What supplements or herbs do you take for your anxiety?

Anyone on the boards taking supplements or herbs to help with their panic and anxiety? What are you using and how has it helped? I'm just starting 5-HTP, switching from Cymbalta.

Is there anyone not taking a prescription aid and only natural help?

I take a supplement called Trancor, by the company Metagenics. I find that it does help me to relax, without making me sleepy or giving any other side effects. I also use relaxation breathing techniques, meditation and hypnosis to help with anxiety.

**I am editing this to add what I wrote in another thread, which is: I would strongly encourage anyone who considers Trancor to check with their doc to see if there might be any drug interactions with other meds.....and as I am not a doc myself, I can't speak to that personally.

Post Edited (Raniah) : 4/1/2009 3:01:18 PM (GMT-6)

I'm taking Lexapro. I've been taking it for a little over a year now. It has changed my life.

I used to try so hard not to be overly anxious, but it would show. I couldn't control my physical responses to my anxiety. With Lexapro, I can. I've been able to do so many things that I wasn't able to do for the first 46 years of my life.

subdued said...
I'm taking Lexapro. I've been taking it for a little over a year now. It has changed my life.

I used to try so hard not to be overly anxious, but it would show. I couldn't control my physical responses to my anxiety. With Lexapro, I can. I've been able to do so many things that I wasn't able to do for the first 46 years of my life.

I was prescribed that and I have those meds but I haven't started them, maybe I should I dunno I didn't want anything long term:(

I take a supplement called Tranquilene (tranquilene.com). It's some kind of specially tailored supplement for people with anxiety. I actually found it because I was taking a lot of the ingredients separately and it was cheaper to get them all in one place. It's got tryptophan, L-Theanine, GABA, vitamin B complex, passion flower, niacin, calcium, magnesium and a bunch of other stuff.

After a few months of taking it my panic attacks stopped. I still feel a little anxious but its WAY better than it was before. Definitely something to try.

I switched from meds (clonazepam, ativan, seroquel, lyrica, and an SNRI) to supplements for anxiety and it's working. It does take a few months for the brain to readjust after meds. It took 2 months after the last SNRI and 6 months after the last anti-anxiety before I was thinking clearly. The most helpful are 3g of fish oil, 1500mg magnesium glycinate, valerian and passion flower tea. In the past, I've used bodycalm supreme from TRB health, which worked great. I had some help with L-tryptophan (similar to 5-htp), but not lasting. I also quit caffeine, and avoided excitotoxins like msg and aspartame (diet pop). Make sure you take l-tryosine, too. What also helped me in the past is Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with a therapist and now I'm trying visualization, NLP.
Laura