Morning All,
I was recently diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and the doctor prescribed me some meds. Now, iv heard nightmare stories about how medication fucked people up even more and i really want to get better on my own.
Going to the gym helps alot, and id like to think my diet is pretty good ( i run a keto diet).
I was just wondering if there is any vitamins/supplements out there that could help with my constant anxiety and worrying?
Hmm. I have been diagnosed with that too, along with some occasional panic attacks.
Iāve found that fish oil helps a little. Theanine helps a little. Intermittent use of 5-HTP helps a little. Working out regularly helps a good bit.
BUT working with a therapist to address the underlying issues and addressing the sources of anxiety helps A Lot. More balanced and evenly dispersed intake of carbohydrates helps a good bit too.
There isnāt any single thing that can be pointed to as a magic bullet, and I sure as hell am not going to pit my own single experience against a given medical professionals pool of knowledge or experience, so take the above for what it is worth, and weigh it against your own desire for results. Given the differences of experience and ways that anxiety can affect your life- Your mileage may vary.
This is pretty much spot on from SkyzykS, understandably you want to do it on your own, but self-medication is hard and a lot of what is seen in the field is that people do improve with exercise, diet, and some mild supplementation, but it simply masks the underlying causes, creating a ātime-bombā at times it creates denial as well āIāve improved doing this, if I do more of this Iāll be ok again this time.ā or people simply begin ignoring the symptoms. Working with a therapist if wanting to stay away from meds is highly recommended and leads to a much higher success rate.
Disclaimer: These are simply things Iāve seen from working in the field of psych and have observed and had some experience with.
All the best,
D
Ashwaganda
Healthy gut/settled stomach can help a bitā¦
I also highly recommend you check out the book āFeeling Good: The New Mood Therapyā by Dr David Burns MD
Will help clear up a lot of subconscious beliefs that might be contributing to anxiety. Great read for most of us actually
One other little thing I would like to add (which Iām sure you already are doing, but others may benefit from reading this) - avoid caffeine. Caffeine seems to make anxiety so much worse for anyone whoās prone to it.
Citalopram is prescribed but works great.
Xanax. Donāt drive on it though.
Thereās no āsupplementā for mental health disorders. Supplements replace something deficient in your diet. Use the medication your GP prescribed and give them regular feedback so the dose can be altered or an alternative prescription can be made.
Other suggestions would be to keep a solid daily routine and consider therapies, in particularly Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It truly works better than anything Iāve ever used
ThIs.
Working on my gut health did wonders. Hereās what I did, you can try any combination of this :
drinking apple cider vinegar with every meal. If you arenāt producing enough stomach acid, it can lead to depression and anxiety.
add in multiple probiotic foods daily ( sauerkraut, kefir etc)
if you have traveled abroad especially consider a parasite cleanse by taking bitter herbs daily for a couple months. Some include :
Black Walnut
Wormwood
Pau dāarco
Goldenseal
Echinacea
Olive leaf
Ginger root
This all assumes your personal life isnāt the cause of your anxiety
The absolute best thing I ever did for anxiety is read up on, and practice Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, along with daily meditation.
I used to have panic attacks daily, and especially at night leading to really bad insomnia.
My doc prescribed me the usual anti-depressant/anxiolytics and they definitely helped but did not ācureā me.
Anxiety and depression Iāve truly come to believe are largely mental and emotional problems, at least for me. When I changed my perspective on my anxiety by allowing it to exist without trying to control it, it immediately abated to a very low level. I highly suggest looking up Barry Mcdonagh and his DARE program, changed my life.
With that being said, paying attention to proper diet and especially gut health has also worked wonders for me. Along with proper training, just enough but not so much as to have cortisol through the roof all the time (a huge contributor to anxiety imo).
Sorry for the long post, hope this helps.
I am a first year special ed teacher in the bronx and got hit with really bad anxiety/depression. I am still working through things and get occasional anxiety but everything is much more under control. The things that helped me are:
Lifting
Meditation (theres an app called headspace, I highly recommend it. I do 10 minutes every night).
Probitoitc supplement
Vitamins that are supposed to help with anxiety (theanine, magnesium, b12, b complex)
Yoga
find a therapist you like. It may take going to more than one to find the right one.
I was on an antideppressants for two months but stopped because I was feeling good. I still get some anxiety but advise against xanax. Long term I read it messes with your brain and for me it made me depressed. I generally try to to take care of these problems without medication.
Anyone who has experienced anxiety knows how damn dreadful it feels