What are good herbal remedies for anxiety?

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)

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.

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.

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!

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.

St. John's Wort is very good. Some people get immediate relief and others have to take it for awhile. Herbs are not instant fixes but they have lots of beneficial properties and no side effects. The longer you take them, the better they work and usually you should take more than one as they work synergistically to tone, calm, provide energy and also give you protection from infection and boost your immune system. They also contain vitamins and minerals. Get some books on the subject and you will get a better understanding of how they work and for what condition or disorder.

Couple notes for others who answered, kava is not recommended when you have depression, and Vitamin B gives an uplift, not a natural calmer.

Chamomile, passionflower, scullcap, oats all have a relaxing effect, all on a different way, I usually mix them as a prescription for my patients. I am a western herbalist, working in Melbourne.

Vitamin B complex is a natural tranquilizer. Add magnesium and avoid caffeine like the plague.

I have used 5-HTP and it may work for some people but in my case it suppressed my breathing so that I couldn't breathe deeply.

(St. John's Wort makes the skin photo-sensitive so that you end up with pigmentation.)

Screw herbal remedies. Try meridian therapy.

This is a great course/product which helped me basically CURE myself of anxiety and stop it for good, check it out below:

http://www.stopanxietyinminutes.com/

I highly recommend it, good luck.

5HTP is serotonin, if you decide to take that, please be aware of serotonin syndrome.

Otherwise I would try St. John's Worte.

Easily found, pretty cheap, and no known extreme bad consequences. Has the same effect as most anti-depressants do that are on the market.

P.S. Anti depressants can and ARE used for treating anxiety.