Posted by blueberry on April 5, 2006, at 19:54:05
In reply to Anti-anxiety review (valerian, kava, gotu, 5htp..), posted by daorlando on March 31, 2006, at 17:55:21
Cool thread. Thanks for starting it.
Valerian... Only used it for a few nights. I think it helped sleep a little bit. I heard stories of poopout, addiction, and withdrawals, so I kind of backed away from it.
Passion flower, lavender, lemon balm mix...very good anti-anxiety, very calming. But made me cold, lowered blood pressure a lot. Wore off in 3 hours and anxiety was back stronger than ever. Kind of like xanax.
Licorice root...mixed results. Excellent unbelievably serene day, following by a very depressed day. Couldn't get consistent results.
Kava...calmed me nicely the one night I tried, but when I went to bed I realized I felt like I was speeding. Even tiny noises startled me. It has some dopamine effects, and they seemed very exaggerated with me. Scared me.
5HTP...very depressing. You want to feel what depression feels like, take 5htp. Good for anxiety if you don't mind me extremely dull and depressed.
Tryptophan...can't really tell. Sometimes it felt half decent, sometimes lousy. I think it has a lot to do with timing. Daytime it gets converted to serotonin mostly, but at night it goes mostly to melatonin...melatonin makes me very depressed. I think tryptophan has potential, a lot more than 5htp, but it could be tricky to get it right.
DLPA...stimulating at first, but has good anti-anxiety if continued. Weird though, it made my depression worse after a few days.
Tyrosine...wow, immediate total cure for depression, followed hours later by uncomfortable stimulation and paranoia.
D-phenylalanine...calming at first, but then in bed you realize you have a dull speed effect kind of like amphetamines, where you feel awake, but someone keeps telling you that you are snoring.
Ginkgo biloba...felt stimulating the first few days, a bit uncomfortable, but with continued use it has a decent anti-anxiety effect. Decent antidepressant effect on the first day or two, couldn't really tell after that.
St Johns Wort...So many people say it is good for sleep and anxiety. Well, for me it is but only after suffering through 3 weeks of incredibly uncomfortable stimulation and insomnia. And the withdrawals, holy cow, you're talking benzodiazepine withdrawals here. Landed me in the emergency room.
Gotu kola...now that's a great idea! I'll have to try that.
poster:blueberry
thread:627208
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060313/msgs/629418.html