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.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Amber (Portland, Oregon) on 03/27/2009
★★★★★
Elsewhere on this site someone wrote that drinking Apple Cider Vinegar (1-2 tbsp) in a glass of water (8oz) helped to alleviate stress/anxiety. I recently started to try this, as I was practicing drinking ACV a few times each day already. I noticed immediate improvement in my mood, and the ability to calm down and feel at ease. EWhen my boyfriend upset me yesterday, instead of speaking my mind, I went and made the ACV drink and felt more balanced before we discussed matters. : ) I will continue doing this, along with taking an extra B vitamin, when under stress or feeling upset. Sometimes I also take a GABA sublingual supplement for calming effect, but i think the ACV actually worked just as well!
Rhodiola
Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 06/10/2008 490 posts
To the lady on Effexor and had withdrawal symptoms when tried to stop it. The way to wean yourself off any medicine is to decrease dosage a little each day or two until you are down to none. ie: If you are on a tablet that is breakable, take 1/2 of prescribed dosage for 1 or 2 days - then decrease to l/4 of prescribed dosage for the next two days. Unless your tablet is unusually big, you'll have to start decreasing the number of doses per day until you are down to none. I think that if you add a magnesium supplement while decreasing the Effexor, it will also help the anxiety.
Rhodiola
Posted by Claire (New Orleans, Louisiana) on 06/07/2008
I find this info very helpful. I am currently taking Effexor for anxiety and have been wanting to get off of it. Did you just stop taking it or did your doctor lessen the dosage slowly? Did you have withdrawls? I have attempted to stop taking it a couple of times and have had awful withdrawl symptoms! I would appreciate your suggestions.
Dietary Suggestions for Stress
Posted by Mohammed (Birmingham, U.K.) on 05/04/2008
★★★★★
stress and depression is caused when the nervous system becomes weak and starts breaking up similar to a phone connection. following are excellent cures for stress:
1 fresh pineapples.
2 cauliflower.
3 guavas.
4 bananas.
5 coriander soup.
6 barley,- soup, porridge or bread made from this is one of the best cures with a multiple arrange of other health benefits.
7 pistachio nuts, guarantee you smiling throughout the whole day and also increase facial beauty. more effective when taken with milk.
8 grapes, help you have really good dreams.
9 sheep's milk. eat these on a regular basis and enjoy life.
Please note some people are upset due to some tragedy and find it difficult to be happy. i urge those people to try these cures and promise them that by praying and asking to god they will have no reason to be upset. wish you best of health and wealth, love you.
Juice Fasts
Posted by Gabriela (Pahoa, USA) on 02/01/2008
★★★★★
I have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis almost 25 years ago and was suffering on and off with painful inflammation in my hands. After taking all the usual prescribed medicines for about a year, I had enough and went on to cure myself. I did 4 weeks of juice fasting and afterwards ate only vegan and mostly raw foods (all organic). I also let the dentist remove all my amalgams. Over the years when my diet got poor and my stress levels high, I would get inflammation again. Whenever I went back to juice fasting (the ultimate detoxification, I would do this for all kinds of diseases) and eating RAVE diet (google it) foods, I get symptom free. Stress in life is often unavoidable, but we have power over the foods we eat. Juice fasting and RAVE diet are my cure for Rheumatoid arthritis. If I find myself eating too sweet (sugar is poison, I use Stevia and Agave syrup only), I counteract with greens. (alalize again). Industrial food (all prepared food) is poison. I don't eat it.
B Vitamins
Posted by David (Titusville, FL) on 06/07/2007
★★★★★
I just turned 60 and I still have my brown hair. I attribute this to taking B vitamins in a 50 mg. complex (50 mg. of each B vitamin in one capsule), and two or three 800 mcg. of folic acid tablets. The B vitamins are known to be a stress reliever. Remember the old saying how kids can give you gray hairs? It's true! Stress can make the gray come in! The B vitamins inositol and choline are important for the color of your hair. Did you know that some wool companies deliberately make their sheep deficient in these two B vitamins so that the wool will be much whiter?! Folic Acid also helps with hair growth and had been named after the word Folicule, meaning hair! Looking younger than your age and knowing that you didn't dye your hair to look younger makes people ask if you found the fountain of youth! Try the B vitamins and folic acid for at least 6 months and you make notice a great change!
5-HTP
Posted by Charlotte (Richboro, PA)
★★★★★
My 6year old grandson was diagnosed with "Select Mutism" 2 years ago and rather than put him on "Prozac", my daughter did some research and learned about 5HTP and chose to try it first. He started on 50mg every night. His psychologist saw the same results with the 5HTP as children on prescribed drugs. It's been a miracle for him. I have since then also taken it since our family seems to have anxiety problems and ADD runs in the family and it has helped very much with these problems. I usually take 100mg to 200mg daily depending on my stress levels at the time. We are so grateful our little grandson did not have to take Prozac or a similar drug. I would highly recommend it as a first choice to try at least.
EC: Selective Mutism is a childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child's inability to speak in select social settings, such as school. These children understand language and are able to talk normally in settings where they are comfortable, secure and relaxed.
5-HTP
Posted by Kathryn (Toronto, Ontario)
★★★★★
I am taking 5-HTP to help me with sleeping. My 16 yr old daughter is also taking it to help with stress and weight control as well as sleeping. We have found it has helped a lot and I don't have to take it every day . My kids call them the turkey pills because the amino acid they contain are the same as the one found in turkey, milk, bananas etc. We both take 100 or 200 mg a day.
5-HTP
Posted by Susanne (Indianapolis, In) on 11/30/2007
★★★★★
I began taking 5-HTP for depression and anxiety and sleeplessness during a very emotionally stressful breakup. I have Not had an anxity attack since 3-07 which I had suffered from off and on for several years. I sleep so much better. I am able to think clearer and stay focused and concentrate so much better as well as improved my memory. I am thankful for this. My dr. wanted to put me on Wellbutrine. NO Thank U!
Rhodiola
Posted by RR (Vancouver, Canada) on 02/21/2008
★★★★★
Rhodiola is amazing! I've been taking rr for about 6 months with fantastic improvements. I suffer from major anxiety/stress disorder, minor depression, was taking effexor xr for 5 years prior to this wonderful herb..the effexor caused me to gain 35lbs, made me sweat heavily, and actually gave me more anxiety, the sweating is still a problem, but is getting much better since taking rhodiola, almost gone, except when i get really anxious - socially, i start to sweat from my head/face..which is pretty dam embarrassing..DONT TAKE EFFEXOR! as this never happened before even with the anxiety i had. Since taking rhodiola and stopping the effexor..i've lost the 35lbs that i gained..alot faster then iv'e ever lost weight before...so YES..it does help you lose weight..as long as you exercise hard and eat reasonably healthy. I dont eat that great, still eat pizza,wings, and drink beer occasionally. Just cut that deep fried food..mcd's etc to a minimum. EXERCISE is the key to losing weight with this herb, although when i took a break from working out...i still dropped a couple pounds.
Thanks to rhodiola, i'm almost back to my old self, except for this lingering little bit of anxiety. rhodiola works best with other herbs, acutally makes those other herbs work better then if u were to take them alone. My stress is so dramatically reduced, i almost feel normal again.
I'm currently on the search for the best combination to combat this left over anxiety issue, looks like i'll try 5-htp as people seem to have success with this combo.
I've been using the Arctic Root brand, from proactivebio, and currently trying out the Ameriden brand..just google ameriden..you'll find it...apparantly its from Siberia where this root was first discovered.
And as far as i know..you cannot grow it properly here, the active compounds will not be present if grown here, needs that cold arctic condition to grow properly.
U have nothing but to benefit from taking this herb. I'm getting my whole family on it now!
and usually takes about 2-3 weeks before you really notice the effects!
Rhodiola
Posted by Sara (West Palm Beach, Florida USA) on 03/25/2008
★★★★★
I took this for fatigue, stress and a bit of low mood. I took it for 2 months and noticed I wasn't tired anymore and could deal with things more. I finally had energy to do things that I didn't before . Caffeine didn't work because I believe I stressed out the adrenals.
I really noticed that this worked when I stopped taking it for a week to cycle it. Back to being tired and not wanting to do much.
This herb has given me my life back. It sounds cliche, but it's true.
Chamomile or Green Tea
Posted by Veronika (Frankfurt, Germany) on 04/07/2008
★★★★★
I use dayly 4 bags of chamomile tea, sometimes green tea. Just to calm my nervous system while fighting with the sharks of 21st century.
