My therapist and I recently discussed medication, and we landed on my unwillingness to try them because of the side effects that come with certain medications (feeling suicidal, the possibility of worsened intrusive thoughts, more anxiety). I told her that if medications didn't have side effects like that I would be willing to try them. (As in, either the medication works or you don't get anything from it at all is similar to what I told my therapist.) This led her to bring up the topic of natural remedies that have proven effective in managing anxiety symptoms. She mentioned 1 supplement and 2 herbal remedies that could help me with no nasty side effects.
1. L-Theanine (particularly the kind made with Suntheanine): This is an herbal remedy. L-Theanine is found in green and black teas. I consider this one to be the safest because it doesn't have any negative side effects. I ordered myself a bottle of capsules from Amazon. 100mg isn't strong enough to lower my anxiety, so the next time I try it I'll try 200mg. It does make me groggy, but I can still function when I take it. (I also read a study that 200mg of L-Theanine worked better than Xanax. I'll provide a link to that information at the bottom.)
2. Valerian Root: This is also one of the herbal remedies that my therapist mentioned during our session. Valerian is a sedative, and it is often used to treat insomnia, but it can also reduce anxiety. (You shouldn't take it if you take other things that make you drowsy.) I haven't tried this one, and I don't intend to try it since it is a sedative. I need to function normally throughout the day to write.
3. GABA: GABA occurs naturally in our brains. L-Theanine (see above) boosts GABA in your brain, which makes you calmer. The results on taking a GABA supplement for anxiety are sort of sketchy. It's even suggested that it might be better to try L-Theanine or Magnesium, and some B vitamins to help with GABA without having to take a straight GABA supplement. (Link below, at the end of this post.)
I know there are more natural remedies for anxiety floating around out there, and I would be interested to hear more about some of those if any of my readers have any experience with things I didn't list here. I listed these 3 because they were the ones that I discussed with my therapist and that we researched a little during my session.
If you feel like you need some help managing anxiety symptoms, but you don't want to take any psychoactive drugs, these natural herbal remedies and supplements might be another great option. You should consult with your doctor and/or therapist and do plenty of research before you try any herbal remedy or supplement.
I'll end with this: If you don't like the idea of taking medications just yet or you want to save that as a last resort, trying out some herbal remedies and supplements (with the approval of your therapist or doctor) might be an option to try. These remedies and supplements don't have the nasty side effects that make medications so hard to tolerate, but they may not help everyone. Everyone's brain and anxiety is different, and may respond differently to any of these alternative treatments.
Links:
1. L-Theanine: http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2007/8/report_stress_anxiety/page-02
2. GABA: http://overcomingyouranxiety.net/naturalanxietyremedies/gaba-for-anxiety/
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