The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Vitamin D-3
Posted by Katie (Wisconsin, USA) on 01/18/2015
★★★★★
I suffer from depression and anxiety (panic attacks), and sought the advice of a nutritionist recently when my anxiety attacks worsened over the winter. She highly recommended Vitamin D-3 in the liquid form. 10,000 IU each morning (or roughly 5 drops). I noticed an immediate change! No side effects whatsoever. No extreme changes but it just made me feel a lot more leveled out, more balanced and normal. Noticeably so.
I would highly suggest this for anyone experiencing anxiety or depression, especially in the winter months or if you work indoors all day. (Make sure it's Vitamin D-3, not D-2). L-Theanine is also nice to supplement this for more immediate relief of anxiety attacks.
Antacids
Posted by Kellie (California, US) on 01/08/2015
Tums is just baking soda and aspirin. It may be cheaper and healthier for you to just take baking soda. I started taking baking soda daily to get rid of a cold, and I started to notice my anxiety and panic attacks would go away within ten to twenty minutes of drinking baking soda. So I started looking online for others who have experienced the same thing. Baking soda seems to be very helpful in reducing or eliminating them. Including magnesium and potassium in your regimen helps even more. So it makes total sense to me that a mineral supplement, and "green pills" which are alkalizing just like baking soda, helps a lot.
Ashwagandha
Posted by Cathleen (Los Angeles, Ca) on 11/24/2014
★★★★★
I have found myself to dramatically feel less burdened by daily stress when I'm taking Ashwagandha twice a day. My counselor suggested the improvement was attributable to other changes I've made in life but when I tested by ceasing Ashwagandha I returned to having more tense feeling days including clenching of teeth. I have tried both Organic India brand which is available at Whole Foods and Swanson's Ultimate Ashwagandha and while both were effective I believe the Swanson product worked best. Both of these products were only made from the root of the herb and I would love to hear from others if results have been better from taking both the root and leaves (I haven't yet tried).
Enzymes and Probiotics
Posted by Brittani (Pa) on 11/18/2014
★★★★★
For anxiety, improve your digestion system. The gut is the second brain. Haven't you ever heard of the gut/brain connection? If you are not digesting your foods, this can wreak havoc on the entire body. I was getting very anxious with heart palpitations before and ever since I improved my digestive system by taking digestive enzymes and probiotics, I have been calm as can be.
Rhodiola
Posted by Tony (Tn, US) on 09/20/2014
Hello again Tim. I was just basing my reply on personal experience & what information I gathered from multiple sources. Glandulars are certainly another possibility for restoring the adrenals but they did me very little good.
Once I switched to the bio-identical hydo-cortisone then things started to get better but it has happened slowly. I'm still battling to get my adrenals back in order even though I started treating them last July(2013).
I started out a low dose though to be safe & worked my way up to 40mg daily. I've been on that dosage for months now but my adrenals still aren't back to good functioning. I do have a multitude of other health issues going on so it's not just about the adrenals for me.
The main point in my previous post was to inform people to make sure the adrenals are in proper working order before going on Rhodiola for anxiety & panic attacks. The adrenals not working properly will only make matters worse supplementing with rhodiola. If a person doesn't get them under control then the supplement is a waste & will even make them worse. The BP tests that I mentioned are very reliable to check for adrenal problems at home.
My doctors told me numerous times that I didn't have any adrenal problems. I knew better from the stress & cares of life getting to me & just how I felt. I know others on this board are going through the same thing with doctors so I wanted to let them know there's an at home way to check the adrenal glands without medical evaluation from doctors.
BTW, you're right Tim! Hormones are going to play a major role here as well. I have thyroid issues which is another precursor to hormone problems. My hormones are all out of whack. I have absolutely no sex drive to go along with numerous other hormonal issues as well Thanks!
Rhodiola
Posted by Timh (KY) on 09/20/2014 2048 posts
In cases of extreme free radical or oxidative stress I think it fair to say that it's more than hormonal problem. The very cell integrity is compromised all over the body. The need for antioxidant nutrition is critical, but one nutrient stands out in my mind as very effective in restoring cell integrity & energy production and that's Quercetin. Another nutrient that is gaining popularity for antioxidant & energy at the cell level is PQQ or Pyrroloquinone Quinone. Other nutrients for energy production are Ribose, DMG, Tyrosine, Inosine, CoQ10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and NADH or Coenzyme 1.
For adrenal glands specific, supplement Pantothenic Acid, Ginseng Root, Raw Adrenal Substance. I personally take either a Raw Pituitary Glandular or a Multi-male Glandular daily. Of course one can take Raw Bovine Adrenal Glandular for restoration.
Rhodiola
Posted by Tony (Tenn., US) on 09/19/2014
One word of caution for those wanting to try Rhodiola. I tried it for my panic attacks & anxiety but I got worse.
After doing extensive reading about Rhodiola, I found out the reason why. If you have adrenal issues the supplement will make you actually worse with these symptoms.
There is a way at home to test the adrenal glands. You ain't gonna get this from any traditional medicine doctor.
Take your BP 3 times within 10 minutes. Set down somewhere & relax for about 5 minutes. Take your BP. Wait 5 minutes & do it again. Immediately stand up & take it again. If your BP doesn't go up at least a few points for both top(systolic) & bottom(diastolic) then you have adrenal issues.
You need to do this for a few consecutive days though to get a good adrenal tests. Your BP should actually go up around 10 points for both. The less the numbers go up then the more serious the adrenal issues. If the numbers go down then you're in pretty serious adrenal crisis.
My adrenals have been in pretty bad shape for a while. I used this very testing to determine the seriousness of my adrenal issues. If you're in adrenal fatigue, taking rhodiola will only make matters worse.
First, you will need to take something for the adrenals like cortisol or hydro-cortisone(preferably bio-identical) to help support the adrenals along with Vit. C or find a supplement for the adrenals that have these nutrients. Let me just tell you straight up folks.
Once the adrenals get fatigued/in crisis then they are hard to get back the functioning. I'm a living & walking witness for this folks! Stress has taken a toll on my adrenals. We have to find ways to deal with stress properly because sooner or later the adrenals will crash & then you're in even bigger trouble.
Once you get the adrenals under control then you can add rhodiola for the treatment of panic attacks & anxiety. I too found out that theraputic doses of iodine caused me more trouble than benefit. This was because my adrenals were fatigued. Every time I tried higher doses of iodine I would get worse with anxiety & panic attacks.
Supplements can be good for a lot of things but there are factors that need to be addressed before actually diving into taking them. I've learned a lot here at EC but by investigating myself has helped me even more. Even though Bill here at EC advised me to take iodine in higher doses he didn't know how serious of an adrenal problem I was going through so we have to look into matters more thoroughly ourselves before making an even bigger mistake. Thanks & God Bless you guys!
Rhodiola
Posted by Dutchie (Toronto/Amsterdam) on 09/18/2014
★★★★★
I can vouch for the Rhodiola. Made my occasional panic attacks and general anxiety go away within a few hours.
I take 180 mg twice daily, once in morning and once at night. Works even better than Lorazepam in my opinion.
FYI Rhodiola also goes by the name "Arctic Root"
Magnesium
Posted by Ryan (Texas, US) on 09/04/2014
★★★★★
Those of you with anxiety issues, start taking magnesium. every day take at least 250 mg; I personally take 500 mg. It will make you go to the bathroom a lot if you take too much. You won't notice any effect on you for maybe a week. Then bam your anxiety is gone.
Acetyl L-Carnitine
Posted by Timh (KY) on 07/27/2014 2048 posts
Zander: I think your testimony about the two mentioned nutrients makes a fine illustration of how the modern western life w/ all the stressors and toxins can deplete our nutritional & antioxidant status.
I would recommend broad spectrum nutritional supplementation w/ extra antioxidants. Also, many herbs w/ many benefits for your health. I have been using nutrition (supplements for many yrs and am still learning new stuff and have literally spared my life from severe environmental illness.
Phosphatidylcholine
Posted by Zander (Columbus, Ohio) on 07/26/2014
★★★★★
I have suffered from acute anxiety on and off for much of my life. Today and yesterday were especially severe and left me feeling helpless & hopeless, as well as agitated, no less. I had just received a Phosphatidylcholine formulation for liver and brain function which I took this evening with no thought to its possible effect on my anxious state. Much to my pleasant surprise, 20 minutes or so later I was feeling completely at peace and had regained interest in the book I had been reading and no longer had a feeling of hopelessness and dread. I did not make the connection to the supplement right away but I know myself well enough to know that this had been a sudden as opposed to the usual gradual improvement. I deduced that it might have something to do with the supplement. Sure enough, one of the properties of Phosphatidylcholine is its ability to tonify and support the nervous system. Yes, I'm capitalizing it. I'm very relieved and grateful--please make this available to others who may experience relief. I think that this Lecithin variant deserves its own heading in the anxiety section. Thank you, Earth Clinic!
Acetyl L-Carnitine
Posted by Zander (Ohio) on 07/26/2014
★★★★★
I agree with your assessment about acetyl l-carnitine. I experienced relief almost immediately today [about 20 minutes] after taking 500 mg. I had ordered a formulation for Memory & Brain but had no idea it would have the calmative properties it had. I experience fairly intentense restless anxiety from time to time. It produces such a helpless & hopeless feeling. I was not expecting this to provide relief for anxiety at all but there was no mistaking the calm which came over me.
Rhodiola
Posted by Angie (Nc) on 07/23/2014
Do you have any food allergies or thyroid issues... I've had that walking to the side thing too.
Alkalize
Posted by Diane (Id, US) on 07/15/2014
★★★★★
I had some serious anxiety, stomach problems and raised blood pressure going on last week…I didn't know what it was so went into the Dr. who said it was anxiety and gave me a Rx for Lexapro and Zantac… I knew there was an underlying cause and hit the computer for hrs….I found articles on pH balancing and after testing my pH w/ pH strips I saw that it was so Acidic! I began an alkaline diet… It took a few days, but as of right now I feel back to my old self and very little anxiety. Such a relief. It may not help everyone, but it's worth a try and if it does, it's a cheap fix! Good luck!
GABA
Posted by Kathy (L A) on 07/04/2014
★★★★★
Hello!
My husband has been using GABA for a few years....maybe 5 years and there have been NO side affects at all, except to calm him down...I even take a pill when I'm going to be in a stressful situation, like visiting his mother, for example! lol
DHEA
Posted by Jenna (South Dakota) on 06/26/2014
★★★★★
I am giving an update. Holy Basil did not work, all though I thought it had. Just temporary relief. About five days later I ended up in the emergency room for a full blow panic attack and they gave me 1mg of valium, which brought it down. Also a temporary prescription of adivan, which really didn't do anything for me, chilled me only for a few hours. The next day, still anxiety, and so forth. It took me about 5 days of experimenting to figure out what was wrong - took 50 mgs of Dhea, and finally could breathe again, all anxiety left. It was my adrenals all along. Please do research on low Dhea, as there is a kind, I believe call Kudo, that inhibits it affecting other hormones in the body so that you don't grow a mustache, thinning hair. 50mgs is very high to take for any long period of time, check out info on Curezone or other forums.
Holy Basil
Posted by Jenna (North Dakota, US) on 06/11/2014
★★★★★
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!
Flax Seed Oil
Posted by SUNNY (Ca) on 05/20/2014
★★★★★
I use flaxseed oil softgels of 1000mg or more. Cold pressed! Organic. I take as many as I need like 2 per meal. It helps with my anxiety so much, very quickly after I take them. I take them also prior to getting my period, which helps to balance mood then.
Flax's fatty acid profile: omega 3,6, and 9. Love it!
Namaste, Sunny
Rhodiola
Posted by Yell (U.k) on 04/13/2014
Been taking rhodiola for a week 1 tablet mid day with main meal and find that's I can't keep awake about an hour late an hour later. Just doze for about 10 15 minutes I suffer from anxiety panic and agoraphobia and am 90 years old. Pretty fit apart from the above.Cant visit the dr because of the agoraphobia. Didn't usually feel so tired after dinner have seen othe instructions for taking rhodiola on an empty stomach.Also I am bored out of my mind at this point of the day. Any advice please. Thank you
Chocolate, Nutmeg
Posted by Gabrielle (Los Angeles, Ca) on 03/27/2014
Chocolate can definitely increase anxiety levels! I am super sensitive & get heart palps from anything with caffeine!
Borage Oil, Magnesium
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 01/09/2014
Dear Claire,
You are welcome. Thanks so much for taking time to share what is helping you! I am so glad you are feeling better. Being able to sleep and relax are so important!
~Mama to Many~
Borage Oil, Magnesium
Posted by Claire (Mountain View, Ca) on 01/08/2014
★★★★★
I have been seeking remedies to help with anxiety and insomnia and wanted to share what's been working. Thanks to a post from Mama to Many, I purchased borage oil, the strongest I could find at 1200 mg per capsule. It has 3 times as much GLA as evening primrose oil, which I had been taking without noticing many results (except less menstrual flow). I also bought magnesium powder after reading someone's success story on Earth Clinic about taking at night, just before going to sleep. Remarkably, within 2 days taking 3 borage capsules a day and 1 teaspoon of magnesium powder in water at night, I could feel my stress and anxiety diminish dramatically. I also started sleeping through the night. It is a remarkable combination! Plus my skin is baby soft. I hope others will give it a go! Thank you, MAMA TO MANY!!!
Peppermint Tea
Posted by Iñaki (Toronto, Ont) on 01/06/2014
★★★★★
I seem to have panic attacks only in winters, maybe the lack of D3; who knows. The only natural thing that works for me so far is Peppermint tea. When I feel there is a PA in its way, I run and either prepare or buy ( if I am outside) a peppermint tea and the effect is inmediate. Is this a placebo effect or there is a compound in the mint tea that fights the panic attack? Honestly I dont know, but as long as it avoid a PA I will continue to try it. Hope this advice can help someone.
Chocolate, Nutmeg
Posted by Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 11/25/2013
Hello Anon from Anon;
Re your recipe using nutmeg as an anti anxiety remedy.
Wonderful...I do love nutmeg...so aromatic and aromatics alone may have great value... we often overlook their benefits. (One of my favorite aromatics is fresh ground coffee and inhaling the grinds as soon as ground...ah, bliss for five seconds.)
Here's one for winter months to help with circulation and again as an aromatic; the scent will permeate the house with a most wonderful earthy feel.
I call this "Three C Tea"...
- Grind a teaspoon of cardamom.
- Grind a teaspoon of clove.
- Grate a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Put in two cups water and bring to near boil, then let steep for ten minutes. (Add a little raw cane sugar to taste.) Add some ginger for circulation needs. Breathe in deeply the aroma as you sip. Wonderful on a cold night.
Dave
Hemp + Kelp
Posted by Anon (Anon) on 11/25/2013
★★★★★
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.
