Posted by Lao Tzu on June 11, 2008, at 15:04:13
In reply to Anyone successful in managing their Social anxiety, posted by misterd on June 11, 2008, at 0:23:41
Kava kava is an herb from the pepper family, of which the root has psychoactive properties. I have found that it did help with social anxiety somewhat, but probably it is better for generalized anxiety. It's worth a shot anyway, but I would suggest taking the recommended dosage on the bottle because too much of it can give you a stimulating feeling, which might not be good for anxiety. What else? Either 5-htp or saint john's wort may help you sleep better at night, which is always good for anxiety. Some people get nauseous on 5-htp so watch out for this side effect. Taurine and glycine are helpful for anxiety, not specifically social anxiety, but they may help take the edge off. I think you can take taurine during the day, but like I said, I would take glycine at bedtime. It should help the next day (I think), or instead Magnesium glycinate at bedtime. Be careful with magnesium supplements. Too much at any one time might leave you feeling kinda numb and "zoned out." I take 200mg once or twice a day, and that seems to help me, but everyone is different and require different amounts of nutrients. A low dose of zinc might be good to add also as this seems to help with anxiety somewhat. I only take 15mg per day, but some people take a lot more than that. I think it is recommended to take anywhere from 25mg-50mg for most people. I can only tolerate 15mg. Some people say GABA helps with anxiety, but in my personal opinion, I think GABA is utterly useless, especially for social anxiety. Just my opinion. A low dosage of fish oil may be helpful too. All in all, there are no great remedies specifically for social anxiety. In some cases, you have to treat the underlying depression, which may be the cause of the anxiety, with antidepressant drugs. Hope this helps.
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:834088
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080326/msgs/834187.html