Completely eliminated my severe anxiety symptoms with three supplements!

[Hip]

I urinate frequently

That is another symptom of POTS (I have this symptom myself).

 

[CapQ]

Further to my comments above.

I constantly had bad tonsillitis as a child and had a tonsillectomy at 18yrs.

I had a Septoplasty around the same time, primarily because i broke my nose badly at 6yrs old. But also due to bad nasal canal and polyps. It did nothing really and a couple of years ago an 'ear nose throat' specialist told me i only had around 20% of normal nasal size/capacity. Suggested i do another Septoplasty but as you can imagine i wasn't keen. I went on Beconase for almost a year, it helped a little but i developed this horrible dry throat pain which would occasionally take my voice away. I found some information that the steroid drips onto the back of the throat and causes/prevents an infection from healing making an ever worsening sore. Plus i pretty much lost all taste!

As a child i suffered from asthma.

After considering this new found knowledge today I can now make connections i hadn't before. A few years back i caught a particularly aggressive strain of influeza which took hold in under 24hrs, i was travelling at the time and was quarantined in Singapore, before boarding the plane i felt a little ill, nothing bad. 8hrs later on arrival in Singapore I was delirious, could barely breath and couldn't walk. Details aren't important except that it took some time to recover and my anxiety became severe again over the next couple of months. In fact when i look back, everytime i have had severe bouts or increases in anxiety (despite a stable dose of Benzos) it has been preceeded by some kind of illness! How have i never made this connection!?

Moving on from my list of ailments, i think that is enough for now...

POTS seems worth investigating and i will certainly do the test, however that particular feeling i describe is exactly like low blood sugar in a diabetic, although my blood sugar is not low (nor is my fathers). Yet if i eat a couple of jelly beans, as a diabetic might, i very quickly recover from the symptoms. It is a quite noticable physical feeling of recovery. This state also gives me mood swings and often without realizing myself (if i am preoccupied or something), my wife will comment that i am grumpy and feed me something. She too can see the very quick return to normal and my mood stabilizing. I can't see any connection with POTS to food in this way. Am i missing something?

I also commented on combining NAG and Dexamphetamines. I was mistaken sorry, i believe it is NAC which acts similarly on dopermine receptors and often causes unpleasant effects to people on Dexamphetamines.

Thanks again.

 

[Hip]

Yet if i eat a couple of jelly beans, as a diabetic might, i very quickly recover from the symptoms.

Have you ever tried measuring your blood glucose level during the time of feeling weak, using one of those pin prick blood glucose meters, which you can buy for around $20 online? That might help confirm that your transient feelings of weakness are indeed due to low blood sugar.


You might also want to look into adrenal fatigue-induced hypoglycemia (although this is not a scientifically validated area).

The idea of adrenal fatigue-induced hypoglycemia is that if your adrenal glands are under-responsive (fatigued) in terms of secreting cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine) during stressful periods of the day (when sugar demand may be higher), then you may get periods of low blood sugar, because cortisol and adrenaline act to counter the blood sugar-lowering effect of insulin. So cortisol and adrenaline raise blood sugar during stress. Thus without sufficient cortisol and adrenaline secretion during hectic or stressful moments of the day, your blood sugar may go down a little too low.

That's the theory anyway. But adrenal fatigue is one of those alternative health topics which unfortunately has very little scientific research to either confirm or refute its ideas (no doubt because adrenal fatigue symptoms tend to be sub-clinical); so it makes it hard to gauge just how much validity there is behind the adrenal fatigue concept. I have never seen any studies confirming these ideas. Although interestingly enough, enteroviruses can infect the adrenal glands, so if adrenal fatigue exists, this might be the cause.

If you are secreting adrenaline during any panic attacks, that might also lower glucose by the same mechanism.

You might want to start a new thread on this subject, because I don't know much about hypoglycemia or adrenal fatigue. And it's also a little off-topic here. There are plenty of existing threads on this subject as well.


My suggestion for combatting hypoglycemia would be trying the supplement L-carnitine 500 mg to 1000 mg once or twice daily. Mitochondria generate energy by burning either sugar or fat. But mitochondria get more power output from burning sugar than they do from burning fat. So if sugar is low, you might expect a deficit of energy, because fat burning may not supply enough energy to make up for the low blood sugar.

L-carnitine makes the fat-burning processes in mitochondria more efficient, which means that if blood sugar goes low, you may not get such a drop in energy levels, because now thanks to carnitine, your mitochondria can make better and more effective use of fat as an alternative energy source.

This L-carnitine suggestion is just an idea I had while writing this post. I can't guarantee it will work, but the theory behind it is correct: carnitine does facilitate the fat burning process in mitochondria, thereby creating a more power output from fat burning. So this may help combat the energy deficit during low sugar episodes.


There are also supplements touted for "healing adrenal fatigue," but I would not know how effective they are.

 

[CapQ]

Thanks again Hip.

Yes I have regularly used a blood glucose test myself, a number of times over the years. I have also had multiple clinical tests, i.e. fasting, taking the glucose liquid stuff to measure spikes or responses etc. Further than basic diabetes tests.

& that is the problem. Everything is perfect, in fact in these tests and many others I test well above average. This only deters doctors further as I test so well.

All I know is the feeling I described and the clear result I get by eating sugar or a decent meal. It has been a particular focus of mine as clearly something is wrong. It does in itself create clear anxiety but perhaps is only worsening the existing situation. Obviously i get anxiety at other times, i.e. without this low blood sugar feeling (that is the only way I can verbally describe it?). At times when my anxiety is bad, without this feeling, or say not long after a meal when I am not particularly hungry, I can 'sometimes' reduce or remove the anxiety by getting a sugar hit.

Anyway I'm trying to do these posts with too many distractions around me. I've taken nearly 2hrs to write this in tiny pieces when i get a chance.

I'll sign off for now and do some proper research myself. I spent a lot of time doing that in the beginning but that was 2007 and clearly there is new information and forums etc available now.

I'm going to a big health food shop to get some of your top suggestions i.e. NAG and Flaxseed etc.

Not sure how effectively I will be able to judge results due to the withdrawls. Although any help would be great.

Thanks again.

 

[Hip]

@CapQ
One other way that eating sugar might reduce your anxiety is by raising serotonin in the brain. Sugar increases brain serotonin, and serotonin has anti-anxiety properties. In fact, one of the anti-anxiety supplements in my list, high dose inositol, reduces anxiety precisely by raising serotonin.

If raising serotonin works well to quell your anxiety, you could consider trying a high dose inositol powder protocol, at a dose of 12 to 18 grams a day (two to three heaped teaspoons of powder). In the UK, I buy inositol powder for around £25 per kilo.

SSRIs work on serotonin too, but inositol can provide similar anti-anxiety benefits without the side effects or withdrawal symptoms of SSRIs. If you were going to consider SSRIs, I've read that Lexapro has the least side effects.

 

[CapQ]

Again I can't thank you enough Hip, you have opened my eyes to so many new possibilities and solutions. It means so much to me, particularly during my current withdrawal situation but especially after giving up for so many years, just accepting my condition as something I have to live with.

It seems my story is a near carbon copy of yours and many other posters, in particular regarding the sinusitis and the initial infection which triggered the GAD. I am quietly hopefull therefore that the treatments you suggest will possibly work for me...

As for the 'low blood sugar feelings' I get i imagine it is probably something entirely seperate, particularly given my father has the same thing but not GAD. No doubt there is a relationship/interaction between the two but I suppose I need to treat one or the other before I can distinguish this. As you know it is hard to tell what is causing what, and given I also have ADD and a few other likely unrelated issues it is tricky.

I haven't tried Lexapro but I have tried two other SSRI's with very negative results, basically a type of floating detatched feeling with suicidal thoughts. Not something I ever want to experience again so I wont touch them. However i will cautiously investigate Inositol, sounds like you may be on to something there!

From what I understand there is still very little known about how ADD affects brain chemistry and why a substance like dexamphetamine has essentially the opposite effect. (Obviously there is some known science behind it but I believe much is still unknown?) Therefore i am consciously aware and cautious that other medications often affect me differently.

 

[Thinktank]

My digestive tract does not seem to like turmeric. I took around 500mg yesterday from the Front Naturals brand (http://www.iherb.com/Frontier-Natur...rganic-Ground-Turmeric-Root-16-oz-453-g/30918 )
and today i have been dealing with bad cramps and explosive D.
I'm going to try it again tonight by making "golden milk", hopefully i will tolerate that better.

Meriva-SR curcumin from thorne research has quite the opposite effect being very soothing and anti-inflammatory.

Anyone else not being able to handle turmeric, but ok with phytosome curcumin?

 

[Hip]

@Thinktank
Turmeric is known to cause diarrhea in larger doses. Most people will handle 500 mg a few times daily without causing diarrhea, but if your guts are more sensitive, you might consider cutting down the dose.

 

[Thomas]

@Hip apologies but I simply cannot read through this entire thread as I usually like to do before commenting or asking questions for risk of being redundant.
Having said that, if one is to see improvements from your 3 supplement anxiety protocol, typically how long in to it does it take? Also, do you introduce the supplements one by one over a few days or all 3 together from the start?

Cheers

 

[Hip]

@Thomas
The anti-anxiety effects are pretty rapid, beginning to kick in within a couple of hours. You can start the 3 supplements all at once no problem, although if you do get any side effects (occasionally people report mild stomach upset), you may not be able to work out which supplement is causing it (but then you can always stop and reintroduce the supplements one by one).

 

[Thomas]

@Thomas
The anti-anxiety effects are pretty rapid, beginning to kick in within a couple of hours. You can start the 3 supplements all at once no problem, although if you do get any side effects (occasionally people report mild stomach upset), you may not be able to work out which supplement is causing it (but then you can always stop and reintroduce the supplements one by one).

Thank you very much kind sir. After starting this I'll be sure to post my experiences here.
Thanks again.

 

[Exeter]

Hi Hip, are these 3 supplements still controlling your Anxiety. I too am a bad sufferer, but unfortunately have Lyme so have stopped taking N-acetyl-glucosamine after I read your post in full. So I don't know if the 3 together would give me relief too. I am taking 2 x Double Strength Curcumin 950mg with 5mg Black Pepper from www.pureclinica.com - and Cod Liver Oil instead of Flaxseed Oil, maybe I would be advised to take the latter instead.

I was also consuming Virgin Coconut Oil but read in different places (not on this forum) that it can cause Anxiety.

Anyway, still have high Anxiety.


Dartmoor

 

[Hip]

Hi Hip, are these 3 supplements still controlling your Anxiety.

Yes, they are still very effective even after several years of daily use. There seems to be no tolerance build up, no loss of effect. And if you do stop taking these supplements, there are no withdrawal symptoms (unlike with benzodiazepines), although of course the anxiety does start to come back if you stop.

unfortunately have Lyme so have stopped taking N-acetyl-glucosamine after I read your post in full.

How long were you taking NAG for, and did it cause any discernible worsening of your Lyme disease symptoms? It's only a theoretical risk that NAG might worsen Lyme. I have yet to come across an account of it actually doing so. But anyway, it's probably best to play it safe. Did NAG have any noticeable anti-anxiety effects for you?

Cod liver oil does not substitute for flaxseed oil; it is likely the alpha-linolenic acid in flaxseed oil that has the anti-anxiety effect, and you don't get this in cod liver oil.

I would suggest using turmeric rather than curcumin, as I found the former had more anti-anxiety effects. You can buy turmeric by the kilo for a few £s in some Indian grocery shops. Or try healthmonthly.co.uk for good prices on supplements.

If your anxiety is moderate to severe, then you will probably find that turmeric + flaxseed oil are not enough on their own to fully eliminate it, and to fully get the anxiety under control, it may require the addition of several other supplements on my list to your regimen. You might consider adding say two or three or more of the following: vitamin A, vinpocetine, cetirizine, Saccharomyces boulardii, probiotics, and prebiotics such as inulin.

 

[ebethc]

This might explain why sinus inflammation is often linked to anxiety: the sinus cavities lie very close to the amygdala, so inflammation occurring in the sinuses might conceivably precipitate inflammation in the nearby amygdala, causing the amygdala's microglia to activate and pump out glutamate, leading to amygdala overstimulation, and anxiety.

YES!! I have chronic sinus inflammation and the wired/tired thing, plus anxiety... I have adrenal problems and a mast cell disorder, so not sure exactly what's going on...

BTW - rec'ed choline bitartrate today and LOVED the first dose.. sinuses opened up, and eyes are less itchy, brain feels better... Lots of inflammation today, so it was a good test... still waiting on piracetam.. thanks for the recommendations.

 

[Skippa]

Hi @Hip can you recommend a brand/bottle of arginine pyroglutamate please? (And is that the same as arginine l-pyroglutamic?)

I'm just putting together an iherb order but can't easily see it on there?

Thanks

 

[Hip]

@Skippa
I bought my pyroglutamate at purebulk.com. It's also called L-Arginine L-pyroglutamate.

 

[realturbo]

Delivery charge from purebulk is pretty steep - cheapest seems to be £17.33 for 1st class international service...

 

[Hip]

Delivery charge from purebulk is pretty steep - cheapest seems to be £17.33 for 1st class international service...

You're right. I remember now that their international delivery costs, which used to be very low, were suddenly significantly increased a while back. www.bulksupplements.com seem to be cheaper for shipping, $11 internationally.

You can also find other sources on Amazon or eBay.

I still have most of my 500 gram bag of arginine pyroglutamate left (I bought this bag 8 years ago), because I now only snort 100 mg doses of arginine pyroglutamate intranasally, which is very economical. I find snorting is just as effective as taking 5 grams of arginine pyroglutamate orally, plus with snorting, the anti-anxiety effect kicks in really fast, within 20 minutes of snorting (whereas orally it takes 1 or 2 hours to kick in).

The other advantage of snorting is that it does not trigger cold sore outbreaks around the mouth, which I find oral arginine occasionally does, if I take it many days in a row.

 

[Skippa]

@Skippa
I bought my pyroglutamate at purebulk.com. It's also called L-Arginine L-pyroglutamate.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Allsports...hash=item4d101543bb:m:ms9Z7EPo1_OCXUT-BYzLugg

Is this the stuff? Is the lysine a problem?

 

[Hip]

Lysine may be a problem, because if you take 5 grams of arginine pyroglutamate, you will also be taking 5 grams of lysine, and that is a lot of lysine.