis?
maybe you should go on a vision quest out in the wilderness somewhere for a few weeks..and do some strenuos fasting/meditation. maybe you're body/subconcious will be bestowed with some information to underlying problems when you're free from all the normal daily distractions and adulterants in your environment..... i dunno, just a thought.
good luck and best wishes to you~

 

[adragonfly]

Have your heard of EFT? (Emotional Freedom techniques)? i stand behind it 100% it has helped me out a lot, but its kinda weird to do lol. It is based on acupuncture points, so you think of the memory or mental image that is associated with a negative feeling (anger, worrying, anxiety.. etc) and then you tap various points on your body. www.emofree.com .

There's this book I bought that is awesome. i refference back to it a couple times a week. its called "The Promise of Energy Psychology"
The first half goes deep into EFT to learn how to use it well, and the 2nd half teaches energy fields throughout the body for better physical and mental health.

 

[oldmanLee]

If you get a chance,look up the training teq. of Mas Oyama,in particular his method of breathing.Found that it helps greatly,compleatly natural,takes up no space,and even now works when I get into the clusterf**k that is a large city and find myself a bit short-tempered.

 

[toadflack]

Valerian root and passion flower work for a lot of people

Massage therapy, shiatsu, and other forms of bodywork are widely used to diminish muscle tension, relieve stress, and improve sleep.

 

[compass]

meditation

 

[yarn and glue]

Thanks much for the thoughtful suggestions, everyone. The distraction of diligently researching treatments has been somewhat therapeutic in itself, as a reminder that I'm not the first fool in this position.

 

[Mouse]

HTP!! use it in conjunction with what you're already doing and it'll probably make a world of difference.


I've always had bad anxiety issues. I'm a very high strung person and I worry about EVERYTHING

I used to be EXTREMELY resistant to non-herbal meds

I am currently on Welbutrin for my problem but that's only because I'm also on Interferon with causes depression and mental shifts and even suicide. it works well but I hate that I'm in the situation of possibly becoming messed up from these happy pills.

before I started with this medical drama I used to take this supplement called HTP. it's for depression but it's also a general mood stabilizer and helps keep you calm. w/in the first few days I was taking it I felt like I was so relaxed nothing in the world would upset me (it was Finals time at college and I had no stress, if that tells ya anything), after a week I normalized and it didn't make me feel so careless but still worked.

if you buy it online it's a lot cheaper than getting it at a store. http://www.herbalremedies.com/natural-mood-stabilizer.html

there's also some studies that show that Fish Oil (omega 3 specifically) will help stabilize mood. americans eat too much shitty food and hardly any fish these days so it makes sense

 

[angelenesdreams]

also, i think the avoidance of caffeine is highly recommended for anyone with anxiety issues. looking at my daily intake, well, i don't drink colas, but i do guzzle down at least 2 soup-bowl's worth of coffee in a single day, and that just needs to stop. couple that with some daily exercise, and i MIGHT just be able to sleep through the night.

yarn and glue...keep us posted on what you do and how it's affecting you. =)

 

[KoffinKat]

I can't speak up much for herbal remedies and meds seem to be somewhat out of they range of most so here are some self sufficent things you could try. Juggling. No I am serious. People who learn to juggle have a distinct difference in the "white matter" areas of their brain helping retain some of the plasticity that our brains had when we were all in our childhood. Overall it improves brain function. Also memory games and puzzles have shown to really help improve brain health in general. Try memorizing playing cards and gradually work your way up to memorizing the position of more and more cards. it's not just keeping your mind off things it actually helps the chemistry of the brain meats. Teaching yourself to be ambidexterous is another method that research says could improve cognitive ability and make it easier in the future to learn new skills and retain information. Best of luck.

 

[finn]

Well, street medics use a blend called rescue remedy, which is a homeopathic blend made from five flower essences. I will usually carry it for when I'm at some demonstration, since a lot of people swear by it, though I don't ever need to use it. It's a bit pricey and even comes in a skin cream version. It is a do no harm treatment for anxiety and panic, and I haven't heard of any contraindications or side effects.

 

[Rick]

I have been self medicating for years. What I do is smoke cannabis. I have my California medical marijuana card so I am all legal on that too.

 

[Rash L]

I do take a lot of pharmaceutical meds, and after more than a decade I have found a combination that helps with my more serious problems.... but I also believe in marijuana for anxiety, as well as cutting back on caffeine. Both work well for me, unless I havent smoked weed for awhile and then smoke a WHOLE lot at once in a pubic/semi-public setting.... but then again I do have social anxiety problems so that cant help. Smoking before bed makes it MUCH easier to shut my brain off and actually sleep. Sleepytime tea is great too, but mostly I love the smell and taste of it, a cup alone wont get me to sleep.

Like I said, Psych meds have personally helped me out a LOT, but to get to the point I'm at it has taken a lot of "trial and error" prescriptions, and its taken years and years to find a suitable combination for me. Problem is, eventually this combination will no longer work and I will have to go on the search for a new med/meds to stabilize myself again; no one knows if they will stop working in a week or 20 years, but it will eventually happen. Other problems with psych meds: cost, keeping up with prescriptions and being able to fill them while traveling, constant Doctor appointments (that cost money, and give you a responsibility/obligation to keep), and remembering to take the pills regularly and on schedule.

 

[angelenesdreams]

.....OH and I hear that masterbation helps calm you down too...Just sayin'..

what's been sad is i've been a 'lil too depressed to diddle lately, my imagination is shot!

but this is an excellent point here, as well as what oldmanLee suggested...penned-up aggression/stress NEEDS to be physically released on a regular basis, be it fucking, wrestling, boxing, firing a gun, fighting, screaming, exercise routine...whatever. we can't keep thinking that stress and anger and fear can keep piling on us like cake layers. eventually, we'll buckle under the weight.


:club: RELEASE!

 

[adragonfly]

idk mannn...i'm skeptical of even using herbal medicine for anxiety. not that it wont work, but i see it as chemical dependency and i prefer to be autonomously happy.

 

[Rash L]

idk mannn...i'm skeptical of even using herbal medicine for anxiety. not that it wont work, but i see it as chemical dependency and i prefer to be autonomously happy.

but if you cant get yourself happy autonomously... wouldnt you rather be happy than miserable forever? Every living being is dependent on a few things.... nothing can live in a vacuum of time and space.

 

[bryce]

Well, street medics use a blend called rescue remedy, which is a homeopathic blend made from five flower essences.

I second and third and fourth this so many times... I carry a bottle with me when I travel, i use it for acute panic//anxiety attacks. It's been very helpful for me when I start to get freaked out and I know the fear is rooted in something other than the present situation (like, going through security gates at the airport or sleeping my first night at a new camp spot). It comes in a tiny bottle, easy to carry around. And probably just as easy to acquire.

Haven't had much experience taking anything allopathic for anxiety, asides from valium a few times for acute panic attacks. I didn't like using it, but it definitely did what it was supposed to do. I was so calm!

 

[wartomods]

usually when i have anxiety attacks ( rarely) i let the anxiety take all over me and go to the extreme then i always feel better, it is worse if you are fighting it, just think you anxious because someone is gonna give a birthday cake or something.