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Completely eliminated my severe anxiety symptoms with three supplements!

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12
First post here,

Want to say that I read threw ALL of this, and due to Hips experience with NAG, decided to buy some.

I suffer from crippling anxiety. It effects every part of my life, social, enjoyment, motivation, focus. I'm living at home with parents in my mid 20s, with a $80K education, refusing to work because of my anxiety. I wake up and my first impulse is just to get on the computer to escape life. I'm at a point where I can't afford to suffer any longer (about to get kicked out). I tried prescribed, and $500+ worth of unsubscribed meds. Only thing that had any result was; xanax (worked till tolerance built up, very hard to obtain), weed (makes anxiety worse 90% of the time, occasionally it provides a since of enlightenment), and LSD (all anxiety gone, came back in full force as soon as the drug wore off). Obviously none of these can be taken on a daily basis.

That's the bad news. The good news, is that I'm really digging Hips rationale for why NAG works. I also suffer from dark circles under the eyes, and bad nasal congestion that seems to get worse the more nervous that I get. Hip said that he felt improvement in that aspect in 20 minutes. The whole anti-inflammatory thing makes so much since. So with all this considered, I'm very hopeful to try this product.

Purchased Jarrow Forumals, 700mg... couldn't find 750mg, hoping it's just as effective and hasn't been changed. It's suppose to come in Sunday (paid $5 extra to get it this weekend, as opposed to NEXT Friday, worth).

I'll come back and let you guys know.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,874
Hi @Roxs
Has your anxiety disorder been diagnosed to a specific type, like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder or social anxiety? From what I can tell, the anti-anxiety supplements listed in this thread work best for GAD.

Look forward to hearing your results with NAG. Please post the results even if negative. Looks like Jarrow have changed the dosage of their NAG product very slightly (750 mg changed to 700 mg), but this should not make any difference.


Note that in my list of 29 anti-anxiety supplements at the beginning of this thread, not all the supplements work by the same mechanism, so if one does not work for you, don't give up, as you may find that the next one does. Also, you will likely find that you need to take 4 or 5 of the most potent anti-anxiety supplements in the list to fully eliminate the anxiety symptoms.

I am in the process of rewriting this thread into a more compact and understandable form. In the new write up, I am going to classify each supplement by the mechanism by which I believe it works.

When it is done, I will post a link to the new write up in the first post of this thread.
 
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@Hip

Thanks for the fast response! It is good to know that I shouldn't be worried about the dosage change.

I personally believe it is GAD, as I feel anxious/can't relax no matter what I'm doing. I can be playing video games, or just watching a movie, and still I'm anxious. I can be out walking in the woods at the park totally alone; and yup, still a since of anxiety, can't relax and "let go/live in the moment". Stuck in the head... compulsive thinking... etc. It's like I can't figure out what brain frequency to be on if that makes since? Like I don't know if I'm thinking TO MUCH? Or am I under thinking things/on autopilot, and need to be thinking more? It's becoming borderline psychotic... as I can't seem to find the correct state of mind to "correctly" live life.

It took me many years to finally get some professional help. In high school, when I tried approaching my parents, I got the "just toughen up" treatment, and that it's all in my head (could have some truth, idk). In college I went to a general practitoner, who prescribed me my first SSRI, and adderall. The SSRI was the first of three that I have tried, with no results. The adderall, obviously gave more focus, but made the anxiety problem worse. This frustrated me, and I felt like I wasn't being taken serious with my anxiety. At that point I took it on my self, and tried hundreds of dollars worth of products, running around in around in my mind of what it could be...

Tried dieting, thinking it was a food allergy; did it kind of half-ass, but noticed that wheat/alcohol/carbs in general definitely aggravate my anxiety, but totally cutting it out didn't "heal" it either.

Thought it was candida, that fungus build up thing. Tried a good $100 in products for that, no results.

Tried about 10 other things, that I honestly don't remember. I do remember having a box full of old supplements that I threw away at the end of college, none of them were worth buying again.

About a year ago, I went to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with: "MDD" (Major Depressive Disorder) and Social Anxiety. Who prescribed my third attempt at a SSRI (no effect), and some blood pressure regulation meds. He basically said I needed a boost from the meds, and to make lifestyle changes. Which may of been/be the case, but this has been a LIFE LONG issue, it just took me in till about high school to realize my anxiety and what not isn't normal. Plus I live decently healthy, run 5 times a week, workout 3 times, don't eat terrible... so what gives?

A couple of old friends in college confronted me one time, and said my issues are due to a computer addiction. I counter that with "I'm on the computer so much because I'm A)looking for a solution to my anxiety or B) escaping my anxiety. So I guess it's kind of a what comes first, the chicken or the egg thing when it comes to computer addiction. MAYBE that's the problem. Like a big maybe. And I'm willing to try anything at this point, so maybe I should take an extended break from the internet and see if I "re balance". Any way...

Sorry for the long post.

TL:DR: Got diagnosed with "Major Depression Disorder" and "Social Phobia" by a psychiatrist about a year ago. I DO get "extra" anxious around people, but I am never at rest. Which makes me think there is a underlining problem, which is why I'm willing to give this supplement a shot. The nasal congestion thing, plus it getting worse the more anxious I get is a shared symptom, and gives hope that it may help me.
 
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A few years ago I had so much anxiety all day long every day. Sometimes it got so bad that I wasn't sleeping, I was loosing weight and my life was a living hell. I had adrenal problems, CFS, MCS, digestive disorders, heavy metal poisoning (mercury was off the chart when tested). I was just about to the point of totally freaking out when my new doctor, naturopath, sent me to a psychologist to do nuerofeedback. He said I had one of the busiest brains he had ever seen. In just 5 days, I was so calm. I had forgot how it felt to be calm and relaxed, it was wonderful. Sometimes over the years of being sick, tired, stressed, whatever, our brains become so busy that it just can't calm down. I still have anxiety when under stress, when I'm around perfumes or other chemicals, or when I eat the wrong foods or supplements, but for the most part the anxiety is gone. You may want to look into it.
 
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@Farawyn

I dream about finding something that will "snap me out of it" and let me live, I'm sure it felt great to find something that works. I looked into biofeedback a while back, and I know that my health insurance (united healthcare) doesn't cover it.

I'm imagining it's pretty expensive to pay out of pocket :(
May be just what I need too.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,874
@Roxs
Social anxiety (social phobia) involves intense worry and anxiety over how other people may perceive, evaluate or judge you, or what you say.

If after socializing with friends, your mind starts going over all the things you said in conversation, and I starts to worry intensely if certain things you said might be hurtful to your friends, or would portray you in a bad light, or would be misinterpreted in a negative way your your friends, then that is social anxiety.

But if you feel anxiety all the time for no apparent reason and with no particular focus or subject, including when you are with friends, then that is GAD. I found with my GAD that it was worse when I was with people, but this still is not social anxiety. It's just that people seemed to worsen my GAD, perhaps through information overload. But that is not social anxiety. Social anxiety is when you worry about how people perceive, evaluate or judge you.

It is quite possible to have both GAD and social anxiety, and in my case, I had GAD for over a decade, and then out of the blue, just a few years ago, some social anxiety appeared in me as well. This I treat with choline bitartrate: I found that taking 1000 mg of this daily completely eradicates my social anxiety. Choline bitartrate is a well know treatment for social anxiety.


By the way, you say you have "bad nasal congestion that seems to get worse the more nervous that I get". I would suggest that the cause and effect may be the other way around: when your nasal congestion get worse, this actually causes your anxiety to increase.

I had nasal/sinus congestion, and I found that any supplements that reduced my congestion would also significantly reduce my anxiety. Nasal congestion is a mucus response, which can be underpinned by inflammation of the nasal cavity and sinus cavities. So I think the inflammation that is behind this nasal/sinus congestion is causing the anxiety symptoms, by its effect of further ramping up brain inflammation. This nasal/sinus inflammation may not be the only source of inflammation that underpinning brain inflammation, but it may be one of the sources, so if you can reduce or eliminate that source, anxiety levels should reduce too.

Giving up dairy products completely for a year greatly reduced my nasal congestion, and helped my anxiety a lot. And I found these supplements helped reduce my nasal/sinus congestion a lot, thereby lowering anxiety.
 
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@Farawyn

I dream about finding something that will "snap me out of it" and let me live, I'm sure it felt great to find something that works. I looked into biofeedback a while back, and I know that my health insurance (united healthcare) doesn't cover it.

I'm imagining it's pretty expensive to pay out of pocket :(
May be just what I need too.

Neurofeedback is different than biofeedback. It's kind of like playing games while watching how your brain is doing.

I'm sorry your insurance doesn't cover it. Mine did. I think I would have done it anyway because it was worth it even if it took me a long time to pay it off. It cost me only about 100 dollars per appointment. That was about 10 years ago. You only have to go for about 2 days a week for about 2 months. The improvement holds and you don't have to keep going.

It took me years to find out that most of my anxiety was due to the fact that I don't tolerate any kind of chemicals. It's called MCS or multiple chemical sensitivity. I can't tolerate any perfumes, dryer sheets, cleaning supplies, just all kinds of chemicals. When I cleared my house of all chemicals and stayed away from chemicals elsewhere as much as possible, my anxiety improved quite a lot. Bad side, it makes it hard for me to go places and be around people. But it's better than panic attacks.

Anyway, neurofeedback is a lot of fun. I actually miss it.
 
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@Hip

Based on your description of social anxiety, I don't have it. Think it is just more on the lines of being in a anxious/irritable state the majority of the time, therefore I don't communicate well with people; and knowing that I'm not good with people causes my "social anxiety". So it's like social anxiety is a symptom of my general anxiety?

Choline bitartrate huh? Well I'll think I'll get some. Recommend a brand on amazon? $20 or less preferred.

I agree with you're theory on the nasal congestion. It's probably got a lot to do with mood disorders... and the black circles under my eyes. I think I'm going to try the NAG first, and it that doesn't work I'll try #1 on your list Germanium sesquioxide.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,874
Neurofeedback is different than biofeedback. It's kind of like playing games while watching how your brain is doing.

@Farawyn
Could you explain in a bit more detail how this neurofeedback is used to reduce anxiety please? For example, if you have the constant anxiety of GAD — anxiety which does not have any particular triggers, but is just there constantly — what sort of neurofeedback exercises can you use to treat it?
 
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i suffer from generalized anxiety disorder with its acompanying friends of nervousness, social anxiety, panic, depression, irritability as also ibs, allergic rhinitis. i have tried many remedies and wasted lots of money.
i took the advice and bought flax seed oil and amuluspride. i took amulispride and it caused extreme confusion in me( itook 12.5 mg or even less. i dropped it. flax seed oil caused severe gas with dizziness. i took turmeric and left it as i thought it was causing dizinness . and these did not give relief from anxiety. Also some remedies i tried gave some relief for few days but energy of anxiety or ibs is too strong and find its way back.
It seems psyllium husk, ground flax seeds and peppermint oil gives some relief in ibs for me and sesame oil in nose for allergic rhinitis. alprax gives the best relief for anxiety but cannot be taken regularly.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,874
@amittabha5
Sorry to hear that you had all these bad side effects from the supplements and medications you tried.

Did you try N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG), which I found was the best anti-anxiety supplement, and is at the top of the list? I actually originally bought NAG to see if it would help my own IBS-D; NAG may be supportive of the intestinal lining. NAG did not do much for my IBS, but while I was taking it, I noticed that it had pretty strong anti-anxiety effects, which was a fortuitous discovery.

In case you interested, supplements I tried that did elicit significant improvements for my IBS are (in rough order of effectiveness): fennel essential oil 5 drops (diluted in 30 ml of cooking oil and taken internally), the IBS drug loperamide 2 mg, triphala herb 1500 mg daily, he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) 10:1 extract 400 mg, turmeric 1000 mg, manuka honey (MGO 400+) 1 heaped teaspoon, sesame seed oil 10 ml.
 
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NAG is not available in india i think. I take fennel tea(1 tablespoon crushed and steeped in hot water for 10 mins),
i had take loperamide long time back but i have ibs-c, triphala did not benefit me much, i took it for some time, i may start retaking turmeric, do u take it in a single dose or divided, i apply sesame seed oil in my nose and ear, massage my stomach and under my feet. do u take sesame seed oil internally. both anxiety and ibs are powerful negative forces and tries to reappear again.
 
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My Jarrow NAG came in about a hour ago, took 700mg about 5 minutes before this post.

If I don't feel any relief in about a hour I'll take another 700mg.

I'll report back!
 
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12
From a 1-10 (10 being panic attack), my anxiety was about a 7 when I took it. If you were around me you could tell I was in a anxious state, for no apparent reason. I'm siting at home watching tv, about 30 minutes after taking it, my anxiety reduced moderately to about a 3. Worries and compulsive thinking slowed down. I have a job interview later this week, thinking about it directly still spiked high anxiety, but just sitting watching tv I feel like a took a xanax or something. I definitely feel more calm at rest; as a by product my focus and productivity is increased. Also feel like I have a increased since of empathy, feel like reaching out to family or something lol. Of course, all of this is while sitting on the couch watching sports.

I just took another 700mg.

Hoping results stack, because then it would be legit.

I'll keep you guys informed! Tomorrow when I wake up I'll take 1,400 mg, and go to the mall to see how my anxiety reacts to a real test. This may be a great "base" product to stack some other anxiety reducing products with. Will wait and see...

Edit: Oh, it didn't do anything for sinuses. I'm actually really congested right now (ate mexican for lunch, lot of carbs always congest me). But yeah, nothing there.
 
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Feeling really relaxed and good after that second 700mg. Of course, I am sitting at home playing video games, but still very happy with results so far. Hope there's no tolerance build up, and that it last a while. If it continues to give this effect, I would take it every day and stack it with other stuff.
 

sueami

Senior Member
Messages
270
Location
Front Range Colorado
@Hip

I am wondering if you think the NAG would be a safe supp to try while in the middle of a big mito crash? I do not have the mental resources to read thru this whole thread to see if anyone tried it with negative results. I am struggling with anxiety from being bedbound for weeks now, and am considering trying some.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,874
@Roxs
Thanks for the updates. It certainly looks like you are one of the lucky ~50% that gets significant anti-anxiety benefits from N-acetyl-glucosamine. If you add some of the other anti-anxiety supplements to your regimen as well, you'll likley find that you completely eliminate all your anxiety symptoms.

@sueami
There seem to be very few people who report negative side effects from N-acetyl-glucosamine on this thread; from the feedback I get, it seems that NAG either works very well for people in terms of its anti-anxiety effects, or for some people it does not work at all. But no bad effects so far.
 

sueami

Senior Member
Messages
270
Location
Front Range Colorado
thx hip. I was all set to get some but just read that it is made from shellfish. i believe i am allergic to shrimp. :(
i am taking turmeric. i may try flaxseed oil, though i eliminated all seeds and nuts so i would have to trial it as a food reintroduction.
 
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Do any of those supplements that you recommended help with nervousness/butterflies, have a really bad case of that my worst symptom by far?