I received a PM from a new member at PR inquiring about my experiences with Alpha-Stim. I just finished a reply, and thought I'd post a somewhat edited version here as well:
Sorry to hear how much difficulty you’re having with a racing mind. It’s been quite a while since I used the Alpha-Stim, but will try to recall as best I can what some of my experiences were.
First, I could only tolerate a very low setting, generally about 1.5. Also, I generally never did it for more than 20 minutes at a time. In the beginning, I think I did it maybe 2-3 times per day. I found it helpful to calm me down, and as I recall, helped me sleep.
I found it particularly helpful on days when I went out into the world for short periods of time (which is VERY over-stimulating for me). I would often do a 20-minute session in my car to calm my system down before heading home.
This all worked really well for me for maybe 2-3 years, and then for unknown reasons, I went into a period where it didn’t work anymore. If I remember correctly, I would begin to feel a bit agitated instead of feeling calmed down. Hard to know why that happened.
In the past year or so, I’ve experimented with it a handful of times, and didn’t notice the agitation like I had. But I haven’t gotten back to using it regularly the way I had.
The reasons are because in the beginning, the Alpha-Stim helped me as I weaned off of Klonopin. I’ve been off of that for a number of years now, so don’t have such a great need for it help me with some of the difficult withdrawal symptoms associated with that.
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Other reasons it hasn’t been a priority for me to start using it regularly again is because I’ve discovered a number of things this past year that has helped me calm my system down. I’ll try to list the ones I feel were most important:
1) I found that nettles (tea and juice) really helped my body deal with stress, helping me to relax and sleep better than I have in quite some time. In short, I found it to be the best adaptogen I’ve run across.
2) I started eating a variety of fermented foods, which seemed to stabilize my blood sugar levels. Once that happened, my system calmed down a great deal, to the point where I naturally started eating less. Eating has been a stressful thing for me to do for many years, and being able to naturally eat less had a calming effect on me.
3) I started supplementing with plenty of zinc and co-enzymated B-Vitamins. I did this after reading about pyroluria, which severely depletes those nutrients. The effects of pyroluria very closely describes much of the extreme wiredness I've dealt with for years, including at times some very difficult mental agitation. I never tested to see whether I had pyroluria, but found that supplementing with those nutrients was quite helpful. I use Source Naturals for B-Vits.
4) Coffee Enemas. I do them daily, and for me, have a fairly profound calming effect on my body and mind. I used to think it was primarily because it helped detoxify my body. I've learned more recently however that they also stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the main communication line between the brain and several critical parts of the body. Bringngi greater harmony to the vagus nerve transmissions is why I feel CEs are so helpful for me.
5) I put a great deal of emphasis on getting plenty of magnesium. My latest discovery has been transdermal magnesium chloride, also known as magnesium oil It's hard to get magnesium levels up to normal by ingesting magnesium, so getting it through the skin with magnesium oil or epsom salts foot baths often works far quicker, and is usually immediately relaxing.
6) Niacin. Just recently, I started supplementing with niacin, and have found it to have a calming effect on my system. I recently ran across this account online, which you might find interesting.
My Personal Experiment with Niacin
Now that I had the info I needed, it was time to try it for myself.
I bought a bottle of Slo-Niacin 500 mg time-release tablets at the drug store. I took 3 tablets over the course of 2 hours (1500 mg total).
For the first several hours…nothing. But I stayed optimistic, since I had read that the initial effects are sometimes delayed.
7 hours in, things started happening. I was suddenly in the mood to do something. At the time, meditation was what seemed most appealing. Which was odd, since I hadn’t found the energy or time to meditate in several months.
Previously, I had always found meditation to be exhausting. Keeping your mind quiet is hard work. But this time, it was much easier. No negative thoughts, no rumination, and I felt completely present and “in the moment”.
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I can’t really explain why you experienced such a profound calming effect a week after you quit the alpha-stim. Since money is such an issue for you--as it is for me--you may want to consider experimenting with some of the things that have worked for me which are far less expensive before going back to the Alpha-Stim at this time.
Since you're familiar with meditation, I'll briefly mention I experience a significant calming effect from singing HU (which I have a link to in my signature). I have a CD which I turn on when I lay down for an afternoon nap, and when I go to bed at night. Inwardly singing HU, with or without the CD, brings me a great deal of peace and calm, and many other spiritual benefits as well.
Was good to hear from you this morning. Wishing you much success in finding some good (and inexpensive!
) solutions for yourself. Let me know if you have any questions on any of my protocols.
All the Best,
Wayne
