I just wanted to give an update. So I'd done ok the last week or so, keeping calm, pacing. But then yesterday we had a family emergency, an elderly relative fell and was very unwell, we had to have the ambulance out twice and the second time she was admitted to hospital. We were at her house in the morning which meant I missed my rest breaks and obviously it was a highly stressful situation.
Coming home at lunchtime, I knew I needed to try to rest and recover, but after that kind of situation normally I can't manage it. So I thought here's a chance to try some remedies, and I decided to just use everything I'd got. I've already started taking high strength vitamin B daily, which is meant to help with anxiety and energy I believe. So I used my spray magnesium, took two taurine tablets, and also drank some lemon balm and camomile tea.
And I have to say, I think it worked. I laid down for an hour in the afternoon, and while I didn't nap I certainly dozed, and my watch which has a stress tracker tells me I went into a state of relaxation (I often don't manage this even on a normal day). And even though some more stressful stuff happened later, I coped with it, felt calm in the evening and slept well at night.
Normally what happened yesterday is just the kind of situation that would throw me into full adrenaline mode, perhaps for days, and then bring on a big crash. So I'm really pleased with how I reacted to it, I felt like I was able to put the breaks on. I'm still expecting a PEM reaction to the stress and lack of pacing in the morning, but I'm hoping because I've managed to relax afterwards it will be less severe. I will keep you posted!
The only problem with taurine is that its GABA effects develop a tolerance after a time, so its benefits start to diminish. But if you only take taurine for say 3 days or less, then you don't get the tolerance issue. So taurine is great for short-term anti-anxiety treatment.
Also a question for you
@Hip - I wonder if you know. Would taurine continue to work if I took it say, twice a week? Or would its benefits diminish at that? The reason I ask is I work two mornings a week, and find it hard to relax afterwards. I'm thinking if I could take it just after my work mornings it might help me.
