Anyone here successfully treated anxiety naturally?

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I've been temporarily taken off of my klonopin and cymbalta. I can deal with some depression, but my anxiety and insomnia are crippling when I don't have medication. I don't smoke marijuana and I'm off alcohol for the time being, so I can't even have a glass of wine to calm down.
Has anyone here had any luck with herbal/dietary/holistic methods?
If so, what worked for you?

meditation.

download meditations on to you ipod/mp3 or buy some meditation cds and listen to them at least once a day. I found it helpful to have affirmation CDs play in the background when Im doing chores.

Teach yourself deep breathing, imagine breathing in a coloured light, breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, make sure your tummy goes out when you breathe in and sinks when you breathe out. then do this- breath one, imagine warm, coloured light coming up to your knees, breath two, imagine it coming to your thighs and bum, breath three, imagine it filling your tummy, breath four imagine it filling your torso and arms, breath five, imagine it filling your head- then you can breathe for 5 more breaths imagine the coloured light going down your body, this is very relaxing and if you practice it you can do it on the train or in queues to relax yourself.

these are books and things I like
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mindfulness ... 614&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Calming-Your-An ... 614&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Can-Heal-Yo ... 645&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stress-Free-Pea ... 45&sr=8-15

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Esteem-Aff ... 645&sr=8-9

and make sure you exercise every day and dont have sugar and caffeine.

How about find what it is your anxious about and deal with it directly. Have you been through college? If not, you should consider going to college; or if you have been, then go to graduate school. This will give you a sense of direction of your life and will make you feel happy about your accomplishments.

On a more biological realm, some speculate that autism is caused by poorly disgested gluten/casein. I am not sure whether this is entirely the case. But you can always try cutting off milk/wheat products and see if that makes you feel better. But then again GFCF diet is very difficult to follow -- some say it won't work unless you cut off completely all traces of milk/wheat which is nearly impossible to do.

So perhaps try other diets aimed at health in general, like increase vegetable intake, do exercises and so forth. Also you can go to dietologist and ask for food supplements. The food supplements are natural things comming from actual plants, as opposed to medications which are synthetic.

In general I am against meds altogether. Meds have lots of side effects and they don't really cure you rather they ''dull you down''. I personally think it was a mistake you were taking meds. So don't go back on them. Ever.

LSD helped enormously.

I don't know about meditation, but taking several deep breaths when upset or anxious can help. As another poster mentioned, do try to find out the cause of your anxiety, so you can deal with it. Also, try exercise, as this releases endorphins which are mood boosters, and the exercise will help tire you out, so you can sleep. Reading funny stories, and watching funny shows also helps as laughter also releases endorphins. Find ways to occupy and distract yourself.

- Take courses, either in person or online. Some online courses are free.
- Take up a hobby.
- Join a club.
- Volunteer. There are people out there worse off than we are.
- Surf the web.
- Do chores.

I know that doing stuff to keep occupied and distracted works, because I suffer from lifelong depression, but have been managing well for some years now with this method. My last bad spell was due to a combination of health problems, money problems, and problems with the relative I was living with. I still have health problems, but have received some treatment for them. My money problems have been greatly relieved, and I no longer live with that relative. Other relatives bought a trailer home for me to rent from them. My depression and stress levels went down once I was living alone. I don't do well living with people, as they don't handle my differences well, and I don't handle their unmeetable expectations, frustrations, and anger well. I still have issues, but keeping occupied definitely helps a lot because it leaves less time to dwell on the unfixable parts of my problems, or to dwell on things in the past that are over and done with.

So, now that you have some ideas to try, go do something!

I know this can sound trite, and I know that not everyone has the same physical abilities and inclinations, but I find physical exercise of pretty much any kind to be the single most effective and immediate means to relieve anxiety. The conventional wisdom is that cardio is the best but I find activities that involve the whole body-- e.g. stretching and lifting are really good too. Bike riding is great because you can get the same kind of high intensity as running without as much stress to joints etc.

I learned Transcendental Meditation when I was first in college. It helped me a lot but it takes time and dedication. It was hard to find 20 minutes twice a day to do it once I got into the daily work cycle. You need to do it on a regular basis for it to work well. It's not really a "use as needed" technique.

I tried doing a lot of aerobic exercise (mostly bike riding) when I was experiencing a lot of anxiety to tire myself out. That helped for a little while but as I got in better shape, I was no longer able to tire myself out in a reasonable amount of time so in the end it didn't really help me.

I have serious doubts about gluten causing autism. Digestive problems? Okay. If gluten caused autism then it would be proven by science by now and every autistic person could be cured. That hasn't happened.

The only solution to my anxiety is probably an amygdala transplant. One that's much less sensitive to the world.

I meditate every once in a blue moon. I also workout which helps immensley with it. It never really goes away from my experience but you just learn to deal with it as you get older.

I agree meditation may help and cognitive therapy.

deep slow breathing. Some of the symptoms of extreme anxiety are due to lack of oxygen to the brain from hyperventilating. Count to five as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
progressive muscular relaxation, where you tense and release muscles systematically. You need to be taught this technique, and a soundtrack helps.
mindfulness strategies - these originated from Eastern philosophies. There are a lot to learn here, but practicing them has helped me greatly to manage my emotions.

Hi FullofStars,
I'm not basing this off my own experience but from my sister's (she has bipolar disorder, type 2). She said Kava Kava (Awa) is very helpful with both anxiety and sleeping.
Hope this helps, feel free to pm me with any questions.

I am currently controlling my generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder naturally. I use progressive muscle relaxation, guided meditation (the Andrew Johnson ones work best for me), and several supplements. I take 5-HTP, magnesium, B-complex, omega 3, passion flower tincture, and d-ribose. I have checked to make sure these supplements are OK together at low doses and that they are OK for me with my other meds and medical conditions. I also have fidget toys for when I need to distract myself, like stress balls and puzzle cubes. I now only listen to happy or relaxing music and only watch happy or funny shows on TV when I am battling anxiety. I have been practicing thought blocking techniques for when I am anxious about something I can't change, and I have been working to address issues that I can change. I have found CBT to be helpful in helping to identify why I am anxious. Since I have alexithymia, I use drawing to help me identify what I am feeling if it isn't clear to me from physical sensations. It's a fair bit of work, but it seems to be working for me.

I've found that hypericum (St. John's wort) works quite well for depression. Make sure to buy a highly dosed extract with 500 mg or more. It might also help you sleep, since it makes a bit tired. As for anxiety, I take camomile tea, hops and valerian pills, and high doses of vitamin B6 with normal doses of vitamin B2. Don't supplement the entire spectrum of B-vitamins, since some can damage your liver.

What I use to treat my various neuro-psychological conditions, is GABA. Plus I find that going on walks helps me to get away for awhile, releives tension, and increases endorphins. And also, to vent, and release stress, I might do breathing exercises, and/or make some noises.

Thank you for giving so many thoughtful responses
As far as supplements go, I already take a B supplement, omega 3, and I have tried Sam-E and valerian without success. Chamomile tea brewed from the flower is already part of my nightly routine, just because I like it. But these things are about as helpful to someone in the midst of a panic episode as lavender oil would be to someone with a gun held to their head.
I honestly can't remember if I've tried Kava Kava or not, but these are things that may ease 'tension.' Tension and anxiety are as different as chilly is from hypothermia.
As far as dealing with the 'causes' of anxiety, I don't know what they are. I've suffered from anxiety and insomnia since I was a little girl, and not even the greatest thinkers have really worked out the nature v. nurture argument, have they? I can say that's it's physiological, and only nervous system depressants have a real effect. I can also say that there are identifiable triggers that I TRY to avoid, but adult life is a mine field of stressors; a person who is hardwired to have a flight response to threats is going to have crap life, unless s/he runs off to live in a cave.
I do find supplements, aerobic exercise, and meditation helpful, when I'm somewhere close to normal. But I need my medication to get to the 'close to normal' place.