I have a few herb and foods that I find helpful, yet am hesitant to throw more ideas at you without having more information about your specific situation. Anxiety affects people differently and different herbs and food would be suggested depending on your expression. So what type of anxiety are we talking about? ie does it prevent you from functioning, sleeping, how does it manifest for you? I have ofther questions but let's start here.

Two things i would likely suggest no matter what are oatstraw infusions and kefir (cutlured milk drink)-these two things are very high in calcium which is critical to supporting the nervous system.
Blessings
Linda

i used to suffer from severe anxiety.. pot just made it worse.. the one thing i found that helped me the most.. was healing all of the emotional issues behind the anxiety.. i mostly did that by getting reiki a couple times a week for a couple of years as well as learning it so i could do reiki on myself everyday. and now i have no problems with it at all.. infact i can say that i havent felt anxious in over a year now..

love and light..

I have found some help from anxiety with 5-htp, made from the griffonia simplicifolia plant. Taking 50 - 100 mg at night cut down my previous anxiety attacks and seemed to balance my serotonin levels over a period of weeks. However, I had to stop taking it once I started developing headaches. After that, I just took a daily vitamin, supplemented by some Vitamin D and some B vitamins. Also ganja can help!

Hi there Jazz--

I had numerous medications for anxiety and they all made me sleepy and useless. Fortunately, I don't suffer from anxiety anymore (it lasted on and off for about five years, I have no idea why it passed but you should feel hopeful that it might not be a lifelong thing).

Of all the recommendations out there (and I tried many), I found that Sleepytime Tea (by Celestial Seasonings) helped the most. Ironically, it didn't make me sleepy. I think the ingredients were a great blend for anxiety, and just the ritual of making tea to care for myself and take control of something (which at that time seemed like it had control over ME) was very therapeutic. And I'm not a person prone to ritual of any kind. Also not someone who recommends brands, but this is the best I've found. They also make one called Tension Tamer, but it didn't seem as effective (or maybe just wasn't as tasty, and that was counterproductive).

One thing you should also make sure of is that you're getting enough B vitamins...I took (and still take) a B-100 every day, after reading about them (and depression/anxiety) on drweil.com. The Bs help regulate your sleep and rest, as well as depression/anxiety. And, they're cheap!

Good luck, I hope you conquer this.

Great advice here - Jazz, if you plan to back off of any of your meds, PLEASE do so with caution. They are created unfortunately to not be easy to get off of, for anyone! While modifying diet and taking herbs under a skilled herbalist or other informed practitioner, literally only take one grain at a time out of those capsules - that is how slowly you have to do it. If it gives you any idea - some drug rehab places prefer to take cases of heroin addiction over the use of these legal prescribed drugs! I wish you the very BEST!

anxiouslife.tribe.net/

Jazz, you should join that tribe above. i have posted many time about things that have worked for me. Here is an old post...

I'm not sure if this one has been covered before here but I think it would be really nice to hear what has helped all of us through times of anxiety, or even cured us of it. I keep thinking about writing a book, blog, or making short videos about all the things I have done to help myself understand and reduce anxiety and it's brutal effects on my life. But I am curious what works for others.

For me it has been some of the things I have mentioned many a time here but here is a little simple list in close to relative order of importance...

1. Regular intense but fun exercise, for me this is practicing Mixed Martial Arts ( I have learned that I am naturally full of energy and a bit of a nervous creature so this one helps quite a bit, plus I find a good session at the gym is akin to the best meditation you can have).

2. Mental training, just like physical training I have found that I have to keep my head clear and root out negative thinking quickly or it will get the best of me. This can be many things like... Getting in touch with feelings I had buried, such as forgiving old trespasses from others or letting go of self hate for mistakes I have made along the way. Also addressing some need I have to have some spirituality in my life, not religion per say but some sort of faith in the universe, faith in things such as that when I die I won't be stuck in some bad acid trip forever. Not letting myself start thinking about all of the bad things that can happen to me all the time is a big one, like worrying about brain tumors or death all the time etc.

3. Diet. I have found that the food I eat and the supplements I take can really effect my overall feelings. Sometimes I can use my mind to overcome this but overall if I eat crap or don't take the right supplements to make up for holes in my diet I start to degrade physically which then attacks me mentally. So now I usually eat regular (3-5 times a day) balanced meals and take a multivitamin along with some omega 3.

...an update would be I have found great comfort by getting rid of my debt and finding a way of getting back in touch with my sort of spiritual (not religious) roots and mixing those values with my work.

I have had only 2 attacks in the last 2 years and right now i can't even imagine having another.

I appreciate all of your input. I will be working at this slowly, especially when it comes to weaning myself off of the Rx. Having all this great information from you guys & gals has taken away some of the overwhelming feeling I had been having. Thank you.
*hugs & kisses*