I am without health insurance, and suffer from moderate anxiety/depression (diagnosed by my doctor) and am looking for information on herbal or natural remedies to help calm my anxiety. I have tried st. johns wart more than once, and didn't notice any difference, and I am looking for other herbs and such that might help, preferably with knowledge from experience.
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
1) Wild Kratom (strongest and best, guaranteed to work for EVERYONE)
2) Kava-Kava (works for most, not for everyone and NO it is NOT toxic, that study was debunked and Kava is now approved by the FDA)
3) St John's Worth (works for few, not for most)
4) Salvia (works for everyone, except it's very tricky, as at higher doses it can cause hallucinations for up to 10 mins)
5) Marijuana (only resort to it if it's legal in your State)
Anonymous
This is going to sound really silly, but nothing calms me when I'm oober stressed like Natural Brew root beer (doesn't have caffine). I guess it's mix of spices in it and the fact that it raises my blood sugar. That's another thing, when I realize that I'm irrationally stressed, it's usually because I'm hungry, so don't skip meals. It's also good to always keep some jello (the real stuff, not w/ splenda) or even a jolly rancher, something relatively low cal, around for when I get cranky. By the way, you can get green tea without caffine.
Anonymous
Forget that stuff. It's all basically unrefined, unregulated drugs. Herbs are drugs, just dirty ones. Kava is liver toxic, so avoid it.
What you need is simply Wal-Mart's or Food Pyramid's $4-$5 generic plan. I get Celexa as citalopram (which has several refills, so that limits the $70 office visits because of no insurance) for $4 at Wal-Mart. Anti-anxiety drugs like xanax, are also pretty cheap even w/o insurance and may even be on that $4 generic plan (not really a 'plan', nothing to 'sign up' for). So aside from your office visit to get the scrip, the meds can be gotten cheap.
Oh yeah, they work, too, and are FDA approved. So go with safe and effective rather than sketchy and practically unregulated.
searching4peace
Note that you don't have health insurance but if you really want to sort out your issue it's best to see someone about it, like a naturopath who'll be able to prescribe something that suits your constitution rather than something generic. I've had chronic sleeping issues since last August and have seen a naturopath since December to try and sort it out. Even if the remedies may not work you will get emotional support if you find a good naturopath. Best to ask around to see if someone can recommend one to you. Good luck!
Kassiopeia
I find Kava quite good, also a proprietary brand called Quiet Life which is a mix of different herbs. St John's wort can be good but some brands don't seem to work, try Hypericum. If you are in the UK google Helios homoeopathic pharmacy where you can buy Hypericum tincture in liquid form which is good.